Scotland Golf Vacations, Travel Packages
 St.
Andrews, Royal
Dornoch, Carnoustie
and Royal
Troon. These courses are at the top of the list for golfers traveling
overseas to Scotland. Getting
tee-times at these storied tracks can be a mind-boggling endeavor.
St.Andrews Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the most recognizable course
in golf worldwide, can be an ordeal to get on, especially when it is hosting
the British Open. Calling for a tee time over a year before your trip
is the only way to get a guaranteed tee time at the Old Course and even
then are you not guaranteed a desirable one.
Once the reservations are in hand, paying for them is another matter.
Golfers willing to forego the bragging rights, photo ops and hefty fees
that come with playing at Scotland's famous venues will discover that
the old country has an abundance of lesser-known golf courses that are
both affordable and memorable.
Just a 20-minute drive from the Old Course in the Kingdom of Fife is
Leven
Links golf club. Like its neighbor, it has a rich history, claiming
to be the 11th oldest golf club in the world. Unlike its neighbor, you
can get a tee-time even if you call the week of your trip. The price is
right, too, at just 24 pounds for 18-holes. Like many Scottish courses,
you can also play the course all day for 10 pounds more.
 The
course is also challenging enough to be an Open final qualifying course
in Scotland, and was last used in 2000 as such. It plays over 6,400 yards
from the championship tees. The longest hole, the par-5 567 yard 6th will
put a little sweat on the brow on even the most blustery of days, what
with Silverburn park running down the right-side of the hole as O.B. Tee-times
are welcome from guests every day but Saturday.
South Ayrshire, on the southwest side of Scotland and an hour and a
half from the capital of Edinburgh, is home to several municipal courses
that are worth a visit: Troon Lochgreen, Troon Darley and Troon Fullarton
which all share the same clubhouse. If you are only in town for a day
however and are looking for the most challenging experience, Troon Lochgreen
is the way to go.
The two other Troon courses, Darley and Fullarton, are a couple pounds
cheaper. At only $19.50 on the weekdays, playing the other two courses
based on price alone is only for the tightest of penny pinchers. You can
purchase a daily pass for 10 pounds more at all three.
 Lochgreen,
which has also been used as an Open qualifying course, measures a demanding
6,822 yards and a par-74 from the tips. The layout is predominantly links-style,
but several mainland holes and a stretch of inland holes dubbed the "dovecot
section" offer shelter from the wind.
South Ayrshire is also home to many magnificent castles built over previous
monarchies. With the extended amount of light that Scotland has to offer
in the summer (10 p.m. sunsets are the norm) squeezing in a few tours
as well as getting in a round is completely feasible and encouraged.
Golfers new to the trademark links-style golf of Scotland may want to
start out at Kinghorn Golf Club in Fife. At just over 5,100 yards and
a par-65, Kinghorn can help adapt golfers to links-style golf while staving
off the frustration that has led many a duffer to chuck his clubs into
the Firth of Forth. The stunning views the course has to offer are worth
far more than the meager 11 pounds asked per round.
 Another
course on the shorter side worth a visit is Balcomie Links in Fife. The
course asks 30 pounds per round, which considering some the fees at resorts
in Scottsdale, Ariz. or Hilton Head, S.C. is very fair. The par-69 course
measures 5,922 and should not be mistaken for a slouch, especially on
days when the wind blows in of the Firth. Even though it is a links course
nestled on the waters edge, Balcomie still has a good deal of inland elevation
and the par-3 14th has a 90-foot drop from tee to green.
Golfers looking to stay near the capital of Scotland should check out
Braid
Hills in Edinburgh, another municipal gem in Scotland that offers
some good golf at a municipal price. Golfers with eyes sore from watching
their ball fly out to sea on links courses will find the rolling hills
breathtaking even if their legs think otherwise of the terrain that makes
up the course.
| |
| If you go |
| Leven Links Golf Club:
01333 428859
Troon Lochgreen Golf Club: 0044 (0) 1292 312464
Kinghorn Golf Club: 01592 890345
Balcomie Links: +44 (0)1333 450686
Braid Hills: 011 44 131 447 6666 |
|
Braid Hills also offers a par-65, 5,000-yard course that is more player
friendly than its par-70 sibling. Like most municipal courses, Braid Hills'
facilities are somewhat basic, but driving ranges are nearby should golfers
it necessary for warm up.
All these courses can be viewed as a preferred alternative to golfers who
do not want to put forth the effort or shell out the cash to get on the
elite courses in Scotland, but do not want to sacrifice good golf as a result.
After all, when visiting Scotland, you want to get the Scottish golf experience
and play courses that have a style and flair to them that cannot be found
in the U.S. It is possible to do this, you'll find, without breaking the
bank.
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