Portlethen Golf Club

The course has matured into one of the more popular parkland courses in the North East of Scotland having been blessed with natural features, the principal being the Findon burn which, lined with mature broadleaf trees, crosses five of the holes on the first nine influencing either tee or approach shots. The par 5 460 yard fourth hole poses a problem of choice of second shots as the burn crosses 90 yards short of the green, the wayward shot punished by ending up in the burn or in the trees. The inward 9 holes carry fewer hazards but the Findon burn continues to create problems at the fifteenth and eighteenth. Arguably the fifteenth is the 'signature hole' of the course. First, the tee shot has to be accurate to cope with the right to left dog leg and then the approach shot, from a down hill lie, has to carry the Findon burn which, moat like, guards the entrance to the green. The par 502 yard eighteenth is a challenging closing hole featuring a drystone dyke on the left running all the way from tee to green with the risk of out of bounds with every shot. The Findon burn, 100 yards short of the green creates a further dilemma of second shot selection; to carry or not to carry. Senior golfers and visitors normally play the shorter par 70 'Yellow Tee' course. Course development has seen the planting of around 21,000 carefully selected trees, restoration of drystone dyke, construction of stone bridges, new tees at several holes and a pond at the short fifth.