Brighouse Bay Golf Club

We have been playing Briggy for the last 6 to 7 years or so and it has had it's struggles. The course conditions have improved slightly over the last couple of years but it seems they are short of staff and nature has taken over somewhat with rabbits and badgers digging up some parts of the course. The greens are ridiculously slow and the rough unforgiving. It is advisable to get a buggy as it is quite hilly but the "clubhouse" does not open until 12pm which makes the latter difficult unless you have previous experience of the situation and either walk or play in the afternoon.

Given all of this, it is saved by the beautiful views all around the course and the rugged beauty.

We have played this course numerous times love the views but it needs a proper greenkeeper rather than just grass cutters the greens need a lot of improvement and the tee boxes needed cutting but we always play because of the views

I have played this course twice in the last year and love the layout and challenging conditions of the wind. Fairways in great nick having just been cut. Would go forever and a day if the greens were better. Appreciate that the rabbits have a say but they need a lot of tlc

Still had a great time. Weather was good. Views out to see breathtaking And the par 3 8th over the cliffs is just brilliant

One of the most frustrating golf courses I’ve ever been on.

The potential here is incredible. A good layout, not a walk,( too much property between green to tee ). However, clearly no money has been spent on this. Fair always are not cut. Tees are badly maintained and greens are a shambles. If there is a greens staff they are not golf trained, merely grass cutters. Spend the money and this course could be a cracker. The potential is there. We paid £20.00 for our round but with poor layout, poor signage and a buggy which ran out of juice on reaching the second green, our round took nearly four hours. We had to wander round the caravan park to find someone who had a landline in their static. There’s no phone signal. Back to the golf.

Some aspirational holes, fantastic scenery and individually, well designed holes. As mentioned, a professional green staff could transform this place and really put it on the map. I’ll wait for that to happen before I return.

Sadly the greens were in very poor condition and didn't make for any enjoyable putting. The course has great potential just a bit more time spent on the course condition. If any friends were in the area, I'd recommend they played. We only done 9 holes and unfortunately the 9th finishes at the far end of the course so a long walk back to the carpark.

Big wide fairways and a lot of blind shots making you choose the correct club, lots off water features, played off the white tees, only disappointment were the tees which needed cutting and the greens, a lot of weeds and moss, it actually looked like the had used a dye to mark the greens, apart from that if you get the weather as I did, sunny the views are spectacular

Greens are in a very very bad condition

Tee boxes needed a cut and it was club championship day Apparently what a shocking condition!

It is in a great setting and could be so much better with a bit of attention! Absolute not worth the £30 fee to play!

Was looking for somewhere different to play and found brighouse was on a hot deal. Played on a good sunny day and luckily no wind. Good luck if the wind gets up it will be tough. Stand out holes for me was the 2nd and 8th. The course has great potential if someone invest some cash into it. The greens are ok but could be better. No issues with pace of play round in 3 hours for 2 ball. Staff were friendly and helpful

At the beginning we were faced with closed doors, but then we found someone who rented us two e-cars. Unfortunately no scorecards available. We received a course book in which the order of the holes did not match those on the course.

After we had played hole 1, we had to ask a groundskeeper where we would find the next tee.

After a lot of back and forth, we found out that first holes 14 - 18 (in the course book) are played as 1 - 5 and then 1 - 13 as 6 - 18.

Once we found our way around, we had a lot of fun.

Although the green leaves a lot to be desired and the markings for the blind holes were on the ground, it is still worth playing the very varied course.

With better organization it could be a gem!

The restaurant is open from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and then again from 5 p.m.

It's all a bit disorganized. Unfortunately.

Yet; any time

I genuinely want to like Brighouse Bay, because its routing is interesting and its site fantastic, but current course conditions are weak. This is the first time I’ve played it, and throughout the tee-to-green golf was exciting. The employees I met at check-in proved to be friendly, polite, and considerate. Playing the course itself, however, was problematic: without relatively smooth greens–and these could charitably be called just plain bad--such that I could not post a real golf score.

