We would like to zip up to Scotland and play golf for 2 days from London. Any tips on where to stay.

Scotland is a big place w/ many, MANY golf courses.

Give us a hint . . . do you mean just play golf, or do you mean to play one of the "Biggies" - St Andrews or Carnoustie or Troon, or Turnberry or Gleneagles or, or, or . . . .

When is your trip?

Play one of the biggies. Late August.

OK; this is till too big a question. You are going to have to narrow down where you want to go.

You can't walk on at the Old Course. To book a tee at the Old Course in advance you phone, probably about a year in advance on 01334 466666 and ask for advance reservations.

Thereafter you can only get a tee by going through the daily ballot procedure. You phone the links committee on 01334 466666 the day before you want to play before 2pm (For Mondays you phone on Saturdays). You tell them the names of the golfers and their handicaps. (If you are picked you will have to show handicap certificates) and you tell them your home clubs. The ballot is then picked at random. They have on average 12-15 slots available per day.

The cost is £64-£130 per round (depending on when you play)and the rounds are available for 2- 4 players

You can also try to play as a single or a pair on the actual day.
The starter will try to match you with a pair or a three ball if he can.

They suggest that you check the date in advance to ensure the tees are not booked for competition.

They suggest you turn up as early as possible to maximise your chances

They suggest you phone the day before after the ballot is drawn to find out how many two and three balls there are that you might join in with.

They say it happens a lot, but they guarantee nothing!

Carnoustie is a municipal course and, IME, is easier to get one

http://www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk/

Turnberry is attached to a hotel, and you get priority if you're staying there

http://www.turnberry.co.uk/?id=5500&lang=212

Troon has tee times available

http://www.turnberry.co.uk/?id=5500&lang=212

Gleneagles is attached to a hotel, too

http://www.gleneagles.com/golf/green-fees-and-caddies

Muirfield is the poshest of the lot:-

http://www.muirfield.org.uk/index.cf...isitorTeeTimes

These are the "biggies" . Tell us where you're golfing and your budget, and we'll advise on accommodation.

You could rationally do two fo Gleneagles, St Andrews, Muirfield and Carnoustie. Or Troon and Turnberry.

but there are many more fine Championship course that you might like to consider- Royal Dornoch, the Championship at Nairn, Cruden Bay, Newmachar, Royal Aberdeen, Rosemount at Blairgowrie, Western Gailes, Loch Lomond, heaps of Links courses in Fife.

Or if you are not just going for the "snob" places, then there are fabulous courses in fabulous places- Machrie, on Islay, Machrihanish in the Mull of Kintyre, Colonsay, and the newly resurrected on on South Uist, to name but a few.

Muirfield is the most famously antediluvian club - check out the some of the rules :-

"Ladies may only play if accompanied by a gentleman player

There are no lunch facilities for ladies but sandwiches and drinks can be provided in the Captain's Room, if ordered in advance"

Actually they seem to have advanced a bit - I didn't think women were allowed at all.

Sheila has given some great advice.

Do you want links courses ? If so, that will also help narrow them down.

Do you want to play the Old Course so you can say you did it ? Or is scenery more important ?

We've played a few that Sheila talked about...
- Cruden Bay is not well known outside golfing circles. It is an amazing course though and we loved it. Incredible views.
- Royal Dornoch - one of the best of the links courses. Long though and a bit out of the way from many others. Used to be a British Open course, but they took it off the rotation because there weren't enough hotels and accommodations around. many people consider this the quintessential links course.
- Gleneagles is an inland course (I think) and not links style. However, it has a beautiful hotel and facilities attached.

We got on the Old Course by booking with a travel agent. It wasn't terribly legal how they did it, but we had booked an entire week of golfing with them (this was our honeymoon before the internet and I didn't have time to plan, so they did it). They called us the night before our tee time and told us the exact time... we had to provide our handicap certificates (which they had). It was nice not dealing with the uncertainty of the ballot, but I don't know if they do it for 1 round. email me and I can share more.

