Just to the north of Largs, Ayrshire's highly attractive holiday town, is the busy public course of Routenburn, the very place that the young Sam Torrance perfected his craft under the charge of his father, Routenburn's long-standing and now retired professional, Bob Torrance.

The climb to the third green may seem daunting but the view over the town and the Isle of Cumbrae is fair compensation. This is, generally, a heathland course with a mixture of trees, although the thick rough is more akin to a lush parkland course.