Sadly, conditions lagged well behind other Scottish courses I played while on my trip. The greens, especially, were poor, marred by patches of weeds and grasses other than what is standard for golf courses. The act of rolling a golf ball on them, then, was anything but smooth, so much so that I could not putt the ball with accuracy. Bad greens, it almost goes without saying, also negate any predictability on the rollout of chips and pitches as well. The bunkers were also in poor shape. Beyond this, the tees were not mown well and the rough plagued with heavy grass clippings that should have been cleaned up. It was quite easy to lose a ball in the rough because it was likely covered by these clippings; I soon gave up searching for a couple of them. Surprisingly, given all this, the fairways were passable; at least, I didn’t get too many bad lies in them because they were cut relatively well. The long and short of it, though: course management needs to give serious attention to conditioning basics, foremost around the greens, which appeared to have shrunk (I’m guessing) to almost miniscule dimensions–perhaps to save maintenance costs.

The other outstanding problem here is signage. The layout’s routing is complex and, especially in the middle of the course, unpredictable. Maybe a better, larger map of some sort would help (on the scorecard?) but I found myself confused on several holes because of the almost total lack of signage. The only real “signs” are the stone hole markers around the tees, but these are relatively inconspicuous. I wasted lots of time looking for the next hole in several cases.

Still, there are several positives about this course to consider. The stunning site had me marveling at the views out over the Solway Firth, as well as the cliffs, the strongly contoured golf terrain, the Galloway Hills, and the views that extended a long way–in many places–across the golf course itself. Seldom have I encountered sites like this for golf courses; the general views are just amazing, as some of my attached photos should show.

The routing offers solid variety. On the front are two reachable par-5s from the white tees: the first hole, playing downhill, covers 491 yards; the sixth, down the same hill, 461, and your approach here must cross a stream and also avoid the pond on the left. The fourth is an excellent par-4 anchored by two ponds on an bending, uphill fairway leading to a well-protected green set upon a rise. The par-3’s are strong ones, especially the 160-yard eighth, where the tee shot must cross a spectacular ravine and ideally land on a green pitched back to front. It is partially surrounded by a picturesque stone wall.

Although shorter, the back nine is perhaps even better overall, but this inward half’s three standout holes come in quick succession at 10, 11, and 12. They are all set, wholly or partially, on the highest section of this layout. Ten, the best hole on the course, is a three-shotter that nearly tunnels through the abrupt hillsides, covered in gorse and high grasses. Here, your tee shot must be virtually arrow-straight, and the second, no less difficult, is pure target golf to a tight landing zone. Having survived both of these, you’ll still need an accurate pitch down to the green should you hope to make a par at the relatively short but grueling tenth. It’s truly an original and fantastic hole. Eleven is a short but solid par-4 that climbs a steep, humpbacked hill to its landing zone, then doglegs left as its fairway climbs further uphill to a fortress-like green. A GIR here requires two well-struck shots. After this, the short par-4 twelfth (only 298 yards) trundles straight downhill (and you’ll need an accurate tee shot to hit the fairway) before reaching a beautifully sited green that is not far from the cliffs.

Completing the eighteen are six conventionally good holes at Brighouse, with 16, 17 and 18 comprising a solid finish. One thing to remember: you’ll almost surely want to take a buggy on this very hilly course.

Some conclusions:

I would recommend this course only to golfers who want to work on their games from tee to green, but once around or on the greens it’s hard to imagine carding a score that reflects how well you’re actually playing. Birdie putts, unless you knock it a couple of feet from the flag, are highly improbable. I made one longish par putt today, but it was sheer luck. Other than that, you might play it for the almost incomparable scenery, especially from holes eight through thirteen.

The greens and tees are awful, what is growing on the tees isn’t even grass and it is too long to put a tee into. The greens are just very patchy and poor, they are basically fairway. I won’t spend money to play here again.

