Wilsthorpe Amateur Golf Society
(established 1990)
Views of the entrance drive (above left) and the main hotel entrance (above right) at the Cardrona Hotel, Golf and Spa.
Below left is the view of the driving range, which is situated right behind the hotel. So make those practice shots good - everyone will be able to see them!!
Below is an overall map of the Cardrona course, you may notice quite of lot of 'blue stuff' running through the course, which is in fact the River Tweed.
The Cardrona course is a par 72 from the yellow tees and has a length of 6,555 yards. The shortest hole on the course is the 13th hole, which is 173 yards, stroke index 12. This hole requires a tee shot of 155 yards to reach the front edge of the green, which in turn is 36 yards deep. The green is protected on the front right corner by a bunker and trees to the left hand side, so maybe not as simple a hole as you may think!!
The longest hole on the course is the 14th hole and is 550 yards, stroke index 2. Although there is not much trouble along the fairway, the fairway does narrow half way down, with out-of-bounds either side - could get a little tricky!! Once you have negotiated the narrow fairway there is only a single bunker approximately 50 yards in front of the right hand side of the green, which is 28 yards deep. But if you do over-shoot the green, there is a second bunker at the back of the green to catch you out.
All of this information isn't from me playing a round at the Cardrona honest, it is from the course booklet I bought in the pro-shop when collecting the cards. Well how else am I going to give you all the information you need before we venture north of the border for the WAGS 25th Anniversary Away Weekend!
(above left) the view approaching the first tee, (above right) the view from the first tee. We start with a par 5, 506 yard, stroke index 7 hole, which according to the 'pro's tip' in the course booklet "is normally played in to a prevailing wind", that sounds like fun, 506 yards and in to a head wind!!
On top of that, there are no less than 8 bunkers to expertly hit your ball over and round, well I guess it will certainly blow the cobwebs off and get the old grey matter working first thing in the morning.
How could I go all the way to Scotland and not take "Worm Cam" with me!!??
He was itching to have his first taste of Scottish grass, so here is his first international photograph (left). This is looking back over the 18th green down the fairway.
The 18th hole is a par 4, 387 yards, stroke index 16 and the 'pro's tip' for the 18th hole reads as, "An accurate tee shot needed to avoid the fairway bunkers and find the narrow landing area. The second shot always plays a club more than it looks as the green is elevated." So now you know!
Everything looks just perfect, but have a look at the photograph below, it shows in a little more detail the wicked two tier level of the 18th green.
I can certainly see one or two balls running back down that slope if the groundstaff place the cup on the upper level!
I thought I would save the best photograph to last.... oh yes, they have a spike bar, what better place to treat yourself to that first cold beer after a great round of golf. Failing that you can always drown your sorrows and think how good the round of golf might have been.
Don't forget to let me know if you want a buggy for any of the rounds of golf at the Cardrona Hotel, Golf and Spa. Once they have been allocated then that is that! However standing outside the spike bar and looking over the course, it doesn't look overly mountainous, or even hilly. It seems that it is only the mountains surrounding the complex that are high!