Covesea Links is one of the newest golf courses in the north of Scotland. Opened in 2012, it has a timeless feel and looks like it could have been there for 100’s of years. Initially, Covesea reminded me of Cullen, which we had played the day before, as the land is very similar where you have the sea bordering one side and a steep slope guarding the land side of the course. It also has a lot of gorse, which we got used to seeing at Moray Golf Club the day before. The outcrops of sandstone that feature in some of the later holes at Covesea also remind you that geologically you are in a very similar environment to Cullen.

Andy Burnett designed the course and his wife Angela operates Covesea on a day to day basis. The course appears to have just used the land as it was found and there are a great variety of holes to test even the best golfer. Any visitor to Covesea is guaranteed to receive a fantastic welcome and will definitely enjoy their round on this fantastic 9-hole layout.

Covesea Links lies around a 5 minutes drive west of Lossiemouth, where we were staying the night before. At around 7am, we reached the entrance to the course and began the mile or so drive, from the main road, down the dirt path to the course. Without the large sign upon entry, you would be forgiven for thinking you had made a wrong turn. A few hundred metres from the main road, you cross the brow of the hill and see the golf course for the first time in the expanse below the road. You really get a sense of what you are about to play from the bird’s eye view from the road in. One of the first things you notice is how rugged the course looks with the early morning sun casting shadows on every undulation in each fairway.

As expected, when we arrived, there wasn’t a soul around. There was a small honestly box chained to the portacabin, which serves as the club office. Once we had slipped our £22 each into the box, we grabbed a scorecard and headed to the 1^st tee to get our first taste of what golf at Covesea Links had to offer. A quick glance at the scorecard showed a map of the 9 holes we had to come as well showing the standard distance and par of each hole. 

At 2000 yards and a par 31, Covesea doesn’t immediately strike you as the type of place where you may struggle to score well. Despite its length, Covesea tests even the best player and requires lots of course knowledge to be able to navigate all of the tricky undulations. The holes on this course have great variation and range from 90 yards to over 400 yards.

The course can almost be split into two halves. The first four holes are build on very traditional and rugged links land, while the last 5 holes are further inland and feature much more significant elevation change. The first 4 holes play vastly different to the others and are relatively flat, apart from the minor humps and hollows that are common on links fairways. The high point on the course is at the 6th tee where you have a stunning panoramic view of the course and the beach below.

These last 5 holes are fantastic and very unique to this part of the world. There are very few courses that could be compared to this purely due to the landscape. The course features exposed sandstone rocks and some blind par 3’s which really add to character of the course.  Our favourite hole is the 8^th, which plays as a short 232 yard par 4. Despite an elevated tee, the green plays relatively blind due to a large bump in the fairway. There is trouble all around the green, meaning a birdie 3 is a very good score, despite the length of the hole.

The final hole provides the perfect back drop for the conclusion of a fun match with friends. It is a short 104 yard par 3 that has a punch bowl green and rewards good distance control. Having used the contours well, Cam hit it in to 5 feet with G just outside of his ball. He had a 1-hole advantage heading into this hole and it was looking good for Cam to secure the win. However, a well-timed birdie hole out from G and a misjudged effort from Cam resulted in a half game and a fair ending to a great morning of golf.

Upon walking off of the 9^th green to head back to the car, we stopped past the starters’ box as there was a lot more activity than when we had arrived. We were greeted by Angela who runs the Links. She offered such a great welcome and told us a great story about a large party of Scandinavian tourists who had visited the day before. They had raved about the course and vowed to come back on their next trip. Covesea is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area and is a very welcoming place to all levels and ages of golfer.