Forres

Established in 1889, Forres Golf Club’s first 18-hole course opened for play fifteen years after the club was founded. In 1912, when a more favourable tract of land became available at Muiryshade, the club decamped to that location, engaging Willie Park Junior to design a new 18-hole course which James Braid subsequently upgraded in 1923.

According to the book James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses by John F. Moreton & Iain Cumming, a “Golf Illustrated article of 20th July 1928, surveying the courses of north Scotland, enthuses ‘here you see Jimmie Braid written all over the place… he suggested all the improvements that have made it what it is’.”

The book goes on to say that two holes, the old 5th and 6th, have since disappeared (resulting in quite a long walk from the modern day 5th green to the 6th tee) with two new holes – the 202-yard par three 7th (”Witch Tree”) and 368-yard par four 8th (“Rodger’s”) – replacing those that were lost.

Five par fours in succession (at holes 11 to 15) form a formidable challenge on the back nine and they’re immediately followed by the signature hole on this rolling parkland track which is “Pond,” the 322-yard 16th, where the fairway doglegs right past a sizeable water hazard on its way to the green.