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The Colt Course 8th hole.

I hit a good drive to the right hand portion of the fairway but overcooked a 7-iron through the green, which left me facing a really tricky up and down. It’s a ‘thinking golfer’s’ golf hole.

I also really liked the 11th. An accurate tee shot into a narrowing gap on the fairway is essential to give you the best angle into what is a relatively small green. It really is all about what you do off the tee.

Block it out to the right and you’ll need to reload; tug it even just a fraction too much to the left and you’ll be blocked out. It definitely focuses the mind.

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The Filly Course 5th hole.
The Filly Course 5th hole.

The Lee Westwood Filly Course, meanwhile, is an altogether different kind of test. Mainly flat and considerably shorter than its big sister, it still commands respect.

It is actually quite tight off the tee but still offers plenty of options for getting round and posting a score. Some of the holes are a bit quirky but in a good way. The par-4 sixth is a good example.

At just 300 yards off the whites, it is driveable but only if you are able to carry the pond that sits in front of the green and encroaches on the right hand side of the fairway from around 140 yards and in.

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The Filly Course 8th hole.
The Filly Course 8th hole.

Going with an iron off the tee is the safe option but the bigger hitters will struggle to resist the temptation to go for broke and take on the green. The eighth is another driveable par-4. It plays quite steeply downhill off the tee but, like the sixth, its green is guarded by water. It is classic ‘risk and reward’ stuff.

Westwood himself is a huge fan of the finished course, describing it as ‘a perfect contrast’ to the Colt. He’s not wrong.

It’s different in the best way possible and I’d even go to so far as to argue that it’s probably more enjoyable for the higher handicapper.

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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