Dog Golf is blessed with another fine contribution from Bertie (and Steve) on a another Scottish gem:

Britain’s most northernly golf course is Whalsay’s claim to fame. So if you have gone as far as Lerwick why wouldn’t you travel further north, catch another ferry to the island of Whalsay and play it?

A quick email a couple of weeks before confirmed dogs on leads no problem (Scotland is different from England when it comes to dogs, people in Scotland look at you like your daft when you tell them dogs are not allowed on course in England).

Now this truly is a golf course on the edge of world, lost golf balls are on their way to Norway!! Set high on cliffs overlooking the North Sea gave this course a real end of the world feel. Parked up, paid £30 each online, there was one car on the car park and the clubhouse was open but no one in, all the facilities were open such as the changing rooms etc. A quick scan of the visitors book revealed golfers from around the world had travelled to take on Whalsay.

Whalsay has a wonderful clubhouse, the changing rooms were well equipped, and they had club covers for people to take, junior clubs etc and waiting for someone if they needed them. The function room was adorned with one of the best trophy cabinets I have seen, the silver really clitters in Whalsay!!

The first tee is around the back and we had a quick chat with an elderly chap who was doing a bit of maintenance, he had a dog and he didn’t blink once at Berties presence.

So off we set with quite a wind blowing off the North Sea. We had just finished the first hall when a man appeared on the horizon from the clubhouse, obviously he wanted to speak to us so waited for him. Turns out it the guy that built the course, just wanted to welcome us, answer any questions and offer some advice about some tricky holes. So Whalsay started as a 7-hole course and gradually built up.

Now there were plenty of sheep on the course, and in the bunkers, this isn’t a Jack Nicklaus designed course with USPGA approved greens but I’ve paid a lot more money than £30 and had a lot less fun on other courses. There were some challenging drives across open sea and quirky holes with hidden water obstacles. It’s a fair test.

What did Bertie think of Whalsay? Well he was good around the sheep and he helped himself to a smorgasbord of sheep droppings, I was on the unlucky end when he had a world champion poo which was just regurgitated sheep droppings. Thanks Bertie!!

If you are tempted by the remoteness of the Shetland islands I would say go for it, we had a great time, and the two 18 hole courses justify taking the clubs with you.