Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 11 on 17/11/2003.

This article is 60 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.

A hole new world of golf

Everyone knows Scotland's famous cuorses but the strength of Scottish golf lies in the way the ordinary courses offer fantastic golf. Chris Losh tees off.

When it comes to strength in depth, no country can beat the home of golf, and to restrict ones play to just the five-star courses is like coming to Scotland and just visiting Edinburgh castle.

Besides, if you’ve already battled your way round the likes of St. Andrews and Carnoustie, you owe it to yourself to test your game on the sort of courses that the locals play week in, week out.

And there’s probably no better place to do that than Perthshire.

Because of its location, more or less smack in the middle of Scotland, there are no links (i.e. seaside) courses in Perthshire. Instead, there are hills, woodland, terrific turf and gorgeous views.

The best way to go about golfing in Perthshire is to buy a Green Card ticket from Perthshire tourist board.

This gives the holder access to five 18-hole rounds of golf on any of 18 courses, right across the region for a paltry £82 – and it’s valid for an entire season.

The five courses below are all on the scheme – and they give you a good idea of the kind of golfing experience that can await those adventurers who venture off the well-trodden tourist trail.

Craigie Hill

Very few golfers are ever likely to have seen anything remotely like Craigie Hill before. Winding round a hill on the south-eastern edge of Perth, Craigie Hill is the sort of complex, mystifying course that falls squarely into the ‘golfing education’ category.

And yet a look at the scorecard before setting out certainly encourages the mistaken view that you’re i.....

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By Chris Losh

Section : Scottish Golf

Page number : 64