Portpatrick Dunskey (Dunskey) - Dumfries & Galloway - Scotland

There are four things which stick in my mind about the Dunskey Course at Portpatrick GC. The first three are “location, location, location”. The course occupies an area of generally flat(ish) links-cum-heathland on the cliffs overlooking the Irish Sea and whether your scorched by sun, shrouded by sea-haar or wobbled (very wobbled!) in the wind golf here is invariably a bracing, worthwhile and dramatic experience. The fourth thing about Dunskey is the condition of the course. The fairways here are tighter and crisper than John Travolta’s white troosers in “Saturday Night Fever”. Punching a wee 7-iron (remember - grip well down, shorten that backswing and follow through) from these fairways is a near sexual experience in my opinion (note to self – make reviews less personal in future). The greens are almost always fast and true and if the wind really blows your putting stats for the year might take a serious bruising.

For me the best run of holes starts at the first tee and ends on the seventh green. In good conditions a fine golfer would be more than happy with pars through this stretch. In the wind the bumpy-runny-linksy type ground calls for great touch and imagination just to keep the card semi-respectable. Holes 8-11 offer some respite and, to be honest, are not wonderful. The 12th is a very solid, slightly uphill par 4 to a narrow green and 5 would be welcomed by all but the greediest of golfers. “Sandeel”, the 13th, is the signature hole and is a very driveable par 4 from a highly elevated tee. Skirt with the rough down the right and wait for the velodromic (note to self- buy a dictionary) contours to whistle your ball down to the hole. If you shoot five or more and can’t take any more humiliation this is a good point to jump the fence and sacrifice your self to the crashing waves of the Irish Sea. Personally, I would recommend you play on because 16 is a testing par four, 18 a good par 5 that offers a chance of birdie (or an 8 if the wind is going the wrong way) and the clubhouse offers a comfortable rest, a warm Gallovidian welcome and good plate of grub.

If you are organising a wee golf break I recommend you play nearby Stranraer for the unremitting challenge and play Dunskey (Portpatrick) for the joy of it. Dunskey is the kind of course that a non-playing partner or spouse would probably like to wander round. If not, the village of Portpatrick is arguably the quaintest in the region with a number of interesting arty-craft, nicky-nacky shops. Finally, the club have lots of open events, some of them in aid of the RNLI, so if you’re well-organised you can play this lovely venue for a pittance AND enjoy the warming satisfaction of having helped a great cause in the process. Note to self – play Dunskey again soon. Derek, Edinburgh, June 08.

Portpatrick was one of the pleasant surprises of last years golfing trip which included the brilliant Silloth across the border and Southerness. First, it’s a really nice place to be and the cliff top layout itself is very pleasing on the eye, especially the 13th which is simply a great hole from its elevated tee, making the green look much further away than it really is. Secondly it represents the most incredible value for money, I think we paid less than £30 for a day ticket. Thirdly it was in fabulous condition with fantastic slick greens. Fourthly the welcome was second to none. I have to say that I’d love to return here one day soon and would be more than willing to take a serious detour to play this course which I think is (and I hesitiate to use the word as people can take it the wrong way) fun with a capital F. Martin sums it up… golf with a smile. Isn’t that what it should all be about?

I don’t know the derivation of the word gem but I am willing to bet whoever coined it had just walked off the 18th at Portpatrick because if a course ever deserved the gem status it is this wee beauty. It's short, sweet and simple, I am sure that when the wind gets up it could be a bit like your wife when you forget your wedding anniversary but today it was like your Gran’s home baking, warm and comforting. It’s funny, because you get a nose for these sort of things, that you just like the feel of a place when you drive into the car park, the gut feeling was so right, it was marvellous. The pro couldn’t have been more accommodating in fitting in two travellers from Glasgow, sending us out before members and a golf outing which meant that you felt that you had the place to yourself. As implied earlier, the course isn’t too taxing, a bit like Gullane No. 3 it can flatter your golf but its no pushover. There are lots of good holes with the 13th the pick of the bunch a hole that wouldn’t look out of place at North Berwick or The Glen however, with the good there is the poor, it would be churlish to call then bad, with two of the par threes on the back nine, the 11thh and 15th, quite poor. I spoke to several people before I played the course and when I mentioned Portpatricks name a smile spread across their faces and to me that sums it up perfectly as Portpatrick is simply golf with a smile on its face.