It is now day 3 of our trip to South Ayrshire and whilst it is overcast today it is still very warm. So we return to Troon to play the third course out of three. Over the course of the past couple of days golfers from Belleisle to Lochgreen have said wait till you play Darley…its tight! So what’s the definition of tight?

Stu...nah that’s exceptionally tight but what they meant was the fairways and course was tight. Much tighter than Lochgreen and Fullarton. Well it has to be said these course were quite narrow and we really could not see them being much worse so, we pitch up for our tee off at 9.36 play the first which is a Par 5 just under 500 yards I make par and Stu a bogey we think to each other not that bad a course……we walk over to two I make par Stu a bogey again look at each other not that bad. We then play 3 and both make 4 so we are like this is not bad at all good start and not that tight. It’s actually worthwhile saying that Stu had done some research before the trip and said “I meant to say to you that this course is actually rated as being the 4th hardest course in Scotland to play to your handicap” So we move on to 4 and it’s a wee tricky par 3 over a hill but again we both make par/bogey and then it just goes horribly wrong the course just disappears. Honestly – there is more gorse than fairway there bunkers everywhere and whilst it is a lovely looking course you can’t help but fill your pants on every tee shot. Needless to say bogeys and double bogeys started to be carded.

So…the dongo trail the most important part. Stu parred the 3rd and I managed a cheeky 2 at the 12th and that was it. At the time I managed to card a 76 less 5 and matched the SSS so was delighted. Stu a 99 (good effort in the end) Darley was a joy to play though if you just relax and try not to bottle it off every tee when you see nothing but gorse. The signature hole has to be the par 3 9th which is simply a tee, a 150 yard of gorse, all you can see id a flag within a see of gorse/whin and we had the joys of about a 20/30 yard cross wind if it wasn’t hard enough already!

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