I would like to second an earlier recommendation to travel to Dornoch to play the Royal Dornoch course. Perhaps the greatest links course in the world (although the second-most famous), the people are friendly and the views are terrific. In addition, there is a really outstanding bed and breakfast in town--Kyleview House. The accomodation is unbelievable and yet reasonably priced. In addition, there are castles, small villages, and markets nearby. Don't miss Dornoch and Kyleview House.

The main area is St Andrews which has the obvious attraction of the old course but the course in this area can be expensive. There are lots of other courses about 30mins from St Andrews, places such as Lundin Links and Leven have cheaper golfing options and offer an enjoyable golfing experience.

As for places to stay, St Andrews has a good selection of accommodation but it can be expensive to stay there. It might be better to stay in another area of Fife.

Try http://www.standrewshotels.org or http://www.roomsinscotland.com/Fife_Region.asp for options.

Two of us got on the Old Course by just showing up early in the morning after our ballot attempt failed. That is worth a try. Nine of us played the Kings Course at Gleneagles and yes it is an inland course. And really beautiful.

Turnberry is also beautful but last time I looked it was very expensive. Give a look at Gullane and North Berwick. Both are near Edinburgh and a lot of fun to play.

This thread is six months old. The OP started it in Jan and has not been on Fodors since - doubt she is still looking for info . . .

:-? Perhaps it was topped to advertise Kyleview. Ya think???

Darn it, I hate missing something that obvious. But it was fun thinking of North Berwick again. In 2006 a friend of mine's tee shot on number two landed between four family members walking down below the rocks on the beach. The father climbed the rocks, identified my friend and threw the ball at him.

Such great memories.

For once, I think you're being too cynical, janis. The guy's posted three times and one is about transport from Inverness, entirely consistent with his having stayed there.

I had a wee look on Tripadvisor, and it gets consistent 5 star reviews. And Dornoch is really lovely.

I would add a note that I don't think that St Andrews IS the main area. There are golf courses EVERYWHERE in Scotland and many of them are wonderful

colduphere: That's funny. Did you see the sign on a gate (I can't remember which hole - maybe 18) that says "Golfers are not welcome in this garden!"

sheila: You're probably right - but the combination of dredging up an old thread and 2/3 of his posts (granted, a very small sample size recommending this B&B just reeks a little bit . . . .

Despite this thread probably being dead, I'll add a few comments:

-- at the risk of being pedantic, Royal Dornoch has never held a British Open, although it is regarded as perhaps the best course never to hold one, and is also known as Tom Watson's favorite course in Scotland (which says a lot since he won five Open Championships). It is one of my favorites, but not much else to do up there other than a trip around Loch Ness (unless you're a whiskey aficionado -- Glenmorangie and others are nearby);

-- I had not played the Old Course in a number of years because it had become so difficult to get on, but I just got back from a conference in Edinburgh and was able to ballot my way on quite easily -- even choosing morning or afternoon! The guys I played with balloted their way on in the morning and joined us for another 18 in the afternoon as well. What this means, of course, is that the recession is biting at St. Andrews, and your chances of getting a tee time through the ballot onto the Old Course are better than they've been in years. And it's so easy -- just log a call the day before and check the website the day of play to see if you made it.

-- if your ballot does not work, there is also the New Course (tougher than the Old and just as scenic, although without the iconic Road Hole and trip up the 18th fairway), Jubilee, and several others which are part of the St. Andrews Trust. A few miles outside of town are two courses at the Fairmont St. Andrews Bay, and another 5 miles or so brings you to Kingsbarns, certainly the best new course in Scotland, with views of the ocean on almost every hole.

-- Scores Hotel in St. Andrews, a Best Western, is a good choice given its prime location just beyond the 18th green of the Old Course, and its wonderful photo-lined bar (rooms are nothing special). Russacks is also nice -- you're overlooking the 18th green and Valley of Sin -- but at L230 for a double, it is certainly pricey.

