Golf Trip
 

4 avid golfers looking for any advice. We intend to travel next June 2013, want to play St Andrews Old Course and then any other courses, looking for accomoodations and travel ideas. We plan on being there 8 to 10 days. Thanks for any advice or help.

look for janisj to chime in - she's the expert.

Are you looking for big 'known' courses? (ie resorts?) Like Gleneagles?

Do you want to play British Open courses? Then look for those.

Are you a links fan? Then you must get up to Royal Dornoch.

One thing we did- which was our best day of jetlag avoidance, was walk 18 the afternoon we arrived. We played Old Musselburgh, which was nearby and a nice way to break into golfing.

One of my favorites was Cruden Bay. Just loved it.

As I am wed to a golf enthusiast (I ride horses/he golfs/we hike) and have played support at many, many UK golfing venues, I would recommend you locate a self-catering cottage central to the courses you want to play. Gullane near Edinburgh offers several exquisite courses and is a two hour drive to St Andrews . . Highlands courses might find you centered near Inverness, Newtonmoor, Boat of Garten all are good central spots for the Highlands courses. English Country Cottages are a good source of very reliable bookings as is the Cottage Guide.

Good advice from opus. But I <i>might</i> suggest a different area to base.

W/ just 10 days I'd consider 3 bases of 3-ish days each. Some cottages will do short breaks but most require a week's rental -so w/ my suggestion you'd be staying in hotels/B&Bs.

Basically 3 or even 4 days/nights in Fife. This would be for the Old Course, Carnoustie (a true BEAST of a course), and any of the coastal Fife courses (Crail, Lundin Links, etc)

2 days/nights up north to play Royal Dornoch. Without exception, every golfer I've taken to Scotland has rated Dornoch either #1 or #2 of all the venues they played. More would want play Dornoch again over the Old Course.

2 days/nights in Ayrshire to play Prestwick and Troon.

The remaining odd 2 or 3 days would be spent either in transit or sightseeing in Edinburgh and elsewhere.

My BIL and 3 friends did a 2 week golfing trip a few years ago. They played over 20 rounds in the 2 weeks. One thing they did was to get an 'introduction letter' from their golf club. It got them an occasional discount and a second 18 at no cost. Might be worth a try.

You might need to get your St Andrew's time through an agent. Tee times to individuals are by lottery and you have to have your request in by Sept 1.

If you want something slightly different you could what many locals do and base yourself on the island of Arran and play the courses there. Wonderful scenery and easy to get to. Have alook at this site:

http://www.golfonarran.com/

All great information. Thanks. I will be spending more time on google. As anyone used a driver to transport or would you suggest renting a vehicle.

car vs. driver? comes down to cost and how comfortable you are driving on the other side of the road (note: I did not say 'wrong' side of the road).

With 4 people and golf clubs, you do need to be aware of the size of the vehicle you rent. We once rented one in Ireland that had a back row of seats that we didn't need... but we did need the space for golf clubs and bags. We talked the rental agency into removing the last row (they were kind you lift out) and storing them at the rental agency for 10 days. I don't know how we managed that, but it made life easier, because we wouldn't have fit otherwise!

I have played Carnoustie and all the coastal courses are beasts as such but if you like links courses then go for it. Pitlochry is an attractive town with lots to see and has a nice golf course, I've visited it but not played it, the locals were extremely friendly and welcoming at the club and it's a nice change from a links course. Good luck.

"<i>Pitlochry is an attractive town with lots to see and has a nice golf course . . . the locals were extremely friendly and welcoming at the club and it's a nice change from a links course</i>"

That would describe MANY towns all over Scotland - I personally wouldn't spend time in Pitlochry on a golf-centric trip. There are many, many, many inland courses to choose from.

51marsh: I definitely self-drive . . . IF you can each manage to pare down the luggage to your golf bags, a small suitcase and carry on. Then a people mover (min-van type vehicle) will work.

But if you are bringing huge suitcases too - then a driver w/ a minibus would be needed. So IF you can cut back on 'stuff' you'll save a ton of $$/££ driving yourselves. (not only would you have to pay for the driver and vehicle-but also his accommodation and meals.

My husband and sons went to Scotland last year golfing. Everything was arranged with Golf Scotland http://www.golfscotland.com/index.asp
and they were very happy with all the arrangements including tee times at the courses they preferred. The only negative was the van they rented. As mentioned above, it was very tight packing their suitcases, golf clubs and carry-ons.