Blairgowrie Golf Club

Following my round on the Rosemount course in the morning and settling down for some lunch, I headed to my second round of the day and to take on the Lansdowne course. A course I wouldn’t recommend ‘taking on’. Unlike the Rousemount course which has generous fairways, the Lansdowne course is much tighter, much narrower and far less forgiving. Considered the second best of the two courses it offers a much tougher challenge. It is very similar in design, still with tree lined fairways, soft lush fairways and flat and firm greens. The one redeeming feature is it is slightly shorter than its counterpart at roughly 5,800 meters but you’re less likely to be able to get up and hit your driver off every par 4 or 5. Another great thing is they take really good care of the waste areas especially under the trees, despite being narrow you’re not exactly going to lose a ton of balls. It’s hard to distinguish between the two as to which is better so I’d definitely recommend playing both if you’re in the area or want to mix it up from the plethora of links courses. Blairgowrie offers two excellent courses, warm hospitality and a great place to spend the day.

After finishing up at Royal Burgess I headed north to a small town called Blairgowrie and Rattray, settling at The Old Cross Inn for a short 2 night stay. First thing in the morning I headed to The Blairgowrie Golf Club, home to not one but two courses in Scotland’s top 100. Starting off with the slightly more esteemed Rosemount course in the morning and then the Lansdowne course later on. Following a friendly greeting with the starter and getting paired with 2 elder statesmen from the town we took to the course. The first gives you a pretty good idea of what the rest of the course entails. Not much change in elevation, not much in the way of hazards but tall pine and silver birch trees that line the generously sized fairways with patches of heather dotted throughout. The holes subtly twist and turn with bunkers placed strategically. The fairways are like carpet and the greens are large, flat complexes that run true. At 6,000 meters off the tee it is the longer of the two courses but the width of the fairways allows for you to be more attacking off the tee. The 3rd for example is a 200 meter par 3, not the easiest green to hit either with bunkers either side. Some of my favourite holes came towards the end of the round. The 16th, a par 4, is stroke index 1, it is one of the narrower tee shots of the day. Hitting over a body of water to a fairway that drifts to the left anything slightly off course makes it a real tough hole. The 17th was my favourite, a downhill par 3 with these beautifully crafted bunkers with manicured grass faces before finishing on the 18th, a modest par 4 which has a dramatic drop towards the green nestled in front of the clubhouse. Really great course, really fun, really intriguing and pure serenity.

Il "piccolo" 9 buche è divertente e ti lascia capire che livello possano avere gli altri due percorsi da 18 buche. Frequentatissimo anche in una giornata piovigginosa. La club house è molto elegante.

Wij waren uitgenodigd door een lid. Geen idee wat te verwachten maar echt een hele mooie Parkbaan De Fairways prachtig en de greens ook maar niet super snel. Daardoor echt goed te spelen en konden we het tempo van de locals goed bijhouden. We speelden Rosemount, niet heel moeilijk maar wel heel veel bunkers waar je strategisch mee om moet gaan. Echt een authentieke Engels/schote baan.

Een aanrader. Greenfee is wel pittig….

In de oude bossen rond Blairgowrie ligt deze prachtige club met heel veel mooie oude holes (45). Het onderhoud is werkelijk schitterend en de licht glooiende baan is een genot om te spelen. Alastair McKenzie heeft oa de hand gehad in het ontwerp (ja die van Augusta) Wn nog wat andere beroemde architecten dus dat zit wel goed. (denk eraan dat de locals snel spelen) de faciliteiten zijn ook top. Niet overal in Schotland hebben ze een DrivingRange waar je rustig kan inslaan en in dit geval ook nog eens dichtbij het clubhuis welke voor Schotse begrippen heel mooi is en waar je ook nog eens een mooie bittergarnituur kan krijgen (vrij uniek)De shop is zeer uitgebreid.