DEVLIN COURSE AT ST. ANDREWS BAY RESORT, SCOTLAND

In August 2007 I was fortunate to journey to Scotland with a group of gentlemen and a lady to play six days of golf at some of Scotland's most famous golf courses. Among them was The Devlin golf course. This review is not intended to rate the course but to reflect on my memory of the day we played it.

We arrived early in the morning, and as the day progressed the wind continued to increase in velocity. Most of us chose to hire caddies or pull golf carts, known as trolleys in Scotland and Ireland. I was in the last foursome to tee off and there were not enough caddies so my partner and I were treated to a power golf cart. Most golf courses over there do not have power carts, as we are used to in our country. Since the Devlin course is at a resort, power carts were available at the cost of 50 pounds sterling per rider. At the exchange rate that is close to $200.

The wind was so strong early in our round that the trolleys began blowing over. The club pro was very generous and accommodating and sent assistants out with golf carts to all of us. That was a classy touch, which we all appreciated.

This course was much like quality country clubs in the states. It was beautifully sculptured with scenic views of St. Andrews Bay from many of the holes. The most memorable for me was number nine where I hit a gap wedge approximately 190 yards. Sounds great, right? The flip side of this story is that I also hit a three wood fifty yards. The first was with the wind and the latter against it.

Because of the wind, there was no way to give Devlin an SFG rating, but my guess is that it would be in the 4-5 range. This was a beautiful yet very difficult course.

Now CLICK HERE and enjoy a slide show of my experience from tee to green around this 18-hole challenge.