127 - Scrabo Golf Club

Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Rating: 8.0

Set on the top of a hill, under the watch of Scrabo Tower and overlooking neighbourhoods in the greater Belfast area is this little gem of a course. Scrabo is a short drive from Belfast, roughly 20 minutes, with the last few winding through narrow country lanes up to the golf course.

Myself and my playing partner decided to play off the green tees which when looking at the scorecard doesn’t look like the longest of golf courses but don’t be fooled this is a very stern test of your golfing abilities.

The course begins with a tough start, a challenging 1st hole, an uphill par 4, stroke index 1, which realistically is 3 shots to reach the green for your average golfer. Did I mention the gorse on either side of the fairway?

The 2nd hole is no let up with a relatively short par 3 but given the height of the course it is susceptible to high winds and there’s a steep drop off if you go long.

You’d think by the 3rd there’d be a reprieve but no, a dog-left left par 4, not dramatically long but narrow. Take your driver at your peril, Your second is down a narrow lane with gorse either side (2 lost balls for me) down to the green.

It wasn’t until the 5th hole that I felt comfortable over a tee shot. The course continues in this vein, there are a handful of breather holes mixed in with a bunch of testing, thought provoking, challenging holes.

You can’t review this course without mentioning the par 4 16th, a tee shot uphill where a driver is too long, leading to completely blind second shot up to a green on top of the hill without spectacular views surrounding the green. It’s a remarkable hole.

The course itself is well maintained but chatting to Jim, the GM, they really struggle to grow the grass consistently because of the elevation and lack of heat for most parts of the year.

The facilities are okay, there’s a net to warm up in and a chipping/putting green but as you can imagine with the space they have you’d be hard pressed to get a driving range here. For £50 for visitors it is great value for money and a very different experience to the world renowned courses in the area.