Crieff Golf Club (Ferntower Course)

The Ferntower course sits on the steep hillside above Crieff where the ground rises sharply from the town into the tree cover of the Knock Wood. From the upper tees the view across Strathearn is unobstructed — flat farmland below, the Grampian foothills in the middle distance, the higher peaks beyond on clear days. The course was designed in 1891 and substantially rerouted in the 1980s; at par 71 and around 6,400 yards it makes full use of the elevation and the mature woodland, with a routing that climbs, traverses, and descends through ground that rewards straight hitting above most other virtues.

The course is parkland in the Perthshire tradition — tree-lined fairways, burn crossings, and greens on natural plateaus that reward straight hitting more than length. The 13th, a par 4 played through a narrow corridor of trees to a green on a shelf above the valley, is the hole most cited by regulars. The views on a clear day extend to the distant Grampians and across the farmland of Strathearn.

Visitor green fee is £55–75 for the Ferntower; the Dupplin is considerably cheaper. Crieff Hydro hotel, a major family resort a mile from the club, generates significant visitor traffic. For those staying at the Hydro or passing through Crieff on a Perthshire golf circuit, the Ferntower is the obvious round — better value than Gleneagles and in a completely different architectural idiom.

Crieff sits in the narrow gap between the Highland Boundary Fault and the main Grampian massif, which gives the town a character caught between Lowland and Highland Scotland. The course reflects this: not quite the heathland of Blairgowrie or the moorland of Pitlochry, but not the manicured parkland of the central belt either.