One of my usual rounds after a flight! Flew Málaga to Edimburgh (with 1hr delay unfortunately) and what should have been a nice lunch before play turned into a 5mins to tee time arrival and straight off to the tee without even hitting a putt. But this was compensated after the round with a very nice dinner at the Club House with my friend and host Colin, who the day after won the Local Clubs Gold Medal at The Old Course St Andrews,

I had heard words about how tight and difficult Scotscraig was and my rusty swing after the flight and drive proved it being totally outplayed by the course. I tried hard, but she was just way better than me that day.

A James Braid gem, with quite a good challenge off the tee with two short par 4s on the front that demand a layup shot before some rough and hollows. Very well protected greens with breaks unusually tough to read, even for my friend who is a Member here! And that says a lot about the difficulty and resistance to scoring that this Course has.

Holes to highlight?

• 4^th, a very nice short par 4 where layup is mandatory and then a false front will make this approach shot one of the toughest.
• 5^th is a beast, into the wind and with gorse along the right side of the landing area this one is a good chance of sending a ball to rest unfound forever.
• 7^th another quirky fairway but with some recent cleaning you can go with the driver on a tight line.
• 11^th could easily be a par 5, very long and with a very nice green complex which makes you feel it is closer but it is not!
• 15^th nice par 3 with a wee burn before the green in a two tier design, miss lateral and you will find a tricky up and down ahead.
• 17^th a not long par 4 with another green tough to interpret, over the hole and it can be lightning fast.

It is being repetitive by me, but I don’t get tired of highlighting overshadowed and hidden courses. This is one of those, where a nice logo and the oldest Gold Medal Competition take place. Give it a try, well worth during the gorse boom spring.