The New Course began as a 9 hole course for the numerous lady members of Moray Golf Club in 1905 and was developed into its current routing by 3 time Open champion Sir Henry Cotton in 1979. The course has a reputation for being incredibly challenging off the tee, with gorse bushes lining almost every fairway. Almost incredibly, I walked off the course with the same ball I started with. A very rare feat for me on any course, let alone one of the tighter layouts in Scottish golf.
On the New Course, we decided to play the greensomes format in preparation for a mixed greensomes open we were playing the next day on the Old Course. It was great for this course in that it meant we had 2 opportunities to hit a good tee-shot. This was quite freeing and allowed us to play slightly more aggressive than we have played in the past on this course. We managed to shoot a -3 gross and could have gone lower had some more putts dropped. This score was in part thanks to the extra distance gained by taking a more aggressive strategy off the tee.
Particular holes that stand out to me on the New Course are both par 5s, the 3rd and 14th. Ranked the number 1 and 2 hardest holes on the course, they play all of their par and are no push over. The 3rd hole plays from a raised tee set in and amongst the gorse to a fairway that doglegs slightly at around 250 yards. A couple of fairway bunkers line the dogleg ready to capture the slightly misfired tee-shot. Once up at the green, the hole does not get any easier. It is a two-tiered green with slopes on either side which are ready to repel a wayward approach shot towards the gorse bushes. We were lucky in that we had a front flag and were able to make a relatively routine up and down from the front right of the green for our bridie.
The 14th hole is very suitably named ‘Dinna Top.’ A good drive is required on this semi-blind hole where you hit towards a fairway sloping away from you and lined with gorse. The second shot is where the hole has been suitably named. A narrow and deep burn runs at an angle across the fairway, capturing any shots that may have been caught a little low on the face (or topped!). The visual intimidation on this course is a lot worse when you walk these holes than it is when you reach the greens and look back. The green at 14 looks surrounded by gorse however, once up at the green, there is a lot of space to the left and long meaning that this is really a hole to take advantage of.
At around 6000 yards, The New Course is not the longest course by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, one the tougher tests from the tee. Gorse lines almost every fairway on this course and it is very hard to ignore when in full bloom with the bright yellow colours.
The course does also reach the coastal extent of the property on the 10th hole. This short par 4 has shallow and wide sand dunes to the right which border the beach. At only 323 yards, I have always found the best approach is to hit an iron down to my favourite yardage and flick a wedge in. It keeps the big number, which always lurks in the back of your mind on this course, out of play and ensures a mostly-straightforward path to a par. The 10th hole sums up this course well as it rewards the long and aggressive shots which carefully navigate their way into the fairway, but it also has the playability that if the hole doesn’t suit your eye, you can hit a fairway finder and try to make the par the safer way. The greens are far easier to hit the closer you are to them as some of the runoffs are quite severe and can leave you some very awkward chip shots. Overall, this course is a great complement to The Old Course and requires some deep thinking and clear decision making to ensure that you keep your ball in play.
Once we had concluded our round on The New Course it was time to head to the hotel and decompress after a long golf day. The 18th green of The New Course is unusually situated adjacent to the 18th tee of The Old Course. Therefore, once you finish you have the option of walking or playing the 408 yards back to the clubhouse. We opted for the walk after our 36-hole day, however, you can imagine there have been plenty of matches between members that have gone to this 19th hole.
Want to read our hole-by-hole course guide for Moray New Course? You can check that out here: https://cggolfs.wordpress.com/2024/06/18/moray-new-course-guide/
Want to watch our full round trying to break 70 at Moray New Course? Watch our YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/oDlf6TG0ouE
CGgolfs⛳️ 