Gary Tonge

First played here in 2018, returned to play in October 21. Green fees are slightly pricier, you can get a deal for £54 midweek and £60 weekends.

The staff are super friendly, and the course is still in very good condition. Good tees, great fairways, greens and fluffy sand. I still believe this is the better of the two courses. Whilst the Torrance course may be considered a harder course and is a European tour course, in terms of views Kittocks wins every time and still has some testing holes.

Still good value and worth playing if you are in the area.

I played the Lakes course on a Sunday afternoon booked via a well known website for £21 inc booking fee. There is plenty of parking onsite and the practice facilities are good, and include a driving range, putting green, and chipping green which are located near the first T on the lakes course.

The T boxes are bit scruffy, the fairways lacked definition and the bunkers had compacted sand and also looked scruffy. On the plus side the greens were very good and run fast, however there were lots of unrepaired divots on the greens; averaging 2-6 per hole.

The pace of play was very slow, and the last 6 holes were very painful due to a 2 two ball holding up 3 groups in front of me.

There are better courses available in Essex, and I would recommend you look elsewhere if you want to play a quality course, however if you want a cheap round then it's probably OK.

Panmure Golf Club is located approx. 1hr 30 ins from Edinburgh, 40 minutes from St Andrews and is approx. 8 mins drive from Carnoustie the Championship Course which has hosted eight British Opens. I played Panmure on a very cold and wet winter’s day on the 23rd December 2019, and paid a green fee of £40. The green fee during summer is £125, which in my opinion is overpriced even with the history this course offers.

Facilities
The course has a driving range, putting green, and short game practice area. The short game area was closed when I visited and so was the driving range due to a substantial amount of rain during the morning I played. Whilst the driving range was closed, the Pro in the Pro shop said I could use the driving range if I wanted to use my own balls, which I duly did in the pouring rain.

The pro shop was well stocked, and there are very good changing room facilities for visitors and a reasonable amount of parking. The club house is large and traditional and has lots of historic memorabilia dotted around.

Course
The course measures 6,113 yds from the yellow tees, and the overall condition of the tees, fairways was good, and the greens were pure and fast. The rough was OK, however you do need to keep your ball in the fairway to score as if you go more than 5-10yds into the rough you’re likely to lose your ball. There was the odd bit of standing water in the fairway due to the rain, however on the whole it was mostly dry as by the time I teed off the rain had stopped.

The course opens up with a gentle 288yd Par 4 and the difficulty level is gently introduced as you progress through your round. The 6th hole (Hogan’s hole) is ranked the hardest hole on the card, and has steep drop offs from the green and Hogan’s bunker front right. Other notable tricky holes are the 6th, 8th, 9th, and the 12th.

It took me about 2-3 minutes to figure out a line to the 6th hole, as neither the fairway or the green were obvious from the T; my GPS came to my aid here. The Par 3 9th has the trickiest green of all due to several severe undulations which are not dissimilar to the Himalayas putting green at St Andrews, additionally the 9th has deep bunkers and thick rough surrounding the green. Playing into a left to right wind I was unable to find the green and ended up in the rough.

Signage on the course could be better, as I got lost going from the 13th green to the 14th green, this took me approx. 10 mins of wondering around to find the right hole. Additionally the 15th hole which was meant to play as a 226yd Par 3 was in fact a 286yd par 3, I know this as I scoped it, I did not complain as I still managed to make par on this hole.


The only downside to playing in playing in December is you need to play from a portable matt to protect the fairway and tees; this is the first time I’ve been asked to do this, however it was OK and did not spoil the enjoyment of the round. This course had been on my bucket list for the past 2 years and overall I enjoyed playing this course, even with matts in the cold. I would not pay £125 to play it however if you are in the area and you can find a good deal it’s worth playing this historic links course.

Brief History - Ben Hogan & Panmure
1953 is considered as Hogan’s best year. When he arrived in Britain to play the British Open at Carnoustie he had won the Masters by 5 shots, and the US Open by 6 shots, and was looking to capture his 3rd major title. Unfortunately Ben was unable to play the PGA Championship as it was being hosted at the same time as the British Open.

