Spey Bay Golf Club

Spey Bay Golf Club: after a period of relative neglect, good to know this once celebrated course on the Moray Firth seashore is bouncing back. The excellent Ben Sayers layout is still thoroughly absorbing, although some big changes will occur if an ambitious plan to create a 22-green reversible layout is implemented in the coming years.

This quiet, wonderfully natural and historically rich layout heads out-and-back along its rolling, tumbling fairways. After the first six east-facing outward holes, you'll enjoy plenty of full-on sea views, starting at the par-4 7th (Wardie). The par-3 8th (Plateau) marks the turn, while the semi-blind par-3 15th (Sea), with a carry over a yawning front bunker, offers up the most memorable short hole.

Throughout the terrain is not overly undulating, with limited elevation changes and relatively modest dunes. What you will find are several valley-like, good-width, gun barrel fairways, with plenty of heathery rough awaiting anything hit too far offline.

Bunker defences are not too onerous, either along the fairways or around the generally large greens. Restoring the greens and greensites to their previous first-rate condition has obviously been a key element of the recent restoration work.

The masterplan for Spey Bay will eventually see it transformed by Mike DeVries and his team into a fully reversible 18-hole championship layout with up to 22 greens and 5 different routings. The aim is to create a truly unique experience at this existing links course beside the North Sea.