Blairgowrie Golf Club (Lansdowne)

Blairgowrie Golf Club is in the fortunate position of having three golf courses over which the members play – the 18-hole Rosemount and Lansdowne courses and the 9-hole Wee course.

When the club was formed in 1889, they played golf over 9 holes on the land close to Black Loch that belonged to the Dowager Marchioness of Lansdowne, from whom the course took its name. That course has since become the Wee course.

The Rosemount course came into being some years later and a number of golf course architects – including Dr Alister MacKenzie and James Braid – have been credited with its development into one of the top courses in Scotland.

That is not to say that the current Lansdowne course is in any way inferior to its sister course. Indeed, some commentators actually prefer the more modern 1970s design of Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas to the Rosemount as they feel it offers a more challenging test of golf!

Like the Rosemount course, the Lansdowne is routed through swathes of pine and silver birch trees which put a premium on accuracy off the tee. Many golfers will keep their driver in the bag throughout their round to ensure the ball is kept in play on the way to making a decent score.

For links golfers used to open, windswept courses around the coast, Blairgowrie is almost a surreal experience where every hole is played virtually in isolation as fairways are framed by banks of trees that block out the outside world – it is a wonderfully comforting, peaceful setting in which to indulge one’s golfing pursuits.

At 6,913 yards from the back tees, the Lansdowne is not short by any means. Nonetheless, seven of the twelve par four holes are under 400 yards and the three par threes are all under 150 yards so, once again, accuracy, not length, is the key to good figures on the scorecard.

It's no coincidence that Blairgowrie and Gleneagles are ensconsed in the upper echelons of inland Scottish golfing venues as they're blessed with the most sublime terrain over which to route a golf course – many around the world may try to replicate similar layouts but it's virtually impossible to reproduce what Nature has provided in these celebrated Perthshire landforms.

Day tickets are a marvelous idea when a club like Blairgowrie has two magnificent courses at your disposal – and with a clubhouse refurbishment in 2004 that cost over ₤1 million, you would be mad not to play both the Rosemount and Lansdowne and sample what the members are very fortunate to enjoy both on and off the course.