After practising for two weeks at Panmure, Ben went on to win the Open by 4 shots, setting the first record of winning 3 majors in a year as a golf pro, this record would stand until Tiger Woods won three majors in a year in 2000 (US Open, The Open, PGA). Ben's accomplishment is all the more impressive as he played his best golf after recovering from a near fatal accident in 1949.

*Note, Bobby Jones won his grand slam as an amateur golfer.

Panmure, Ben Hogan and the 6th hole
Ben was not one for the crowds and agreed with Panmure Golf Club to use their course to warm up for the British Open; he needed to get accustomed to the smaller 1.62 inch British ball and to familiarise himself with the unforgiving links grasses. He spent two weeks practising at Panmure and whilst playing he noted that the 6th hole was one of the finest holes on the course. He made a suggestion to the club to improve the hole by adding a bunker to the front right of the 6th green. This bunker is still in play today and is known as Hogan’s bunker.

I played here in on a wet Friday during August having pre-booked my T time via a well know golf booking site for £15, usual price £30.

To get to the club you weave your way through some small towns, and small streets, and its located at the end of the road. There are plenty of parking spaces available, and the club looked busy, even though the clouds were gathering.

The guy in the Pro shop was very friendly, and pointed out practice facilities, changing rooms etc.

Practice facilities include, 3 Driving nets, 2 large areas to practice your pitching and chipping, and a putting green.

The course is not the longest measuring 5,106yds from the yellow T's and has 1 par 5. The course starts with 2 consecutive 155yd par 3's, both of which are a good challenge. The 1st is a picturesque downhill Par 3 towards the sea and the 2nd par 3 is across water from an elevated T to a raised green with steep run offs if your short.The rest of the holes on the front 9 are all very good, with my favourite being the tricky Par 4 8th measuring 416yds, stroke index 1, which I managed to par by playing strategically.

The back 9 opens with a reasonable length Par 5, 513yds which was OK to the eye, however from hole 11 the course becomes bland and is a stark contrast to the previous 9 which clearly had more thought applied to good course architecture.

If you are doing a golfing trip in Scotland near this area, and you want to play a warm up course or can only fit in 9 holes, playing the front 9 here would not be a bad option.

Overall I liked this course and would come back to play the front 9 again.

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…

Course is relatively easy to find, beware of the speed cameras in the 40 zone as you head towards the course from the M25, there mounted on lampposts and not the usual GATSO cameras.

Parking was tricky on a Saturday not sure if this is usual or because another society was playing, I managed to park but only just. Practice facilities are sparse, no driving range or nets, however there is a small green and a small area to practice 50yd shots, which is better than nothing.

The course
On the day I played it was extremely windy and there are not many parts of the course that shield you from the wind. Everyone who has played the course has commented on how hard the greens are, being undulating and fast. Playing in February my guess is they were slower than how they would usually play, and I suspect during a hot period these greens would very tricky to put on. Getting up and down around the greens I found was better suited to bump and run shots rather. For this time of the year I thought the course was in good condition.

As previous reviewers have mentioned there are several areas where you need to cross busy fast roads, and some of the holes play quite near to the roads, which is not ideal. There is also a number of holes which cross over each other and the 17th and 18th T are a bit of mess in terms of design relating to the teeing position. If you keep the ball in the fairway you can score well round here as many of the holes are not that long.

Overall I think it’s an interesting course, the clubhouse is nice and the changing rooms were good, however not sure I would go out of my way to play here, but it’s worth a look if your in the area.

Traditional golf club, with great practice facilities and a good clubhouse. Practice facilities include a short driving range where you are allowed to hit shots of up to 160yds. There are a couple of driving nets, large putting green, a small chipping green, and another short game practice area with bunkers and an elevated green.

This is a mature tree lined course with a good mix of holes with dog legs, plenty of slopes and changes in elevation. The green complexes are large with undulating fast greens; if you avoid 3 putting on these greens you've done well. Although the course looks shortish on the card, it plays longer due to the significant amount of changes in elevation. The teeing areas were large and well maintained, and the fairways were very good.

