Brora Golf club

 




Welcome to the grand finale of the blog series. Scotland has many famous links courses but Brora Golf club is less well known and this course needs to be discovered further. Brora golf club was founded in 1891 the members played on a Nine hole course until the secretary of Royal Dornoch, extended it to 18 holes. James Braid then redesigned Brora in 1923 and little has changed since.Given 194 acres of Scottish links land to work on, what in 1923 was entitled "Braid's Plan" is hardly altered. Here the visitor will enjoy the mixture of bent grass and beach sand, burn water and gorse in glorious yellow May bloom. There is even a railway which comes into play from the tenth tee. 

James Braid was paid £25 for his work, and there are many Braid traits, with the par-3s all facing different directions for wind condition variety, and a minimal use of bunkering because the natural beauty of the land is maximised. Look out for the little burns which weave in and out (the 13th is a 125-yard par-3 called Snake for this reason). It's a traditional out and back layout with opening holes playing alongside the North Sea. This brings the wind in play and can provide an immense challenge. An interesting feature of Brora is that the greens are guarded by electric fences to prevent the cows from nearby farms making a mess of the green (Shown below):

spectators on the 11th tee

The highland cows on various parts of the course help to add a wild golfing experience. The Green are tough to hit and even tougher to read, but it's hard to concentrate on the golf when surrounded by the amazing surroundings. This course will require you to use your short irons a lot 



The inward 9 holes are good but less dramatic than the front nine, The closing hole is. a tough par Three where the tee shot must carry across a gully to have a chance of making the green. Further, the green is far too close to the clubhouse for comfort.

Price -

Priced at £55 from May to October, it is not cheap. However i think if you are planning a trip to the highlands it would be a shame not to visit Brora for an unforgettable, quite unusual golfing experience.



Overall-

Its tough to see, despite its remote location, why Brora is not as well known around Scotland. If you have the opportunity to play here, take it, it will not disappoint. Gleneagles may be more glamorous, Carnoustie more prestigious. It is Brora which is the most northerly golf memorial to James Braid in his native Scotland

In my personal opinion it gets high marks for the playability and memorability, you won't regret playing this course !

Overall Rating - 7/10

Signing off, 

Lewis Wood

Location: Brora, UK

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 16, 2020 at 1:51 PM

    Well put together review from a Brora Golf club member.

    ReplyDelete

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