XXVIII: Loch Lomond

The ethos of golf in Scotland is it’s open to all attitude and its right to roam spirit, where people walk their dogs across the links and a tee time is an email away. St Andrews, North Berwick, Cruden Bay, Gullane and Dornoch – golf is centric to these communities for those that play and those who don’t, a feeling which elevates the soul of these clubs and permeates an idyllic and honest sense of place. This local charm and accessibility form a large piece of what makes Scottish golf so loveable, unique and downright special. After weeks of flirting with Scotland’s quintessential golfing towns and aimlessly wandering the links in the evenings, encountering the fortressed gates and security guards at Loch Lomond Golf Club feels a little odd…..

Loch Lomond's clubhouse: Rossdhu Mansion

Relatively new and with it’s walled up property concealing a pristine green parkland layout, in more ways than one, Loch Lomond Golf Club flies in the face of the traditional Scottish golfing mould. Intensely private, with an exclusive membership reserved for the wealthy and famous and no outside access, for many top 100 list chasers it stands as the reason for their loitering on 99 and something of a mythical pipe dream. Set alongside the United Kingdom’s largest freshwater body, loomed over by Ben Lomond and with the glamourous Rossdhu Mansion acting as the clubhouse, there are few more romantic locations to arrive for a round of golf – valet car service inclusive.

Green, tree-lined and gorgeous, far from the Scottish golfing mould

The shores of Loch Lomond with hillsides bleeding into the water form one of Scotland’s most quintessential, awe-inspiring landscapes and as far as parkland golf settings go, it may rest atop the heap. The routing bounces holes back and forth between the loch and the hills, each tee opening up a fresh vista and interacting differently with the surrounds – it’s a gorgeous walk which brings the Scotland’s great outdoors to life.

Although enchanting, Loch Lomond is also one of the dampest spots of a famously wet country– in ordinary circumstances a significant issue for a parkland golf course. Loch Lomond GC however, free of financial constraints, brought in close to 100,000 tonnes of sand from the Fife coastline, importing with it that familiar linksy puff of a well struck iron and the unmatched joys of firm and fast surfaces. The ball on the ground is alive and well at Loch Lomond, a key trait in maximising the impact of crafty greenside slopes and fairway bunkers which characterise the layout.

The brilliant third green - the golfer's first lochside encounter

A common riff from members is that “the front nine is for the photographers, the back nine is for the golfers”, mainly due to the heart of the front side riding closest to the shore. The third green offers the first encounter with the loch, beginning a five-hole float of scenes scarcely believable, apexing at the gorgeous one-shot fifth, its long green smothered by artful bunkers and playing straight towards the water.

The gorgeous one-shot fifth

After being spoiled by the splendour of the loch for an hour straight, it would be fair for players to feel a tinge of disappointment as the holes turn inland at the eighth and ninth, however as a flash of the incoming quality, this one-two punch of short holes only elevated in quality. With waves rolling at the back of the tee box and the mansion lurking to the right, although short in length, the eighth feels grand. What may be missed in the gravity of its surrounds is the clever putting surface which tumbles left, shielded by five bunkers, begging for the ball to be fed from the back right – one of a handful of opportunities to bring Loch Lomond’s internal contours to life.

The short two-shot ninth is a perfect follow up, asking questions off the tee with a centreline bunker lying 275 yards from the tee – the age old do I or don’t I for the longer hitter.

The clever eighth

It was the characteristics of holes like eight and nine which solidified that playing amongst one of golf’s most stirring settings is nice, but Loch Lomond’s routing and layout yields a depth of strategy and interest that took me by surprise, driven primarily by the various questions asked off the tee and the diversity of approach shots throughout the loop.

Decision making off the tee is challenged by a wide range of intelligent centre line hazards – fairway bunkers, stone walls, creeks and ponds, which slice, dice and litter the fairways, seemingly always on the line of play. This is particularly prevalent on the back side away from the loch as the scale grows and further hazards are engaged to disrupt the added width – demonstrated perfectly at the downhill tenth and thirteenth where large targets are diminished by shrewd hazards. The hair-raising conundrum at the driveable, split fairway 14th, is tempting, dangerous and thrilling in equal measure as a creek weaves through the marsh across the front of the green – a spark of drama at the perfect moment in the round.

A collection of hazards crowd the 10th fairway

Loch Lomond’s shining stars are its green complexes – dynamic surfaces which tumble, tilt, angle and fold, fashioning a wide range of approaches and greenside conundrums. The short pitch over the pond to the crumpled third, attempting to run one to the back of the plateau fourth, a wedge into the tiny pushed up fifth, a long iron in the acutely angled 13th, attempting to stick a wedge to the top tier of the 15th, navigating the creek and devious false front of the 16th – the setting is magnificent but nothing can replace the intrigue of shots like these.

The secluded drama of the back side

With the final pair closing the loop at the edge of the loch with a treacherous par three and a stunning dogleg around the shore, there is no doubt that Loch Lomond delivers on what it sets out to achieve – compelling Americanised parkland golf in a distinctly wondrous Scottish setting. Whilst it may seem a little out of place in the home of golf and it may never tickle the soul or tangle the golfing mind quite like the great links down the road, a day at Loch Lomond wrapped with a pint in its hallowed locker room makes for one of the great experiences in the world of golf – Loch Lomond is a special, special place.

There can be no doubt that Loch Lomond is one of golf's grandest walks