If there is a minor negative about this course, it's the public. Don't be surprised to see walkers and dog walkers on the course, whilst there were not loads I imagine this could be off putting for some.

The clubhouse hospitality was OK, although as we played a late round we were asked to order our last round of drinks as they wanted to close the bar; I guess they don't need the money...

I paid a green fee of £30 with SES teeing off after 2:30 on. Saturday, I think this was good value considering the quality of the course;would definitely play again.

Leven has a long history, golf has been played here since 1846 as a nine hole course and the course was extended to 18 holes in 1868. Leven has been a final Open qualifier course in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and young Tom Morris won the inaugural competition here in 1868.

Practice facilities
There is a small putting green next to clubhouse, a small short game area between the 1st and the 10th T and a couple of driving nets. Unfortunately when I visited all of these facilities were in need of TLC and were very poor.

The course
The course is comprised of 4 par 3's, 11 par 4's (4 over 400yds) and 3 par 5's and measures 6,309 from the yellow tee's and 6551 from the medal T's. Whilst the hot weather has been welcome in July/August, this has not helped the course, as on many parts of the course the fairways were bare and had little to no grass. The T areas were OK, and the greens as expected were excellent, fast running with lots of undulations.

As you would expect wind is a significant factor on this course and on the day i played there was a 3 to 4 club wind, and it rained the whole day. Interesting holes to note are:

2nd hole which offers a choice of 2 fairways, the fairway to the left offers the best view into the green, but requires you to fly twin spectacle bunkers, if you choose the fairway to the right you are left with a blind shot into the green.

7th par 3 whilst only 162yds from the yellow T's plays tough when playing into the wind, I had to play a 3 wood to get green-side.

13th Par 5 plays significantly longer into the wind than 471yds stated on the card, If you aim to go for the green in two it's likely that you will face a blind shot into the large green, however it is guarded by a large cavernous bunker to the front of the green.

18th is a tough 457yd Par 4 and is the signature hole; this is a classic risk reward hole and requires a good drive of 230-250yds to go for the green in 2. Where’s the danger? With a nod to Carnoustie’s 18th hole it has the ‘Scoonie burn’ which wraps around the front edge and right part of the green. As my drive was short I chose to lay up and settled for a bogey which is still a good score on this hole.

Green fee’s
The normal green fee is £48, however I managed to find a deal from a well known website for £24. With the current condition of the course I think £24 was good value, I don’t think £48 would present good value due the current conditions of the course.

Clubhouse/Changing Rooms
Traditional old clubhouse, I did not eat here so can't comment on the food, changing rooms were clean.

Would I go back? Possibly in later years once I’ve played more courses in Scotland. If you are a links fan this course should be on your list, it’s off the beaten track but is only 40 mins from St Andrews.

Played here yesterday with SES, we paid £30 after 2pm on a Saturday. This course is fantastic, when you first see the course from the clubhouse you cannot fail to be impressed by the scenic views. The course is tight in places as would expect from a woodland course and has several dog legs; the course is also hilly.

This course is not the longest at 5,958yds from the yellow T's however it is still a challenging course. You don't need need to hit driver on most holes to score well, and it's probably advisable to keep it in the bag for the tighter holes. The fairways were in good condition when I played, and the greens were fast but playable. Overal, the condition of the course was great and has been maintained to a high standard.

There is plenty of parking onsite and good practice facilities (Driving range, short game area and driving nets near the first T).

Would definitely recommend this course and would play again, well worth a visit.

You will see from other reviews that this course is not at its best, however I was told it's a good course that needs some TLC. I paid £15 to play on a Saturday with SES,. This has to be the worse course I've played in several decades, in fact I can't think of a worse course.

Practice facilities
Consist of a driving range which is all of 160yds, therefore you can't use your driver or most woods or hybrids, at £3.50 a bucket of balls this range is overpriced and pointless for practice in my view. I chose not to use this facility.

Practice green, there is one and you are able to putt and chip onto the green, however it's quite small and the green was diseased when I played, this sets the scene for the course.

Tee boxes
The teee boxes are scruffy and the grass was long, seems to be a theme for this course.

