The opening hole of Scotscraig leaves you in no doubt that you are about to play a challenging course - the out of bounds on the right, the small fairway, the hidden green and the usually fast green! Due to the heavy rains in the previous week the greens were playing much slower than usual this was a relief as you could land the ball soft as opposed to hitting the green and seeing it bounce off the back.  The second is also a driving hole that is no friend to those with a slice as there is a large wooded area to the right that has a habit of swallowing golf balls. A wider fairway and a green that allows you to drop short and run in makes this one of the easier tests on the course.

The first par 3 is a long and straight. Some well positioned bunkers will cause problems.  The fourth is the classic signature hole of the course is a tough task.  From the tee you cant see the flag only a large fairway with plenty of fairway bunkers and trees and gorse waiting to snarl any sliced drives. The second shot is to be played across a gully to the elevated green which drops away on all sides so if you miss the green you will have a tricky chip shot.  The fifth is a fairly straightforward par 4, as with most of Scotscraig's holes there is plenty of gorse awaiting for your drive if you miss the fairway.  However, even if you do hit the fairway the chances are your not going to find an easy lie either.  The sixth is a cracking par 3, with water to your right and bunkers waiting at the front right and left the green is larger than it looks from the tee.

My favourite hole is the 7th which is another daunting tee shot - gorse gorse everywhere.  There is a large mound in the middle of the fairway with the best approach to try to clear the right hand side of this to allow a shot into the green. This is a classic links hole with bump and runs or putting from off the green giving the best option rather than chipping towards the flag.  The 8^th tee is situated beside the 5^th tee, there are plenty of fairway bunkers awaiting any errant drives. The 9^th is a long par 5 and depending on the wind it could allow a for a birdie chance.  As is usual with Scotscraig the fairway is narrow with well positioned fairway bunkers.  The green is undulating but falls away at the back which means it is better to be short than long.  You can order your halfway drinks by mobile phone at the 9^th tee and pick it up at the 10^th tee – which was nice!  The 10^th plays back towards the 9^th tee – there is a large central bunker in front of the green and plenty of gorse at the back.

At this point it feels like Scotscraig’s notorious narrow fairways start to widen slightly – the 11^th bends round to the right before dropping down to a burn which cuts across the fairway.  After the burn the fairway then raises up to the green.  Depending on how far you drove your ball may determine whether you play this hole as a par 4 or a par 5.  The 12^th is another good driving hole with a heavily undulating fairway – however the drive isn’t the biggest test as the approach to the green which is heavily guarded by bunkers across the front is the make or break shot on this hole.

The 13^th is a challenging par 3 – I would love to tell you how best to approach this hole but as I over hit the green by a long way and had to chip back over the gorse all I can say is the green slopes significantly and can be difficult to judge pace.  The 14^th is another good driving hole with out of bounds on the right.  Your second shot will need to be judged to determine whether you play from before or after the burn running through the fairway.  The approach to the green becomes very narrow with a large tree to the left and a bunker to gather any short and left approaches.  One of the more responsive greens – it is getting to it that proves to be the problem. The final par 3 is a tough hole with out of bounds on the right, a burn at the front and a two tiered large green making landing on the correct level imperative.  The 16^th is a blind tee shot which should be played to the left of the marker post (they have recently grown the rough to catch anyone who tries to go right of the marker).  Anything right may either be in the trees or worse case scenario end up in the adjacent industrial estate!

The 17^th, imaginatively titled “Road”, has a road running up the right hand side.  A drive right is best and in fact a drive onto the 18^th fairway will still leave you with a good approach to the 17^th green.  A large green side bunker awaits and if the pin is positioned behind this it could be tricky to get close.  A fine closing hole is best played down the right hand side with a large green which is protected by bunkers.  The green is large so better to be long than short.