With 200 miles of wildly beautiful coastline and mile upon mile of rolling countryside stretching off towards the Southern Uplands Dumfries & Galloway is ideal golf country. Indeed the region boasts over 30 courses. This southern dame offers everything from tough championship courses, through to more genteel affairs with the hand of the legendary course designer James Braid never far away. The last course he ever designed is in Dumfries & Galloway.
Golf in Dumfries
Image: Credit Dumfries & County Golf Club
To play Golf in Dumfries & Galloway you don’t need to look any further than the region’s capital, Dumfries, which is blessed with four golf courses. The Dumfries & County Golf Club’s immaculate greens and spectacular Nith Valley views are legendary. This parkland star dates back to 1912 when it was sculpted by Willie Fernie, who created a real parkland classic. Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club meanwhile offers another superb parkland course, an 18-hole par 70 spread across 6,222yds. Just to the southeast of Dumfries James Braid was the mercurial talent behind Powfoot Golf Course, which he designed in 1903. Here the Solway Firth winds add an extra challenge when tackling this blend of links and parkland at a real hidden gem of a course.
Another expertly designed course is Southerness, a tough championship challenge that regularly features in Golf Monthly as one of the top 100 courses in Britain and Ireland. It is easy to see why as this 6,728yds test is links golf at is best with as difficult a run of par 4s as you will find anywhere. Then there are the epic views to savour out across the Solway Firth and the Galloway Hills, and on as far as the Lake District across the border.
Golf Near Kirkcudbright
Another championship course is Brighouse Bay near the picturesque coastal resort of Kirkcudbright. In addition to the 18-hole main attraction there are sweeping views over to Ireland and the Isle of Man, as well as a six bay covered driving range, short-game practice area and a 9-hole par 3 course. Newton Stewart Golf Club meanwhile has another parkland treat tucked at the heart of the Galloway Hills. Its 18 holes are laid out over 5,840 yards with the par set at 69, allowing more moderate golfers a bit of slack.
Stranraer Golf Course is a James Braid Masterpiece
Fans of James Braid should make a beeline for Stranraer Golf Glub on the west coast, home to the final course designed by the seminal designer just a year before his death. This 6,308yds parkland treasure wraps its grassy claws around Loch Ryan with views out towards Arran and Ailsa Craig. It was once said of Braid that ‘Nobody could be as wise as James Braid looked’. This gem is certainly not a case of style over substance though. Instead it is a course that reflects the talents of the five time British Open winner and one of the most famous course designers of them all, the man behind Gleneagles and Carnoustie.
Image: Credit Dumfries & County Golf Club
Given that there are so many courses to choose from in Dumfries & Galloway handily there is the excellent Gateway to Golf pass that works in conjunction with three golf trails, which neatly group together courses along a common theme. Rather than just nip into the region for a round, these trails show you how you can enjoy a longer golfing break. The Tiger Trail focuses on the big hitting names like the aforementioned links star Southerness and James Braid designed Powfoot that suit golfing big hitters looking for a real challenge. There are half a dozen of these courses to choose from.
The Challenge Trail meanwhile groups together a range of courses that are of more universal appeal. Saying that you will still need a decent bag of golfing tricks to shoot a low round at the likes of Moffat, a moorland par-69 designed by Ben Sayers of North Berwick that may only stretch for 5,259yds, but which offers a number of challenges set against a spectacular Southern Uplands background. Another Challenge Trail highlight is Wigtownshire County, a 6,104yds par-70 links course spectacularly set overlooking the sands and sea at Luce Bay in a balmy location where snow is virtually unknown.
The last of the trio of trails, but certainly not the least appealing, is the Little Gems Trail. Here Dumfries & Galloway’s often forgotten nine-hole courses get a chance to shine. These include New Galloway, a gorgeous wee nine-hole gem that is seriously underplayed by non-members and Gatehouse of Fleet, whose nine holes offer epic vistas of Wigtown Bay, the Clints of Dromore and the massif of Cairnsmore of Fleet. These are the sort of courses that everyone can enjoy and the options on this trail tend to be very keenly priced too, handy for the beginner looking to get into the sport. These trails are an ideal way of getting to know Dumfries & Galloway’s courses better, but whether you follow a trail or indeed blaze your own, you will enjoy significant savings with the excellent Gateway to Golf pass.
Once you have the pass (you can also pick one up at any VisitScotland Information Centre in Dumfries & Galloway) and have booked your tee time you just hand over a voucher at the club and then you are off to the first tee for your round. Note that you can go round twice on nine-hole courses with one voucher. The Gateway to Golf pass comes in two basic permutations. There is the three-round pass at £80, which is valid for five consecutive days, and the six-round pass at £120, which is also valid for five consecutive days. You can mix and match between courses from the three trails if you like or just focus on one. In total there are 26 participating courses so you really are spoilt for choice, but that is what golfing in Dumfries & Galloway is all about.
Armed with or without a Gateway to Golf pass, though there is little reason not to buy one, whether you follow one of the superb themed trails or not, golfing in Dumfries & Galloway these days is a pleasure. The region’s myriad courses come in all shapes and sizes, from handicap testing links, to relaxed family friendly nine-hole courses, but all of them share in common the remarkable local scenery in a land whose sweeping coastline and rolling countryside are ideal for golf.
