Kingarrock Hickory Golf

The Sharps' Private Course Reborn

Kingarrock golf course began as the private course of Frederick Sharp and his son Hugh, both keen golfers and members of the R&A. Opened in 1924 on the Hill of Tarvit estate, it disappeared during the Second World War when the ground was turned over to agriculture.

The National Trust for Scotland revived it in 2008, adjusting parts of the old crossing layout for modern safety while retaining its period character.

The nine holes move through a designed parkland landscape rather than a manicured modern setting. A ha-ha, dry-stone dyke, cundy, copses, and the estate doocot all influence play, while the 2,022-yard routing still includes a par five. Sheep manage areas of rough, greens and collars are cut by hand, and the course uses neither artificial irrigation nor fertilisers.

Those details make the challenge more than nostalgic theatre. Uneven lies, slower surfaces, and restrained equipment ask golfers to judge distance and invent shots, much as the Sharp family and their guests would have done a century ago.