From the first shot on the first tee, you know that you’re going to be in for a real test of your golf game. The holes at times are brutally cut into the sand dunes and it makes for some fascinating holes of golf.

I loved the tough par 4 2nd hole, followed up by the par 3 with a huge open wasteland between tee and green. Interspersed on the rest of the front 9 were a good challenge of par 4s where scores could be had but also could ruin a round. The run from holes 8-10 I found really enjoyable with the greens being very difficult to access in true links fashion with huge fall areas if you got your approach shot wrong.

10 and 12 were particular standouts for me on the back 9 with fascinating views from the tee box. I loved how they have been shaped into/around the dunes and force you to really think about how to play them. 

Having played the Old Tom Morris course the day before, Sandy Hills was a real change of pace (even though Sandy Hills is essentially ‘inside’ Old Tom Morris ground). This was the ‘head down’ course for me: there wasn’t the time or focus to take in the views of the surrounding area as I was spending much more time focused on the beauty of the golf course and holes in front of me.

€60 for a winter green fee here at the end of March was an absolute bargain!

A fascinating links course of two halves. As many have mentioned before, there was a real split between the two 9s - both with their own merit. 

The front 9 gets going with exactly what you’ll expect from the other 8 holes on the front - some sandy dunes and very undulating ground. I’ve got to say that I loved this section of the course and especially enjoyed the run of the 6th, 7th and 8th. A beautiful balance between a testing par 4, a stunning par 3 and a thinker of a downhill par 5. 

The back 9 is a real change of pace and you can see pretty much the entire 9 holes from the 10th green. Its openness does allow for some fantastic views of the local coastline and a great view of the course house from the 15th tee all the way back home. 

Having gone on to play Sandy Hills the following day, I found this to be much more of a members’ course with a good score available out there with sensible play and a lot less undulation. It was the ‘heads up’ course of the two - quite literally finding myself with my head up and looking at the incredible backdrops/framing of many of the holes. 

The most southern course in Scotland sitting on the northern side of the Solway Firth this is a journey to a remote part of the Scottish Borders. While the initial impressions are somewhat underwhelming as there are no views of the sea or sand dunes and the land looks relatively flat this is a journey well worth taking.

The first 9 are somewhat strange in that you play round a field and while it is not the most aesthetically pleasing journey the quality of the holes more than make up for this with the 457-yard second hole being much improved with new bunkering taking over from the third as my favourite hole on the front 9.

Southerness is a consistently good course, but the 12^th is the one spectacular hole a left to right dogleg par 4 with and infinity green making best use of the view over the Solway Firth but this is a true Beauty and the Beast given Out of Bounds is only two paces from the back of the green.

The one aspect lacking is variety with the shortest par 4 being 374 yards and five being over 450 yards this is a true challenge. This is currently being addressed with a redesign of the 467 yard 13^th and 456 yard 14^th holes which will be transformed to a sub 300 yard drivable par 4 with the green right on the shoreline and a circa 550 yard par 5. These changes will not only improve the variety but also provide a three hole stretch from the 12^th which will have a truly spectacular wow factor.

Southerness is a fantastic links course which should maybe be higher in the rankings than its current position but when the changes are complete in the next couple of years this will no longer be a maybe and it will likely push for a slot in the UK&I top 100