Wigtownshire County
It may not be one of the best courses in the country but there is an undeniable pleasure in playing at this rustic and old fashioned links. The main reason for this is the artfully located greens and the wonderful putting surfaces that have just the right about of borrows, merge seamlessly into the landscape and essentially bring this course to life.
Despite being played over relatively flat terrain there is more movement in the land, albeit relatively subtle, than you may initially think and the unfussy and no-nonsense style golf here is refreshing. This is far from a dull affair and can truly be enjoyed by all standards of player. Par and SSS are both 70 whilst the yardage from the white tees is 6,104.
After a couple of uninspiring holes to start with the course comes alive with a superb natural green location at the third. This commences a run of some extremely good holes. The fourth and sixth, both legging to the right and hugging Luce Bay, are the highlights but the fall-away short fifth and the green complex at the eighth are also exceptional.
The two holes that really stood out for me on the back-nine were the tenth, again a superbly sited green, and the 152-yard 13th, where the green slopes significantly from left-to-right. The raised green at the 14th is also a joy to behold and a perfect example of maximising the use of the land.
I came away from the course very impressed with the simplistic nature of the links and in that sense I can forgive what is very ordinary, in fact quite poor, bunkering and even the long walks to the next tee at holes two, three, four, six, 15 and 16!! The walk from the first green to the medal tee at the second is over 200 yards!
The turf here is as firm and as tight as any links enthusiast could hope for and the exposed nature of the linksland would make playing here in a wind a real challenge, yet there is plenty of width that will ensure negotiating the holes is still more than possible.
Wigtownshire County is a little bit off the beaten track and many golfers visiting Scotland will never see this course but for locals, and those willing to travel a little bit out of their way, this is a venue that will not disappoint. If you are traveling to this course from the North, perhaps Troon, Turnberry or Prestwick, you will also get to experience the beautiful coastal drive from Girvan down to Stranraer.
