Pitlochry

Overview: Pitlochry is an 18-hole mountain course on the edge of the Highland town, set across rolling ground beneath Ben-y-Vrackie with wide views over the Tummel valley. The layout is compact by modern championship standards, but its character comes from the way it uses the natural slopes. The opening stretch climbs into the landscape, while later holes reveal a changing sequence of ridges, hollows and open viewpoints. At par 69 and around 5,700 yards, the course does not rely on length to create interest. Uneven lies, elevation changes and the need to judge the next landing area make club selection important, and the short scorecard can be deceptive. Its setting gives the round a clear sense of place: Highland scenery is not simply visible beyond the fairways, it is part of the course's playing character.

History: A new course was constructed in 1908 on the Balnacraig and Drumchorry farms, with Willie Fernie of Troon commissioned as the initial designer. The 18-hole course opened in 1909, replacing an earlier nine-hole layout that had run beside the River Tummel. The original routing was different from today's course and included two par 5s. Major Cecil Hutchison then altered and refined the layout in the early 1920s, including the sequence now formed by the seventeenth and eighteenth holes. The present course therefore reflects both Fernie's use of the Highland landform and Hutchison's later work to make the route more coherent and playable.

Did You Know? Pitlochry's history is tied to the town's early tourism boom. The course was built during the same period in which rail travel was helping turn the Highlands into a destination, and local promoters viewed golf as part of that wider tourism economy. The result is a course that feels unusually connected to the town's landscape and history, with the valley panorama acting almost like another architectural feature.