Irvine (Bogside)
DG SCOTLAND 2024
Editor, Kevin Markham
James Braid’s name is once again prominent on the design sheet of this charming, heather-laced course. Undulating terrain reveals several intriguing surprises with deep hollows, ridges and cleverly sited greens. Look to your left as you come over the railway
bridge and admire two fine holes (3 and 4) where high greens can only be found by using intelligent shot-making. Irvine is not a long course but the gorse and heather which await the errant shot make it a gripping test of golf. They frame fairways and constantly cause you to hesitate over the ball. And then there are those cunningly placed small greens and pocket bunkers, a few of which contain railway sleepers to ramp up the drama further. And
those wonderful and unexpected shapes promise no end of variety, especially as Braid knew how to design a daunting par four!
The course may lie away from the sea but that matters little on a course packed with enjoyment.