Montrose Links Trust

Royal Montrose 1562 - Medal Course

The course is the 5th oldest golf course in the World and the course has been used for Open Qualifiers in the last two decades. There is a reasonable amount of parking available, however on the day I played I had to park in the street. The course is located on the East coast of Scotland, and is approximately 1hr from St Andrews and Aberdeen respectively, and over 2hrs from Edinburgh.

Practice Facilities
No driving range, there is a driving net behind the Pro shop which has seen better days, and the putting green is across the road.

The Course
The Course measures 6,180yds from the yellow tee’s. The first hole plays downwind and provided one of the best views on the course; as you walk up the hill towards the green you are presented with a view of the green framed by the North Sea in the background.

Holes 2-7 run along the line of the coast, and when the wind blows this is a tough stretch. On the day I played it was sunny, however there was 30mph wind which made it very difficult to score; on most of these holes you either had a cross wind or were playing into the wind; this is not a course I would want to play in winter, with the wind and rain.

Notable holes
The 2nd 378yd par 4: the tee is elevated and exposed to the wind, the fairway landing area seems narrower than it is, with gorse on the left and deep rough on the right, playing with a 30mph crosswind made this the toughest t shot of the day.

This course has two strong Par 3’s.
The 3rd 150yd par 3 is a table top green requiring precision and good distance control.

The 12th 140yd par 3 has 4 deep pot hole bunkers facing you to protect an elevated green and a further bunker to the left of the green.

The 18th 339yd par 4 is notable again for the amount of bunkering around the green, it is surrounded by 5 pot hole bunkers, 1 centre, and 2 left and right of the green.

The fairways were all in good condition and the greens ran fast and true, and there were a number of undulating greens. In terms of interest, I think the front 9 is the best of the 2 nines, most of the holes on the back 9 were not memorable; the best holes on the back 9 were the 12th, 17th and the 18th.

Green Fees
These vary throughout the day and can range from £90 to £50 from the Pro-shop; I managed to get a deal online for £32; I don’t think I would pay more than £50 for this course.

This will be off the beaten track for most golfers in Scotland, however I decided to take trip to this historic club as it may not be there for much longer. Sadly, the course is at risk of being lost due to coastal erosion; approx. 5ft of land is being lost per year and some of the tees are very close to the sea. So if you want to play this layout Harry Colt (1907) layout you will need to play sooner rather than later…