Wigtownshire County Golf Club

Wigtownshire County Golf Club: known locally as "The County", here you'll find a flattish links golf course that sits alongside Wigtown Bay, while also facing inland towards the soft Galloway Hills.

This friendly, welcoming and nicely presented club doesn't put on airs and graces as it serves-up an enjoyable and easy-walking links layout. Scenic views occur throughout the round, with the back-nine arguably containing the more interesting and varied holes.

Around the turn on this out-and-back layout, the Water of Luce river estuary provides a wonderfully scenic and natural backdrop to the holes. On both the front and back nines you'll also play holes that run directly alongside the shoreline of Wigtown Bay, itself part of the much larger Luce Bay. Such bay-hugging holes include the doglegging par-4 4th (St Helena), par-5 6th (Blackthorn), and long par-4 15th (Piltanton).

The often circular, domed, subtly-sloping greens are not too onerously bunker defended, a trait they share with the generally good-width fairways. One small surprise, is the amount of walking back you have to do from several greens to the subsequent teeing grounds. Perhaps this was necessitated by the extension to 18-holes in 1978.

Pick of the holes: although not directly bayside, the straightaway short par-4 14th (The Mains) is a lovely hole, played to a slightly elevated green that's bunker-defended left and right.