A friend of mine once had a most unfortunate experience with a cow at Isle of Barra Golf Club. Bear with me, it’s not what you think.
Nature runs free at this remote nine-hole course, which is found in the Western Isles of Scotland and necessitates a ferry ride from Oban, or a plane landing on a sandy airstrip, to reach.
It’s golf as it would have been in the old days when it was sheep, rather than mowers, that kept the fairways nice and tight.
Anyway, to stop the rampaging cattle from making a mess of the greens, fences are erected around to keep them out.
My pal had played a succinct approach to one of these putting surfaces when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something moving unsettlingly fast towards him.
Charging, at some speed and with larcenous intent, was a rather angry cow. Beating a heady retreat, my mate ran into a green and quickly sealed himself behind the wire.
Here, a standoff ensued – cow waiting for prey and my mate reduced to lobbing golf balls at the stubborn animal in a bid to hasten him on his way.
Now if the prospect of playing bullfighter wasn’t enough to make Barra legendary in the eyes of everyday hackers, it is indeed something else entirely that gives the club its claim to fame.
The clue is that this beautiful course, found at Cleat, comes with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Just six miles from Castlebay, it’s the most westerly golf course in the United Kingdom.
It was opened in 1992 and it really is something to look at. Isle of Barra Golf Club – or Comunn Goilf Bharraidah – is worth the trip if you want to play on a stunning elevated links.
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The fabulous Machair grass that’s found all over the island makes every shot a delightful experience and the tees are marked by painted stones with arrows, with many of the holes being blind.
And while you’ll probably not face the extremes you might find at Fair Isle, a round at Isle of Barra Golf Club can still see players face the full force of nature as winds and storms batter the layout.
