Muirkirk Golf Club

Played this course for the first time in well over 5 years. Weather was fine, sunny with a light westerly breeze. Course was in good condition, very green. Grass on greens was fairly long but I prefer this to too short as it allows the high handicapper to give the ball a good firm putt without fear of going 6-10 yards past the pin. Muirkirk is a tidy, challenging 9 hole course which will punish wayward shots. Out of bounds is frequently close to fairways. Flags could be marked with the hole number and shops selling day tickets should provide a scorecard but an excellent and friendly golf course. Holes 1, 2 and 9 are my favorites, though all bar #6 are challenging be it with the size of green or slope of green. Hole 7 is a birdie opportunity - we'll I got a birdie there yesterday so it must be. 9th hole - Kames is a great hole at 168 yards with a narrow target area amongst four or five big trees and step bank off to the left of the green. All in all great value for money and a course with good views of the rolling southern uplands

A short course with 4 very good holes - the 2nd & 9th (Par 3's) and the 5th & 6th (par 4's). The two par 3's are not the easiest greens to hit particularly the last. The 5th is an uphill 426 yard holes which I played into the wind with a ditch across the fairway (blind from where you hit the second shot) about 40 yards short of the green. The greens are also fairly small whichj adds to the difficulty of hitting them with the second shots. A couple of minor criticisms would be that as I could not get a score card before I played I did not know which green I was hitting to at the first - I ended up playing my second to what turned out to the second green - there was a choice of 3 greens. A wee plan of the hole on the tee marker would have helped. Also it would have been helpful to have a marker post in the middle of the fairway at the 4th which has a blind drive. The views on an absolute beautiful day when I played were great and helped to add to the enjoyment. This course is worth a visit for a fun day.