Moray (New)

Organised golf has been played at Moray Golf Club since the club was formed back in 1889, when Old Tom Morris laid out the inaugural 9-hole course for the founding members. Later enlarged to a full 18-hole track, the Old course is acknowledged as one of the finest in all of Scotland.

A 9-hole Ladies course was brought into play in 1905 and this remained the relief course at Moray until 1979, when it was incorporated into Sir Henry Cotton’s design for the 18-hole New course.

The three-time Open champion is most associated as an architect with Penina in Portugal, where he lived, and his list of Scottish projects is far from extensive – in fact, we know of only one other, Stirling, which he redesigned in 1967.

Today, the New course measures a respectable 6,068 yards from the white medal tees. Playing to a par of 70, it features only a couple of par five holes, “King o’ the Castle” at the 3rd and “Dinna Top” at the 14th, both of which dogleg slightly left from tee to green.

The only hole on the course that actually touches the shoreline is “Bents,” the right doglegged 10th, where a ditch crosses the fairway of this short par four as it heads towards a bunkerless green.

At 181 yards long, the penultimate hole, named “Caesar’s Grave,” is the toughest of the par threes. Playing thirty yards longer than any of the other three short holes on the card, it requires both length and accuracy off the tee in order to secure a par or better.