The Perfect Location for a Scotland Golf Adventure: The Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort

The Perfect Location for Your Scottish Golf Trip has to be The Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort -36 Holes in Your Back Garden and Over 200 Courses Within an Hour’s Drive!

The Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort boasts not one but two hotels, a hundred yards apart and each a wedge distance from the first tee of two beautiful parkland courses. Situated in the Scotland’s Golfing Heartland, just half an hour from Edinburgh airport and about an hour from Glasgow airport, this is a great place to start your trip before venturing out to the more than 200 courses within an hour’s easy drive. Among them are Gleneagles (this year’s Ryder Cup venue), St Andrews, Kingsbarns, Carnoustie, Gullane, Muirfield and many more, meaning you can play all these great courses  without the hassle of long drives or having to relocate everyday.

Set beside Loch Leven on the edge of the picturesque town of Kinross amid the stunning scenery of Perthshire, the Resort is ideally situated on the cusp of Fife & Perthshire at the core of unique and exciting attractions, historical sites and natural heritage.

This unique Scottish Resort boasts a 5000 acre estate including the 4* Green Hotel, 3* Windlestrae Hotel, two parkland 18 hole Golf courses and its own wild brown trout fishery in the form of world renowned Loch Leven.  Also within the Resort, guests have a choice of 5 dining options each with its own distinct character, a luxury Beauty Spa, a heated indoor swimming pool and Health & Fitness Suite offering top of the range machines, a Curling Rink and “Backstage”, a wonderfully intimate live music venue hosting international artists from a variety of genres. With its central location and excellent transport networks, it is also an ideal location to hold a Meeting or Conference for anything up to 200 delegates.

Two Excellent Parkland Courses – The Montgomery and The Bruce

Ask any group of golfers who’ve played both The Montgomery and The Bruce which one they prefer and you’ll find you’ve started a real debate. The only option is to play them both and decide for yourself!

Both courses are set in lovely parkland beside Loch Leven with tree lined fairways, cleverly sited bunkers and ponds as well as undulating greens.

The Montgomery Challenge… Break 80 and Your Next Round is FREE!

Regarded by many as the senior of the two courses at Kinross, The Montgomery is not particularly long by modern standards off the back tees (6,508 yards / 5,951 metres) but it provides a really good challenge for low handicap golfers.  Equally, the course is a thoroughly entertaining test of golf for the weekend or occasional golfer playing off the yellow tees.

There is always golfing banter about who is going to make the “Montgomery Challenge Hall of Fame”, but breaking 80 is a serious challenge. Anyone who breaks 80 gets their next round free.  But if your handicap is 10 or greater and you successfully score below 80, the resort will extend the prize of a free round to include a friend.

The hardest hole? The par-4 18th at 443 yards!

On The Montgomery course, the toughest is probably the very last hole. Many a golfer has stood on the 18th tee, thinking about The Montgomery Challenge Hall of Fame, only to have their hopes dashed with the brutish 443 yards to a difficult green on this par-4.

Par these!

The best par-3 on The Montgomery is the 4th, just 139 yards uphill to a green that slopes considerably from front to back.  Any shot that finds the front right bunker is almost instantly a bogey and chipping around this green is never easy.

Our favourite par-4 on the course in the 16th. Placement off the tee is vital and there is a long iron approach to a well-guarded green. Make the green in two and walking off with a par is usually a result.

The 11th is The Montgomery’s best par-5 with its pond in front of the green that makes this 498 yard hole a great risk and reward test. It is especially so for those playing the yellow tees at 465 yards where, given the right wind and ground conditions, it will be very tempting to fetch the green in two. But beware – the second shot must be perfect or it will likely find a watery grave in the pond.

Will you par the last on The Montgomery and successfully tackle The Montgomery Challenge?

The Bruce—The “Wild Child” of Kinross Golf

The Bruce is set up to be a little easier to play and they’ve not introduced a “The Bruce Challenge” (yet), but this course has many challenges of its own.

If The Montgomery is the sensible and determined sister destined for a life of professionalism and hard work, then The Bruce is the rebellious little sister more likely to stray off the beaten path. Proof is in the par-39 outward nine where you’ll find four par-5s in the space of six holes.

So while occasional golfers often find The Bruce more to their liking, scoring well is no given. And arrogant golfers beware: four early par-5s does not mean four “easy birdie holes”, and those who think so often find their card in shreds embarrassingly early in the round. However, spot the optimum scoring opportunities on The Bruce and you just might outsmart this feisty course.

The hardest hole? The par-4 6th at just 272 Yards!

The course’s unpredictability is most shocking on the par-4 6th. It’s the Stroke Index 1 hole and it only requires a mid-iron off the tee followed by a wedge. But watch out for the “ball magnetic” pond in front of the green, which often results in big numbers.

It’s difficult to pick the “best” par-3 on The Bruce but many golfers love the picturesque 16th.  It’s 160 yards from the white tees, but choosing the right club can be difficult as the green is long and well-protected.  The par-4 14th provides an enjoyable shot downhill to the large green. Not as famous as that tricky 6th hole and not likely to generate so much golfing angst.

