Wigtownshire County

In 1894, Charlie Hunter, who succeeded Old Tom Morris as the professional at Prestwick, laid out the original 9-hole course at Wigtownshire County Golf Club. Hunter also designed the inaugural layouts at Machrihanish and Royal Troon so the fairways here were fashioned by a man who was much in demand on the west coast of Scotland.

Having purchased the property from the Scottish Department of Agriculture in the mid-1960s, the club subsequently acquired an adjoining 45-acre tract of land, allowing it to expand its operation, and so the number of holes was doubled to form an 18-hole course. Gordon Cunningham then designed the new layout which officially opened in May of 1987.

Located on the shores of Luce Bay, the free draining fairways at Wigtownshire County occupy a level, easily walked site, with many of the greens laid out as lie of the land putting surfaces. It’s a course that offers a basic, no frills links golf experience, enabling players to connect with an old-fashioned golf game that has sadly disappeared in the modern era.

The course now stretches to 6,100 yards from the back tees, with only one par five in play at “Blackthorn,” the 538-yard 6th hole. The pick of the holes on the front nine is the right doglegged 4th, “St Helena,” requiring a semi blind approach to a sunken green that sits close to the shoreline.

On the back nine, there’s an interesting run of holes between the 14th and 16th, where the 452-yard 15th (“Piltanton”) – the longest par four on the card – is sandwiched between a couple of short par fours. The last of the par threes follows this little sequence at the 17th, and the main defence of this hole is the sharp left to right slope of the green.