One of the freebies I chose from the Scottish Golf Show was for Rowallan, having read previous reviews regarding its ability to handle the wet weather I decided that this current dry spell was the ideal time to get down there.
Finding the place – Their website warns you that a lot of satnavs will deliver you up a farm track to the middle of nowhere, mine was no exception. The same postcode covers a pretty sizeable area. If travelling down the M77 and then following the Kilmaurs road ignore any instructions to run right up farm tracks, the entrance to the estate is an unmistakable arched gatehouse which you drive through.
The course at the moment is bone dry. The fairways are running well but don’t appear to be getting much growth. I presume they aren’t doing very much cutting at the moment as there are patches of grass types that shouldn’t probably be there plus a profusion of the never welcome daisy. Tee boxes are billiard table flat but showing signs of damage on some holes due I presume to a lack of growth/ watering.
The greens are fast, certainly much faster than I am used to, the net result being that it took me a good few holes to get anywhere near with a chip. The greens run very true thankfully, the contouring is severe on some and hitting the wrong area of the green hurts!
The course is heavily bunkered and a lot of them are deep, very deep. Placement is excellent though. My only criticism of them would be the lack of sand in a couple of them, an inch of sand on top of earth.
The layout of the course (with the exception of one hole) is excellent, you have that great feeling of isolation on every hole, no shared fairways or even parallel fairways. The exception and potential bottle neck comes as you finish the par 3 second, the route off the green takes you to a point about 230/250 up the third fairway. Therefore it’s prudent to wait until any group on the 3rd tee have played before you walk up to it. A minor gripe really given the quality of the rest of the layout. The course is well signed with no confusion as to where to go next.
It is a superb setting with views of both the old and the new castle, the odd ruin around the course and a good few dry stane dykes. A couple of holes offer views of Arran including the superb par 4 11th (Goat Fell) a sweeping dog leg left of 449 (500 off the blues!) with a downhill approach. Of the par 3s the 8th was a standout for me, only 149 and with the green below you but with the superb backdrop of the old castle. Even the straightaway par 4 18th looks magnificent with the new castle right behind the green. There is a superb mix of holes, a few that invite you to really let rip from the tee but the majority make you think about it, classic risk/ reward.
Definitely worth a visit – when dry!
If by any chance the housing developer Charles Church is a forum member, could you please stop building those white luxury exclusive villas near golf courses – it spoilt my view on a couple of holes. And they are not exclusive – you are building them everywhere!
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