I consider the Prestwick/Troon area to be the best spot for a short trip incorporating the top courses -- at least on a par with St. Andrews. Stay at the modest but convenient Golf View Hotel in Prestwick and play Prestwick (a bit outdated for the modern game, but birthplace of the Open and proud home of the first dozen Championships), Royal Troon (expensive but with a new, more visitor-friendly booking policy and rate structure), Turnberry, site of this year's Open and the Pebble Beach of Scotland, and little-known gem Western Gailes. Four top courses, three with British Open pedigree, all within a 45-minute drive of each other. Lacking the ambiance of the town of St. Andrews, but with great golf in the middle of Robert Burns country.

-- Muirfield is the Augusta National of Scotland -- a terrific, challenging course with great history, and a snooty membership that is nicknamed the "Horrible Company of Edinburgh Golfers" (in place of "Honourable"). But to their enternal credit, like almost all private clubs in Scotland, it is possible to play as a visitor without getting an invite from a member. However, you do need to contact them 6-12 months in advance. Once you secure a time, they could not be more gracious (but don't forget the jacket and tie needed to have lunch in the clubhouse). A real treat, but one that requires advance planning.

-- As noted elsewhere in this thread, there are dozens of other courses in Scotland that are far less expensive and also enjoyable, so it is good to mix in a few of those if possible. But if you are a golf nut like me, nothing is as good as playing the same holes as the pro's in the Open (albeit from the "up" tees). So splurge a little and tee it up at one of the Open rota if you get the chance (St. Andrews Old, Muirfield, Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick, and in England, Lythamn St Annes, Ryal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool and Royal St. George's).

Re ClarkB's comments, Western Gailes is memorable to me for one humourous reason. My brother in law and I stood on the first tee and had polar opposite views of which way the hole went. I thought it went south and he thought it went north. He was right. But it can be hard to tell with some Scottish courses ... little or no signage, the terrain, the wispy grass etc

Lots of good info in ClarkB's post -- but the "<i>not much else to do up there other than a trip around Loch Ness</i>" bit is very wide of the mark IMO.

W/o going near Loch Ness (and in or close to Dornoch) one could see the cathedral of course, Dunrobin Castle, all the interesting bits on the Black Isle, Falls of Shin, distilleries, lighthouses, Helmsdale, the Clearance village, and farther north - Camster Cairns, Hill o' Many Stanes, etc etc . . . .

'So splurge a little and tee it up at one of the Open rota if you get the chance (St. Andrews Old, Muirfield, Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick, and in England, Lythamn St Annes, Ryal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool and Royal St. George's).'

Prestwick is no longer on Open rota; add Carnoustie to the Scottish links. And it's Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Boy, tough crowd on the Scotland forum! Sorry for the typo on Lytham, and true, Prestwick hasn't held an Open since 1925 or so, if memory serves. Leaving out Carnoustie must have been subliminal -- I've played it three times, and haven't enjoyed it once. It's not that it's so difficult (which it is, but so is Muirfield), it's just that it is so unmemorable and un-links-like. But for those wishing to re-enact the infamous Van de Velde collapse at the 1999 Open, you can take your shot at the 18th.

I have played Carnoustie twice. The first time was right after Van de Velde's collapse. I parred the 18th from the back tees. I thought it was the best course I had ever played. The second time was in 2006. I triple bogeyed the 18th. I thought it was a terrible course. Are golfers shallow or is it just me?

I know this is an old thread, but I stumbled across it.

cold, I think there are golfers who want to play courses so they can say they played, "x British Open courses", no matter the condition. I was one of the ones who suggested Royal Dornoch and it is widely recognized as one of the world's best links courses. However, it doesn't have the name cache that others do... I know, from being there, it hasn't hosted an Open because it doesn't have the hotel accommodations for all the people that an Open requires.

Obviously (since these were my choices), I would rather play Royal Dornoch than other courses that non-golfers might recognize more easily. Others don't make those same choices.

This is why we chose Cruden Bay (an Old Tom Morris course) rather than more well-known names...