Bonnyton

The list of Scottish golf courses designed by Alister MacKenzie is a rather short one and, as far as we’re aware, it includes only the MacKenzie Championship course at Hazelhead in Aberdeen, Duff House Royal in Banff, Pitreavie in Dunfermline and Bonnyton.

Throw into the mix Blairgowrie’s Rosemount, Royal Troon’s Portland and Pollok in Glasgow, all places where the master architect made revisions, and you'll still not reach double digits. Incredibly, it’s only in recent years that Bonnyton appears to have realised the importance of its course’s provenance.

The club started out as Bonnyton Moor Golf Club in 1923 but the Jewish community of Glasgow acquired it in 1957 when the opportunity arose to buy the property. Up until then, the Golf Section of the Glasgow Jewish Institute had led a somewhat nomadic existence, playing competitions at a couple of clubs on the fringes of the city or along the Clyde coast at Troon’s three municipal courses.

Nowadays, the course measures a modest 6,231 yards from the back markers, playing to a par of 72. Notable holes on the front nine include “Ca’Cannie,” the short par four 3rd, and back-to-back par fives at the 5th and 6th holes. On the inward half, the 170-yard 14th is rather unusually rated as stroke index 2 but it’s a beast of an uphill par three requiring a do-or-die carry from the tee to reach a shallow, elevated green.