Southerness Golf Club Review: One of Scotland's most underrated links

Southerness Golf Club Fact File

• Location: Southerness, Dumfries and Galloway
• Year Established: 1947
• Par: 69
• Length (yards): 6735
• Green Fees (weekdays): £95-£115
• Signature Hole: The coastline-hugging 12th hole
• Website: southernessgolfclub.com

Southerness is a relative youngster when it comes to Top 100 courses. In 1946 Major Richard Oswald, a keen golfer and the son of a cavalry officer in India, decided to build a golf course in southern Scotland. He had trained troops in Scotland and married a local girl and one of the best courses on these isles was born.

Philip Mackenzie Ross, a former partner of Tom Simpson, was the chosen architect and this is generally regarded as his finest work – he would later go on to become the first president of the British Association of Golf Course Architects.

And, for the tiny sum of just £2,000, Southerness was founded in 1947. It was opened at a length of around 6,250 yards with an option to nudge 7,000 – thankfully even off the tips the longest it can now be stretched is 6,735 yards.

The original course began at the now 14th and it was a traditional nine holes out and nine holes back but, when a new clubhouse was built in 1974, the course was rerouted. So now we have a gentler, more interesting opening hole and a reachable par 5 to bookend the round, which sits well given the measly but brilliant par of 69 and collection of stiff par 4s in between.

Southerness Golf Club Course Review

Southerness has long been on my radar but had remained a blank up until the autumn of this year. Given its location, south of Dumfries on the Solway coast, it's not a natural stop-off for golfers but it really should be. Without wishing to spoil the surprise, it's immense.

The general feedback is that it's tough, the SSS is four higher than the par, there are bundles of lengthy par 4s and it will beat you up, and those all might well be the case, but it's also very classy, in exceptional condition with incredible greens and the drive to get there, which will put some off, is an absolute treat.

A great piece of advice is that you will need to hole a lot of 10-footers here as you’re not going to hit lots of greens.

The really good news is that it's going to get even better, which we'll come on to.

Even with the likelihood of a small element of recency bias our car journey home was spent elevating it far higher in all the rankings that it's part of. In my opinion you could very easily shove it 20 places higher in a GB&I Top 100, incredibly it's not even part of some listings.

The first two holes are really solid and give you a good idea of what's to come, ie the fairways are generous but, if you do stray a decent distance away from the short stuff, you'll get yourself into a real mess with the heather. On the 2nd, to give you an idea of how quality the turf was even in October, a chasing (thin) long iron got around 80 yards of run.

We should also mention the unique marker posts that are slatted in shape and worked perfectly from 250 yards away.

The other beauty is that there are all sorts of angle and wind changes, the course actually circumnavigates a field, so the first of just two par 5s, at the 5th, receives plenty of help but, here, there is a huge slope to consider.

There really is very little to not love about Southerness, the par 3s are exceptionally good and generally need to consider a crosswind, but the showpiece hole would have to be the 12th. This is when you really get to take in the coastline, again that will soon change, and there is a temptation to hit driver to this dogleg right to leave yourself a short iron in.

Or, leave a longer approach that will need to navigate the slopes that sit in front of the putting surface.

If we were ranking our favourite holes then the SI 1 9th would certainly be up there.

We finish with the second of the 5s and another very reachable hole where the ground helps rather than hinders. Again, purely for reference and nothing to do with an absent short game, I was able to locate the green from 112 yards with a putter here.

Final Verdict

In 2027 we will see a new look to Southerness with the 13th becoming what looks like a fantastic short par 4 and the next a three-shot par 5. Sam Cooper, of Links From The Road fame, was originally brought in to give the club a bunker plan as the traps were catching out the wrong people ie the shorter hitters.

During his visits he also suggested some other alterations as the course featured eight par 4s off the white tees that would play either into or across. Now there will a par 4 that will tempt everyone into having a go at the 13th, which is now one of those 4s, while the 14th is another that is currently 456 yards.

The 13th green will also sit alongside the coast and it will provide spectacular back-to-back holes before the turn for home.

As it stands the two current par 5s are both played downwind so the changes will also offer something different with more emphasis on the third shot at 14.

From the look of it, these changes will be very well received and transform a corner of the course, which now requires a lot of solid hitting, into something very different.

Southerness is a fantastic place to play your golf and is a great example of how a normal, welcoming clubhouse can elevate your experience to something even more special.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For more information, please visit the club's website here