Fraserburgh Golf Club Corbiehill Course Review

Fraserburgh Golf Club Corbiehill Course

GF From £20
Par 70, 6,318 yards
Slope 124
GM Verdict – A characterful links set alongside and through some superb dune land at the tip of north east Scotland.
Favourite Hole – 16th. A mid-length par-4 played between the dunes back towards town. Accuracy is required on both drive and approach.

Established in 1777, Fraserburgh Golf Club is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. The layout of the Corbiehill championship course at Fraserburgh as it plays today is more recent than that, although it does date back to 1922 when the great James Braid carried out a redesign. It’s a fabulous links course set alongside the towering dunes with undulating fairways, changes in elevation and some fabulous views of the coast. It’s a wild and rugged place on a windy day, but when the sun shines and the gusts abate, it’s a glorious setting for golf.

The first section of the course plays up to, over and around the Corbie Hill delivering some tricky and interesting holes. The short par-4 4th plays back to a green cut into the side of the slope. It asks for a perfectly judged approach and anything short or left will fall down steep banks, leaving a testing pitch shot.

The course then moves on to the flatter, yet still rolling land on the other side of the hill and the holes become more links-like. The 7th is a standout par-3 of 165 yards, slightly downhill to a perplexing, sloping green guarded by pot bunkers. The 9th is a fabulous par-4 of over 450 yards, straightaway over a rumpled fairway to a sprawling green, it’s a tough par.

The back nine is superb with the run for home offering links holes of the finest quality. The run from the driveable 13th to the short 17th is a stretch to savour. With sandhills along the right-hand side, the holes head back towards town via narrow, lumpy fairways protected by well-placed bunkers. There’s a natural feel to these holes and they sit perfectly within the terrain. Fraserburgh is a highly underrated links and one that all lovers of seaside golf will hugely enjoy.