Just back from a round at Murcar Links today.Left the house at 6.20am and even with a half hour stop for breakfast near Forfar we arrived at the cub before 10am for our 11am tee time.We checked in at the well stocked Pro shop and the helpful Assistant Pro told us we were free to go when we pleased as the course was quiet so we teed off at 10.20 and were allowed to play from the Medal tees which was great but at just over 6500yards and on a fairly calm day the par 71 can't be described as 'long'
So to the course.....we threw the balls up and the throw was fairly kind as IM02 and myself who have been in a bit of form lately were kept apart and I partnered Keeka and IM02 partnered Dano both of whom have been struggling somewhat with their games lately.
The 1st was into the breeze but a good solid drive left only a flick with a wedge to a tiny raised green with severe sloping if you missed the target.The 2nd heads back North and again was a drive and a flick and onto the 3rd which is played from a raised tee blind downhill to a well guarded green.The fairway is one of the strangest you are ever likely to see as from the tee you expect a downhill ski slope type hill but the fairway is actually on 3 different levels like a step effect....very very strange design!
After that follows the best run of holes on the course from 4 to 9 which run through dunes but again have some real quirky design features where it is important to find the right level of the fairway to leave yourself a view and shot to the green.Sometimes taking driver left you out of position so 3 wood/Rescue/Long Iron is the way foward despite this sometimes leaving you a longer 2nd than you may wish but at Murcar position is the key!
Hole 10 is stroke 1 and is a another blind tee shot to another well guarded green and it was playing a good drive and 4 iron into the breeze.
Holes 11,12 and 13 are the without doubt the weakest part of the course,11 a weak par 4 that bigger hitters could get close to from their blind (another) tee shot,12 a weak par 3 and 13 another quirky par 4 with a huge hill with a drop of 30 feet around where the drive will end up.These holes are played in a corner of the course that has a more parkland feel to the grass than links.
The final 5 revert back to a more linksy feel with gorse abound at every turn,holes 15 a shortish par 4 from an elevated tee with a 2nd played over a stream to an elevated green and 16 a good par 3 surrounded by gorse and bunkers being the pick.
The finishing hole is a shortish par 4 which if on a score the bail out must be to shell it way right and take the 8 bunkers that hug the right hand side of the fairway out of play must be the option as there is little trouble over there (as I fortunately found!),if lucky enough to find a shot in it is only a wedge at most.
The condition of the course was good ahead of Murcar hosting the Scottish Strokeplay on Friday,the Tees and Fairways were in good condition with plenty grass on them but the greens were pretty slow and bumpy but no doubt the Greenkeeper will be dropping the mower cutters down a notch come Friday so this will probably make them run quicker and truer.
All in all I have to say that I had heard and read great things about Murcar Links but don't go expecting to play a classic as the course falls well short of that.For me it is a course that is vastly overrated,very very quirky and vastly overpriced for what it is.We paid £22.50 per man courtesy of a charity green fee voucher but the green fees range from £70 to £90 a round......I wouldn't want to pay much more than £30 a round really and I base that on my club being £33 a round and for me it is a vastly superior product.It's website claims Murcar frequently features in the Top 100 courses in the UK but I am afraid to say in my opinion I have played several that don't appear in these lists that are in fact better tracks.
All that said we had an enjoyable day,the weather was kind,the gorse was in full bloom and we were well looked after....oh,and Keeka and I won 3 and 2!
http://www.murcarlinks.com/index.htm
So to the course.....we threw the balls up and the throw was fairly kind as IM02 and myself who have been in a bit of form lately were kept apart and I partnered Keeka and IM02 partnered Dano both of whom have been struggling somewhat with their games lately.
The 1st was into the breeze but a good solid drive left only a flick with a wedge to a tiny raised green with severe sloping if you missed the target.The 2nd heads back North and again was a drive and a flick and onto the 3rd which is played from a raised tee blind downhill to a well guarded green.The fairway is one of the strangest you are ever likely to see as from the tee you expect a downhill ski slope type hill but the fairway is actually on 3 different levels like a step effect....very very strange design!
After that follows the best run of holes on the course from 4 to 9 which run through dunes but again have some real quirky design features where it is important to find the right level of the fairway to leave yourself a view and shot to the green.Sometimes taking driver left you out of position so 3 wood/Rescue/Long Iron is the way foward despite this sometimes leaving you a longer 2nd than you may wish but at Murcar position is the key!
Hole 10 is stroke 1 and is a another blind tee shot to another well guarded green and it was playing a good drive and 4 iron into the breeze.
Holes 11,12 and 13 are the without doubt the weakest part of the course,11 a weak par 4 that bigger hitters could get close to from their blind (another) tee shot,12 a weak par 3 and 13 another quirky par 4 with a huge hill with a drop of 30 feet around where the drive will end up.These holes are played in a corner of the course that has a more parkland feel to the grass than links.
The final 5 revert back to a more linksy feel with gorse abound at every turn,holes 15 a shortish par 4 from an elevated tee with a 2nd played over a stream to an elevated green and 16 a good par 3 surrounded by gorse and bunkers being the pick.
The finishing hole is a shortish par 4 which if on a score the bail out must be to shell it way right and take the 8 bunkers that hug the right hand side of the fairway out of play must be the option as there is little trouble over there (as I fortunately found!),if lucky enough to find a shot in it is only a wedge at most.
The condition of the course was good ahead of Murcar hosting the Scottish Strokeplay on Friday,the Tees and Fairways were in good condition with plenty grass on them but the greens were pretty slow and bumpy but no doubt the Greenkeeper will be dropping the mower cutters down a notch come Friday so this will probably make them run quicker and truer.
All in all I have to say that I had heard and read great things about Murcar Links but don't go expecting to play a classic as the course falls well short of that.For me it is a course that is vastly overrated,very very quirky and vastly overpriced for what it is.We paid £22.50 per man courtesy of a charity green fee voucher but the green fees range from £70 to £90 a round......I wouldn't want to pay much more than £30 a round really and I base that on my club being £33 a round and for me it is a vastly superior product.It's website claims Murcar frequently features in the Top 100 courses in the UK but I am afraid to say in my opinion I have played several that don't appear in these lists that are in fact better tracks.
All that said we had an enjoyable day,the weather was kind,the gorse was in full bloom and we were well looked after....oh,and Keeka and I won 3 and 2!
http://www.murcarlinks.com/index.htm