Played Brighouse Bay for the first time today. Weather stunning and warm. Views to die for over the bay. Fairways in top class condition as just been cut. Some very tough holes out there 8th is a terrific par 3 over the sea gorge.10th is a brute plus many others

Quite undulating at times. Real shame about the greens. Covered in daisies or weeds. Just about playable though

In summary - with investment in the greens Brighouse Bay would be superb

Played in April after a wet spring. Course has suffered just like everywhere else. Lots of rough that ground staff were in the process of cutting. Greens were ‘as nature intended’ and could do with a lot of work. Views from holes by the sea are spectacular. Some blind tee shots with no guide poles so first timers will be crossing fingers that they are going the right way

Brighouse Bay Golf Club is on the Solway Firth coast and has lovely views. That’s the good bit.

The course is in awful condition. The tees hadn’t been cut for days and were very rough. The greens were very rough and basic and the fairways had clumps of rough right in their middle. The signage was non existent so finding the correct tees was quite a game.

We rang to hire a buggy for our 13.00 tee time and we’re told to collect the key from the holiday park office so we arrived there at 12.35 to find a notice saying closed until 13.00. We could see two ladies were having their lunch and they could see us. Eventually and with much reluctance as we started to leave one came out with the key.

The buggy was decrepit ! The rear right wheel was very buckled and we genuinely thought it might fall off.

I suppose for only £35 for two players it wasn’t expensive and we were the only players on the whole course.

We will never forget our round at Brighouse Bay but for all the wrong reasons. 😂

I read some reviews on the course and some very negative. All I can think if it’s perceived to be that bad then it’s much improved since. This is a wonderful course with amazing views and a real tough challenge with undulating fairways many tight and blind. Not one green is simple and most are like a roller coaster so accurate shots are a must and the ability to read a green.

I’ll admit the greens need some TLC. Very playable but not Augusta length. The team are doing a good job keeping it in check but maybe a little bit of investment required. That said the course has a wonderful charm.

All I would say is if you book on golf now just give the club a quick ring to make sure you know the details for when you arrive. There is no official clubhouse. Registration is in the leisure club but who cares. It has a nice bar, friendly staff but just check in advance. I didn’t have an issue but I see some scathing comments on here.

Enjoy the challenge, enjoy the views !! No one needs to play Augusta every time.

Stuart

This course is attached to a caravan park and was probably previously in much better condition than it was on Sunday 4th June when it had obviously had its first cut in many months as was evident by the cuttings left on tee boxes and fairways. The signage was difficult to follow in places and some of the aiming posts were lying down, so not visible until you had played onto the wrong fairway! It is quite a long and difficult course when playing it for the first time and it took much longer than needed due to these issues. One has to bear in mind it is a local course played by holiday makers and caravan owners primarily and does not employ the number of green keepers that other clubs have the benefit of. Needless to say, we persevered and got round in 5 hours after several false starts on holes and many many lost balls in the punishing rough (lots of this in the middle of fairways too to create hazards!) We paid full premium price for the round and were miffed to find it on Golf Now (when looking for other courses to play later) at half the price we paid. Such is life. Would we play it again - yes, later in the season when hopefully it will have received a bit more TLC and maintenance - and on a special deal price.

This was a truly awful experience. We gave up on the 11th hole as frustration levels were sky high . We played this course a few years back and it wasn't great then. We were the only people on the course which speaks volumes. There is almost a complete lack of signage and the map on the back of the card is unreadable. Clumps of thick grass on the fairways, bunkers haven't been looked at in years!! Greens were all different and in very poor condition. One was unplayable!! Waste of money. I will not be coming back

Absolutely disgrace,course not maintained at all,grass on fairways longer than on a park field,no clubhouse,a complete waste of money,should not be advertised on your list

Schwer zu finden, Wegweiser zum Golfplatz fehlen oder sind eingewachsen/verwittert. Der Kurs ist ein Traum. Wundervolle Ausblicke, interessante Bahnen. Leider scheint es kein golf interessiertes Management zu geben. Greenkeeping besteht nur aus Rasenmähen, Bunker sind zugewachsen. Weil mich der Platz begeistert hat, nenne ich es "naturbelassen". Die Freundlichkeit der Mitarbeiter war hervorragend, das Essen schlecht.