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Scotland courses that you enjoyed?

Jmilla

Jmilla

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Hi all, my father in law is taking the whole family to Scotland for a bucket list type of trip. We are there for two weeks and will be basically making a circle about the country. I was just wondering if anyone has some input on both high end courses and local courses alike. He is reading the Tom Doak book and the list so far includes dornoch, prestwick and at least 2 St. Andrews courses that we will play. Super excited for this.


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Does your wife have a sister?


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Lol no just a brother. I know it's a crazy lucky thing. He has been saving for this trip for years and wants to have the best experience possible. Old course is out because we didn't get in on the lottery and turn berry is also out.


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Jmilla said:
Old course is out because we didn't get in on the lottery and turn berry is also out.

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show up as singles and queue up around 4am. i'd be pretty surprised if you don't get on. that's what i did a few years back and got off around 8am. it was an amazing experience.
 
Jmilla said:
Hi all, my father in law is taking the whole family to Scotland for a bucket list type of trip. We are there for two weeks and will be basically making a circle about the country. I was just wondering if anyone has some input on both high end courses and local courses alike. He is reading the Tom Doak book and the list so far includes dornoch, prestwick and at least 2 St. Andrews courses that we will play. Super excited for this.


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its a long journey to get to Dornoch, it's worth it though and in summer you can play well into the evening.
I would have a look at playing some of the courses around East Lothian http://www.golfeastlothian.com/home.asp which are near Edinburgh. There are many fantastic courses round there such as North Berwick and the Glen and also the Gullen courses.Down in Ayrshire you have Some decent public courses in Troon and Ayr and also have a look at Dundonald links which is a great links course. Around StAndrews there are plenty courses to play if you don't get on the old course.
 
Thanks for the responses guys I really appreciate it


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I agree with not giving up on the lottery for The Old Course. It is not so much the course but all the history around it. Definitely get a caddy to get all the folk lore as well as the reads.

Another course I enjoyed is Lundin Golf Club. It is a links course 20 miles South of St. Andrews right on the North Sea. Fun layout and very reasonable cost. One of UK top 100. For the actual golf, I enjoyed it more than St. Andrews.
 
What a great trip! If you make it up a little further north then give me a shout and I can point you in the direction of some wonderful courses up here. I'd be able to get you on at Royal Aberdeen if that would be any use to you which is always an incredible round, but as tough as it gets. As I say though, there is a wealth of courses up here like Montrose etc that I can point you towards. Just let me know!
 
A bucket list trip! Ahh, I've put many of them together that's for sure. You'll hear lots of pitter patter about the Old Course but let's face it: if the Open gets played there then you know it's a great course! BTW, you can always sign up for the daily ballot 48 hours before you want to play. The R&A has changed around some of the rules so you needn't queue up at 4am. Just sign up and then go play some of the other fine, fine courses around St. Andrews and if you make the ballot you're in! Best of luck. If you'd like a more formal proposal for a trip just let me know.
 
I highly recommend you try to get on the Old Course if possible. Carnoustie is another great option that isn't that far away. Kingsbarns is another great choice. We actually declined the caddies because we heard horror stories of caddies herding you along like cattle to finish quickly. The rangers at the old course were also annoying because they kept telling us to pick up the pace even though we were keeping up with the group in front of us. Apart from that it was an amazing experience.
 
I highly recommend Troon. This town is amazing as it is literally built around golf courses. Obviously you have Royal Troon, but if you fancy something a little cheaper, you have the 3 city run courses that you can play for around 20 quid. The club house is smack in the center of town, all three first holes leave the club house together before all branching out to do their stuff. All 3 course then meet up to allow their 18th to run back into the club house. Fab links courses, great prices. Troon should really be renamed Golfville.
 
Hey, might be a bit late coming to this thread but if not, here are my comments:

St Andrews - there is also a weekly ballot so even though you didn't get a time in the standard lottery, you can still enter this when you are in teh arae a few days before. Someone else has mentioned that you can also queue. If you are prepared to be there early, there is a solid chance of getting a spot from what i have been told (as a single or pair if you are prepared to split your group).
http://www.standrews.com/Ballot

East Lothian - i'd recommend trying to go to this area as Chas has pointed out. Two of my favourite courses are Gullane and the west links at North Berwick. There is also Muirfield where i haven't heard any bad things about the course (although the men only membership and friendliness of the welcome to the course has been questioned). There are also a lot of other options in the area like Craigilelaw, Aberlady, Kilspindie. Great area for golf and less than an hours drive from Edinburgh.

Just to throw in another option, what about Gleneagles. All the others have tended to be links courses so may offer a bit of variation and is pretty central so easy to get to depending on where you are basing yourself. Also the ryder cup course which is pretty cool to have played on.

Lastly, sure you have found this yourself but this is a really useful website for reviews of courses.
http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/golf-courses/britain-ireland/scotland?page=1

Happy to help out if you have any queries.
 
So it looks like we got on dornoch, prestwick, dundonald. Still one or two more to hear from.


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If you're still looking, I'd recommend something a little more random:

http://www.musselburgholdlinks.co.uk/

Musselburgh Old is this small 9 hole taking up the inside field of a horse racing track. They played The Open there in the late 1800's and claim Mary Queen of Scots played there in the 1500s. It is generally recognized as the oldest golf course in the world - which is why when I had a chance to play I was happy to sit on a bus and use some older rented clubs too short for my 6'4"!

You start by hitting over the track into a par 3. Hole 4 goes back over the track (right at the 4th furlong post, cheeky Scots!). After the fourth, you can stop to get a quick bite and pint at the old restaurant at the corner. (Honestly, the food was so-so, but they were super friendly with me.) I vaguely, nightmarishly, remember getting stuck in a pothole bunker on that course, I blame the first pint. I almost made it out in one - I don't remember the actual count, second pint's fault. Best part was hanging with the starter, drinking hot chocolate with a nip of whisky.

I was on a bus for a good 35+ minutes, so I'd guess it is only a 20 minute drive from the center of Edinburgh. If you can swing it (I did not), try to get a tee time before they run the horses and stay for that.

Here's some neat videos (not mine) that someone posted on YouTube.

[video=youtube;DxMNHS8G-3g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxMNHS8G-3g[/video]
 
Did my first Scotland golf this past October and it was so addicting I am going back in July (Open week). In October I played Carnoustie, Muirfield, Royal Troon and then Birkdale before flying out of Manchester.

I'm still in the middle of planning my July trip, but I plan spend 2 nights in St. Andrews. I have a time reserved the first day at Kingsbarns and plan to do the early wake up the second day for the Old Course. From there I have a reservation at Royal Dornoch & Brora just up the road. I finish off at Turnberry the day before the Open Championship starts.

If you want the best golf experience of your life, try and get on Muirfield. If you want an ugly, raw, historic and most pure 100% golf experience in your life, book a round at Carnoustie.

My rankings so far:

1. Muirfield (life changing experience)
2. Carnoustie (challenge)
3. Royal Troon (best course of the 4)
4. Birkdale (meh)
 
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