The rough, (I mean fairways)
If you get your drive away and land in the fairway you would expect to 1, be able to find your ball easily and 2 have a nice lie which would allow you to make good contact with the ball. On several holes my group had to spend time looking for balls on the so called fairway, and I along with others in my group could not find balls after hitting the fairway. When you did find your ball, very often you had a lie which would be regarded as the rough on most decent courses.

It appears that the fairways were not cut due to the wet weather recently, attempts had been made to mow the fairways, however this was not sufficient and the fairways was covered with grass trimmings. The ground staff appeared to be trying to mow the fairways whilst we were playing, however waiting until Saturday when you know the weekend will be very hot seemed madness to me.

The Greens
As stated previously the practice putting green was diseased, and this was the case on every hole, with the addition of some large craters on the green which assumed have been made by animals.

Course Lauout
The course itself is interesting with lots of hazards to think about.

Clubhouse
The clubhouse was nice and the staff were friendly, and I believe the food was OK from what I could see.

Conclusion
It's a shame as this course with its layout has such great potential, however the maintenance is non existent at the moment it's a club which looks like it's being run into the ground. If they can't afford to cut the fairways maybe they should buy some goats or cattle, the course as it stands is not playable.

I will not be returning here again and would not recommend this course.

The course is nice and easy to find from the M40, no narrow countries lanes. The drive up to the clubhouse is impressive and the spike bar, locker room was nice and clean with free lockers to store your kit, toilets are also clean as you would expect for this type of Club.

I didn't use the practice facilities other than the putting green, but believe there is a short game area and driving range.

I played the course n Feb 2018 with SES, and we got a good deal on the green fee's unfortunately the british weather has not been great thepast couple of weeks and this showed on the course, particularly as we played through rain the whole round. Many areas were chewed up as you walk to the fairway and walking between T's, this made a long walk even harder as you were either sinking in places or struggling to keep balance navigating hilly areas; they need to add some footpaths to teeing areas and stairs where there are elevated T's. I'm surprised they allowed trolleys when we played.

The teeing areas were well presented and the greens were reasonably quick even though they had just been top dressed. My only criticism of the fairways when I played is the amount of divots which had not been replaced by other golfers, it's the worst I've seen on a golf course and must frustrate the green keeping staff.

On the course you need to be reasonably straight off the T as some holes have narrow landing areas with water in play, the rough was reasonable and there are a couple of risk reward holes on the course; the 8th and 17th holes being the most memorable of these.

Overall I don't think it would fair to criticise the course as clearly I did not see it at its best, would like to return but probably in the summer when it's dry.

Defiantly worth a visit but I would book either in the summer or before November as I expect the condition of the course will be far better.

First time to play this course, plenty of parking available, clubhouse staff friendly. Driving range is available but I did not use, large putting greeen near 1st T. The course is long over 6,500yds, I played a Heron/Hawk.

Whilst the course is long the fairways are wide compared to other courses I've played, and the rough was not bad, so if your a bit wayward with the driver you can often get away with it. Fairways were in reasonable condition, as were the greens and the bunkers. Whilst there is water on the course, it rarely comes into play, although on the one hole it did come into play my ball got wet. In terms of value I would suggest this is very good if booked through t-times, I paid £16 for a 1pm T on a Saturday. My only criticism is on the day I played the T times were not well managed, I nearly walked off the course after 9 holes, but persisted, the round took 5hrs 10 mins to get round. I'm unsure if this is the norm at the weekend, however if it is there are plenty of benches to sit on at each T...

Overall not a bad course, would probably play again at a less busier time, however it's not a pretty course and some holes could do with adding some more features to create interest.

Belfairs is a classic parkland course, some tight fairways and some good holes. What lets it down is the general public, people walking dogs and some without dogs meander down the fairway oblivious to the fact that there are golfers trying to play.

Not a single bunker today had a rake, probably because the public nick them. The guy in the pro shop was pleasant, and the course in general was in reasonable condition. However I think this I will be the last time I play here for a while.

PS: there are no practice facilities here

Unfortunately I would no longer recommend this course due to the issues with the public when playing the course.