Newburgh-on-Ythan

Newburgh-on-Ythan Golf Club was nominated as a gem by a number of people, so we visited the club in August 2010 to experience Newburgh. Here are some of the comments we received from nominees: “Beautiful course with views to die for… Some cracking, testing holes and the most amazing views of the dunes, estuary and sea beyond… A great layout that blends the old with the new making this a golf course that should not be missed.” We were very impressed with Newburgh too and endorse it as a worthy Scottish gem.

The original 9-hole course used by members of Newburgh-on-Ythan Golf Club was extended to 18 holes in 1912, twenty-four years after the club was founded. This full size layout was short lived however, and James McAndrew, the professional at nearby Cruden Bay, laid out a revised 9-hole course shortly after the Great War.

Additional land on higher ground adjacent to the old course was acquired in 1994, allowing the club to form a new front nine two years later – a round of golf at the modern day Newburgh course really is a game of two contrasting halves.

The front nine holes are laid out on undulating land that rises up from the links located alongside the River Ythan. Holes rise and fall with regularity over this terrain and several of the fairways lead to multi-tiered greens which allow a number of tricky pin positions.

The back nine present old-fashioned links golf at its finest with blind shots, firm fairways, sandy ridges and punchbowl greens aplenty. Holes are intuitively routed around a parcel of sandy soiled ground beside the river estuary with many of the fairways flanked by walls of gorse.

It’s a real shame that Newburgh is completely overshadowed by the courses at Royal Aberdeen, Murcar and Cruden Bay as it deserves wider recognition by visiting golfers who drive past on the way to these other places. Following the arrival of the new Trump International Golf Links three miles to the south, it remains to be seen if this little Scottish gem will shine any brighter in the future.