Are you ready to play a beautiful and very challenging course ? If so, then “bra(c)e” yourself to face plenty of elevation on this par 72, nicely designed (once again) by Neil Munro, with a pretty landscape, nice trees and plantings, a big lake coming into play on a few holes (mostly on the front 9), small rocky hilltops on the back 9, and plenty of tough tee shots landing near bunkers and/or deep rough, splitting fairways midway, making your approach (and often blind) shots to the greens, quite tricky.
On the front 9, I like the uphill par-3 2nd hole, with trees on the left side hiding the view of the green (with a very wide and nice lake behind and a small island in the middle), the long left dogleg par-5 3rd, uphill all the way with four bunkers splitting the fairways, halfway, and the right dogleg par-5 5th hole, again uphill, with a lake on the right (near the tee box) and a small patch of deep rough all along the fairway splitting it, midway, before bending to the left in front of the green.
The course then moves more inland with two uphill left dogleg par-4 holes, with a tee shot over deep rough on the 6th, and a second shot to the green over deep rough, splitting the fairway on the 7th, before heading for the long (more than 280 yards) and nice downhill par-3 8th hole, with a tee shot over high grass and deep rough.
You will finish with the uphill par-5 9th hole, with a tough tee shot landing near (or beyond depending on the wind) a wide bunker, splitting the fairway across midway, and a very long and blind approach to the green, with a lone (and small) bunker in front.
The scenery changes on the tougher back 9, starting with the very nice right dogleg par-4 10th hole, uphill all the way with the fairway hugging a small rocky plateau all along on the right (ending behind the green), and the left dogleg par-4 11th, with a big rock below (and on the left) in front of the green, surrounded by bunkers.
Then, after the par-3 12th hole and its undulating green, set on a small plateau, and the downhill right dogleg par-4 13th with a blind second shot toward the green, you will face the steeply-uphill left dogleg par-5 14th hole, with three bunkers halfway across the slanted fairway and another long and blind uphill second shot with trees on the left hiding the view of the green, guarded by a wide bunker in front on the right.
The downhill par-3 15th hole is very scenic, with a tee shot over deep rough and along a small rocky hill on the left and behind the green, and is followed by the short (less than 320 yards) left dogleg par-4 16th, uphill all the way, with a thin patch of grass dividing the fairway in the middle, making it quite tricky to reach the undulating green with your tee shot.
As for the last two holes, they are quite different but very pretty : the par-3 17th is uphill, with a gorgeous panoramic view of the valley as you reach the green, whereas the left dogleg par-5 18th will simply take your (last) breath away, literally (!), with its green, more than... 770 yards away (!) where you will need to hit two long and blind downhill shots, followed by a third uphill shot, to reach the green, next to a beautiful clubhouse on the left and a wide lake behind !
With its superb texture used for the rocks (making them look so real) and its landscape, looking so natural, this Stoorie Brae course does not look like a fantasy course at all, but one thing is for real : you will have plenty of aches and pains after finishing it, thanks to Neil Munro's brillant design !

P.S. By the way, "brae" in Scottish means a steep hill. So, now that you know, it's "up" to you to enjoy it, as much as I did...

Hadn't played any of Neil's courses in a while, so while I'm in golden oldie mode decided to brave the Brae. Some earlier comments are from other top designers, who were mighty impressed too. Doesn't get any better than that...

Hey Niel What an awsome course man and the split fairways, cool for the placement shots gr8 job big buy well done !!!...

Agree with all the previous comments, excellent.

Brilliant course well you would expect it from a top designer spectacular 18th! thought I would never get there! lol more like this one please!

Nice course, plays really well even on slower pc's, which is good news, nice work