The first is a particularly long par 5, not the easiest of openers but a nice hole with not too much difficulty.  The 2^nd has water in play on your left but it is a reasonable GIR chance as long as you stay right.  The 3^rd is the first par 3 and is a cracking little hole with some nice bunkering at the front but with a fairly generous green.  The hole plays downhill and on our day was perhaps a club shorter than you would normal expect due to the elevated tee and no wind.  The 4^th was the first time you really had to get your thinking hat on and consider course management as there is a rather large dip in the fairway which leaves you with a blind second (or third) shot to the green.  The difficultly here is getting position on the fairway and hitting across the dip to the green.  There isn’t as much bunkering here as on other holes but of the “inland” holes was probably one of my favourites.  The 5^th is another long par 5 with bunkers on the right just waiting for your drive.  The fairway opens up to the left so the key with your second shot is to aim left as there is plenty of fairway out there.  If you are not left the approach to the green is fraught with difficulty with bunkers on the right and the green falls away at the back.  Better to be left and short than right and long.

The 6^th is another par 3 – at this point it should be said that the greens were in excellent condition.  This hole in particular was very quick with a sloping green with some subtle and difficult to read turns.  I wouldn’t say the greens were as good as the Torrance with a bit more moss than I noticed on any of the Torrance greens but for March in Scotland and particularly given our winter they were nothing short of exceptional.  The 7^th is one of the holes that really starts to get you excited on this course, with the Tay estuary hard on your left hand side, an elevated tee and some gorgeous revetted bunkers on the right it is a cracking hole and one were you have to decide if you are accurate enough with your driver or whether you should nudge it down the middle with a long iron.  It is such a pretty hole but it is fairly fleeting as you turn back inland away from the sea for the next 2 holes.  The 8^th is all uphill and it seems such a shame to be leaving the pebble beach like shore line behind. 

The 9^th is possibly one of the highest points on the course and offers you a great view over the course and sea – after the walk up the 8^th its nice to get some assistance to smash the ball back downhill.  Another nice large green which seems to offer its self to the more traditional bump and run approaches than the fancy dan chip shots.  The 10^th heads back along the shore line and actual shares a green with the 7^th.  It is a fairly short hole but with some well positioned bunkers (particularly a run of 3 small bunkers to the front left of the green) it does mean that you need to strategically plot your way around the course.  Once again you make your way away from the coast and uphill. If I didn’t like the 8^th, I detested the 11^th, two words can describe this hole “uphill” and “long”.  The 12^th is another elevated tee and takes you back over the dip from the 4^th hole.  A tight fairway awaits and if you decide to head for the right make sure you are long enough to fly the bunker that is directly in your way.  On this hole there were a few new bunkers that had been added this winter and they look to be good additions to the hole and will make second shots much more problematic.  The 3^rd and penultimate par 3 is next, a fairly long par 3 again with some new greenside bunkering -  my advice is not to try and fly at the flat but to take the sensible route of aiming for the start of the green and putt from there.

The 14^th is a challenging par 4 with trees on your right and bunkers on your left.   The 15^th is just excellent and was my favourite hole (it was so tough to choose between this and the 17^th).  You need to decide if you can fly the fairway bunker from the tee.  If you can’t then you will be hitting your second shot blind,  another central fairway bunker is awaiting any layup approaches and to your right is a deep ravine that is more than happy to take any balls you want to offer. The green is perched as if it is floating on the sea – it is just wonderful.  You leave the green and hit the last par 3 which runs directly along the coast and under the clubhouse.  It isn’t as long as it looks and beware of the green, it is tiny.  Best solution is to the bail out to the right and bump and run to the flag.  The penultimate hole is another absolute cracker with the sea running along your right, a wall across the middle of the fairway and one of the most spectacular bunkers you will ever see.  The green is massive and even if you get on in 2, which is unlike for most mere mortals, getting a par is no given. After the 17^th the 18^th is a bit more subdued with some nice fairway bunkering and some manmade dunes protecting you from the 17^th and the 18^th of the Torrance.  The green is elevated and large but isn’t too difficult to read.