Although the par-5 4th hole might seem like an obvious birdie opportunity, even the strongest golfers leave the hole happy with a par. The second shot through a narrow gap in the trees is perhaps the most difficult on the course, whether you are going for the green or not.

Like its sister, the “Wild Child” Bruce welcomes lady golfers. And during recent renovations, they reduced the length of the course from the ladies’ tees by 300 yards.

Two hotels to choose from

 

The Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort has two hotels for you to choose from, the 4* Green Hotel and 3* Windlestrae Hotel. Both hotels have 46 bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, flat screen TVs and complimentary WIFI and are located close to one another within the Resort and each a short 2 minute walk of the 1st tees of the 2 golf courses.

The Green Hotel dates back to the eighteenth century when it started life as a coaching inn on the main route north from Edinburgh to Perth and the Highlands.

Regardless of which hotel they choose to stay in, guests enjoy the same full access to all the facilities including the Leisure Club and can choose to eat and drink in whichever Resort restaurant or bar that catches their fancy.

A variety of dining options

The Resort offers 5 very different dining options ranging from fine dining in Basil’s, italian cuisine in Monty’s through to our Boathouse Bistro with its stunning location on the shores of Loch Leven. Regardless of which hotel guests are staying in, they are able to book and eat in any of the restaurants and bars.

There are 3 very different bars on the Resort, 2 of which also offer food.  You certainly get a feel for the spirit of the Green Hotel’s origins as an 18th century coaching inn in Jock’s Bar. Full of character, it takes its name from the Black Watch – the regiment in which the Montgomery family, have traditionally served – and is decorated throughout with historic regimental memorabilia. Jock’s is a gastro pub, offering a wide selection of dishes.  Rushes Bar in the Windlestrae Hotel has a contemporary design, offering light bites and refreshments, along with large screen TV usually showing sporting events as well as a pool table – the perfect place to unwind!

Great Leisure Facilities

In terms of other facilities offered within the Resort, guests of both hotels have complimentary membership of the Gravity Leisure Club complete with heated swimming pool, Jacuzzi, sauna & steam room as well as a fully equipped gymnasium.  For those wishing to ease their aches and pains after a long day on the golf courses or simply looking for a bit of pampering, guests can enjoy a full range of massage and beauty treatments. 

And in the evening?  Live music in Backstage at the Green!

 

Something you won’t find in many places is a Resort with its own live music venue, complete with one of the greatest collections of rock memorabilia you’ll find anywhere on display in Scotland, quite possibly in the UK.  Backstage is a wonderfully intimate venue with a maximum capacity of 120 which means you can get ‘up close & personal’ with the singers and bands.  Indeed, you can often find yourself drinking in the bar with them before, during (well, the interval) and after the gig!  The programme of gigs includes a wide variety of different genres of music that encompasses Blues, Rock, Country, and Americana to Singer/Songwriters. Here you will find familiar names from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s through to some of today’s top artists.

Fancy trout fishing, curling or a trip round the loch?

In addition to having its own two golf courses, there are plenty of other sporting and leisure activities available on the Resort.  For a start, they own Loch Leven (13.3 sq km) which, although probably best known for its Castle on an island where Mary Queen of Scots was once imprisoned, also happens to be one of the world’s most famous wild brown trout fisheries.  They have a fleet of boats and can provide both fishing equipment and a guide (or a ghillie as they are known in Scotland!).

If trout fishing is not your game, Loch Leven offers so much more.  It is a National Nature Reserve, famous for its bird life, and there is now the Loch Leven Heritage Trail which encircles the entire 13 miles (21 kms) of the loch – perfect for those wishing to walk or bicycle in spectacular scenery (the Resort has bicycles available for guests to hire).  For those wishing to discover more about Mary Queen of Scots, there are ferries taking people out to the Castle Island (April – October).

The Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort is also very unusual in having its own 4 sheet indoor curling rink which is open from September to April every year and is in the middle of a major refurbishment.  The Curling Rink is home to Kinross Curling Club which is believed to be the oldest curling club in the world, dating all the way back to 1668 when curling took place on Loch Leven itself.

Although not on the Resort itself, they can arrange Off Road Driving, Gliding, Clay Pidgeon Shooting & Archery, Motorsports including Go Karting, Horse Riding and many other activities in the local area.

Visit their website: http://www.green-hotel.com

Don’t Miss:

• The Haggis Pizza – although not an Italian classic, you just have to check it off the list
• The Black Watch Memorabilia on the walls of Jock’s Bar whilst sampling their excellent selection of single malt Scotch whiskies
• The Boathouse Bistro for lunch or an evening sundowner

Local dining:

The Indian restaurant in town, a short 10-minute walk is excellent.

Nearby worth visiting:

• Take a boat trip out to Loch Leven Castle where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned
• Edinburgh Castle
• Stirling Castle
• St Andrews
• Oh and 200 other courses within an hour