George Reynolds gets a grip in Grampian as he courses around some of the area's spectacular scenery

SOME people ''bag'' Munros just to say that they have scaled them; others ''twitch'' to the remotest corners to tick off a bird on a list. For these people collecting rather than enjoying seems to be the name of the game.

In a lifetime enjoying golf I have played just under 200 courses in Scotland. But rarely have I been so impressed with a new course than I was when I visited the Newmachar golf complex during a recent golfing foray into the Grampian area.

And it is a new course. Designed by Dave Thomas, the course came into play fewer than eight years ago but it has hosted two Scottish Seniors' Opens, the Scottish Alliance Championship, the Doug Sanders World Boys Championship, and this September will provide the exam paper for the Scottish Professional Championship.

Some 10 miles north of Aberdeen on the A947, the Newmachar Golf Club boasts two 18 hole par 72 layouts, the older Hawkshill course and the Newlands which opened last year.

It is hard to believe that when the local Newmachar policeman and others sat down in 1985 to discuss having their own course in the area, that it would grow into the present set up - two courses, a well-appointed clubhouse, and employing a director of golf, three PGA professionals, two assistant professionals and a touring professional (Paul Lawrie) - and a golf school is scheduled for completion by the spring of next year.

The existing covered 12-bay driving range will be extended and the new facilities will include a lecture room with video facilities, indoor putting green, and grass pitching area.

Even on an overcast day before the trees were in full leaf the Hawkshill course is visually appealing. However, the lochans at seven holes, the silver birches and Scots pine and the heather are features which demand good positional play for the next shot.

At 6623 yards (visitors can play from the medal tees) and in a good wind the course presents a good test of skill. The front nine is regarded as the more demanding - but that is a matter of opinion. The home stretch is no pushover.

The newer Newlands course is more open and does not yet have the trees or features of its older neighbour, but given time it will further develop its own distinctive character.

A weekday round over Hawkshill will cost #25 and a day ticket #35 and an extra #5 on each at the weekends. Electric carts are available for hire at #15 a round.

So who uses this golfing centre? Obviously club members who live locally or in Aberdeen and visitors, including a growing number from Scandinavia and the Low Countries enticed to Grampian by Specialist Golf Scotland, a destination management company set up by two locals, Hector Emslie, a former travel agent, and Scott Symon, a retired policeman.

A growing number of parties from abroad, ranging from five to 105, come to Grampian in a package which includes accommodation, travel, golf, and tuition. The home market is catered for with corporate days and pro-am tournaments with event management.

Another golfing development taking place in the North-east is at Cruden Bay where a fine new clubhouse is due to be completed in the autumn. With commanding views over the course and the great dunes, the ruins of Slains Castle (the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula) and the magnificent beach of the Bay of Cruden, it will provide a welcome refuge for those overawed by this most exacting of links.

Especially in the wind - and when does it not blow to some degree at the seaside - it is not a course for the faint-hearted. The par three fourth hole is a 193-yard gem over a dip with the Cruden Water and the old fishing village of Cruden Bay on the left. There is great variety in the shots to be played, some blind and some, like the tee shot at the aptly named fourteenth Whins, which you wish were blind.

It is easy to see why the course has its devotees from all parts of the world. Green fees are #35 per round and #50 per day during the week, and #45 for a round at the weekends.

When in this part of the world pull off the road at the Forvie Nature Reserve, home to Britain's largest breeding colony of eider duck - a quarter of a million of them. And for those with a sweet tooth, the place to go is the Udny Arms Hotel in Newburgh for a truly great sticky toffee pudding. So popular is this dish it is sold as a ''carry out'' and is vacuum- packed for distribution.

Grampian is an area of great contrasts from the rugged coastline where links golf has been played for centuries - The Royal Aberdeen Golf Club is more than 200 years old - to the agricultural hinterland. The farming pedigree of the area, which has 25% of Scotland's arable land, is to be found in the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum at Aden in Mintlaw. The fishing past of Aberdeen itself can be glimpsed in the fascinating ''Fittee'', the old fishing village at the foot of the Dee at the entrance to Aberdeen Harbour.

Different terrain makes for different golf courses and the contrast is stark between the seaside links and the moorland/heathland layouts at Aboyne and Ballater on Royal Deeside.

With the mountain backcloth and buzzards circling overhead, Royal Deeside golf was no less demanding but seemed less tense, less serious. Punishment for the wayward shot was not harshly severe and the concentration could lapse to allow appreciation of the scenery.

Aboyne Golf Club has been in existence since 1883 but at its

present location only since 1905. As a club member Innes Wright had a highly distinguished amateur career before turning professional and becoming attached to the club in 1963.

There is good variety in the holes and the shots demanded - and in the birdlife. The nearest I got to a birdie was a cygnet at the side of the ninth fairway, a pheasant strutting behind the tenth green, buzzards circling over the twelfth, and duck on the lochan ready to catch the pushed teeshot at the fifteenth.

Regarded by many as the best test of golf in the region, Aboyne has something to offer those with a low handicap as well as the ''holiday golfer''.

One round of golf on a weekday will cost #18 and #24 for a day ticket. Weekend rates are #22 and #28 respectively.

Situated on the north banks of the River Dee, Ballater golf club

is another past its centenary.

Slightly undulating and of medium length, the course is host each May to the Royal Deeside Golf Week, seven days golf with ladies, gents, and mixed competitions, professional tuition and evening entertainment. Early booking is advised as many of the places are taken by repeat business. This year's event, the 23rd, costs #130 per person.

The club has also three tennis courts, a bowling green, and a well-appointed clubhouse.

Ballater green fees are #18 per round and #21 per day during the week, and #21 and #31 respectively at weekends. Electric carts are available at #15 per round.

A bargain for visitors to the area is the Grampian Golf Classics Ticket for either five or three days play. The five-day ticket costs #85 and allows up to 36 holes a day, Mondays to Fridays, at any five courses of your choice from a list of 36 courses. The three-day ticket is priced #50 and offers three of the courses on three consecutive days, Mondays to Fridays.

Details of the Grampian Golf Classic Ticket are available from the Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board, 27 Albyn Place, Aberdeen AB10 1YL. Tel 01224 632727.

The golf theme was continued at our excellent accommodation. The city centre Atholl Hotel in King's Gate will hold its 27th annual golf outing this year; and at the Marcliffe of Pitfodels, three miles from the city on the North Deeside Road, proprietor Stewart Spence is a keen golfer and his downstairs picture gallery is well worth a look.