For many golfers a trip to Scotland is a rite of passage. Scottish golf has an antiquated charm all of its own, the links here are older, the clubs more traditional and the venues more naturally suited for the game than anywhere else in the world.
Sample 11 Day Scotland Golf Tour
For information on this package, or other golf tours to Scotland email travel@ausgolf.com.au
Day 1
Arrive Edinburgh and transfer or collect car hire meeting our on ground representative. Drive just under on 1 hour to Russacks Hotel for 4 Night’s accommodation to begin your Scotland golfing adventure.
Day 2
Free day to be balloted* on the Old Course - we will do this for you when in the St Andrews area, or we can arrange a round on one of the many local St Andrews trust courses if not successful.
Day 3
Kingsbarns Links, opening in 2000 to unprecedented levels of international acclaim, a remarkable links achievement that stretches along one and a half miles of Fife coastline just outside St Andrews. Covered in a sublime dunescape and with outlooks across the North Sea.
Day 4
Carnoustie Golf Links, one of the toughest courses on the British Open rota, playing host on 7 occasions, the Championship course opens up easily enough before the bite begins around hole 6 and culminates with the last 3 holes. Playing to Par here on the finishing holes is a great achievement.
Day 5
Another chance to be balloted on the Old Course if you have been unsuccessful.
Drive North to Inverness for 3 Night’s accommodation in the Kingsmill hotel.
Day 6
Royal Dornoch is spellbinding and many golfers from all over the world make the pilgrimage to this natural links at some point in their lives. It is often quoted as one of the must-play courses. It's wild, isolated and, at the same time, absolutely beautiful and a great challenge.
Day 7
Castle Stuart Golf Links overlooking the Moray Firth and well-known landmarks that are synonymous with Inverness and the Black Isle – Kessock Bridge and Chanonry Lighthouse perhaps the most notable. All in all it can be described as a throwback to golf as it once was – a simple walk through pleasing natural surrounds
Day 8
A pleasant easy drive back done south to South Ayrshire to the quaint town of Troon and check into the Piersland Hotel next to Troon golf course and an easy 10 minute stroll into the local town.
Day 9
Royal Troon, one of the great championship Links courses in the world, with the wind and rough accurate shot making is essential. The course is not overly long and the first nine is normally when you need to make your score
Day 10
Your final day playing golf will be one of your highlights as you drive 35 minutes South to Turnberry. Home of four Open Championships, the legendary Ailsa course has hosted some of the most iconic names in golf. Reborn in June 2016 at the hands of architect, Martin Ebert, the changes makes the Ailsa the number one ranked golf course in the UK.
Day 11
Transfer or self drive back to Edinburgh or Glasgow airport for your onward flights or extend your travel to other parts of Europe
£5650 PP – Twin sharing self-drive based on a group of 4 with 11 days car hire People mover minivan
£6250 PP – Twin Share escorted tour based on group size 8 with 11 days luxury Chauffeur Driven bus with driver guide throughout
€1820 PP - Single supplement for own room
Includes
10 Nights accommodation 4 star hotels
Full Scottish breakfast
6 Rounds of golf on courses indicated
Meet & Greet upon arrival by our Representative
Welcome Pack upon arrival including Souvenir Gifts
Option - extend to 13 Day Scotland Golf Tour
£7230 PP – Twin sharing self-drive based on a group of 4 with 13 days car hire People mover minivan
£7980 PP – Twin Share escorted tour based on group size 8 with 13 days luxury Chauffeur Driven bus with driver guide throughout
€2450 PP - Single supplement for own room
This option includes 12 nights and 8 rounds with additional courses such as:
The King's Course at Gleneagles, opened in 1919, a masterpiece of golf course design, which has tested the aristocracy of golf, both professional and amateur.
The natural beauty of the Queen's course at Gleneagles is an inspirational battle of wits for anyone in love with the great game. The beautiful settings and the challenge of the golf course have attracted such top golfers as Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Tom Watson.
Founded in 1780 and became the Aberdeen Golf Club in 1815, the Course was originally designed by the Simpson Brothers, Archie and Robert of Carnoustie and later re-bunkered and lengthened by James Braid. Hawtree & Company are now engaged as the Club's architects to ensure our classic links keeps pace with the modern game.
Trump International is set amidst the great Sand Dunes of Scotland. It embraces mile upon mile of spectacular Aberdeen coastline and the whole complex guarantees the experience of a lifetime.
For the golf nuts we can add in Cruden Bay GC:
*St Andrews Old course Ballot management 4 days. Nearly 50% of the total number of tee times on the Old Course each year are allocated to the Ballot. It is drawn 48 hours in advance. Golfers should provide their names, home club and handicap details (max 24 for men and 36 for women) before 2pm 48 hours before the day they wish to play. The draw will be made shortly after that and the results posted by 4pm each day. If successful the green fee is paid directly on the day to the Old Course starter. Please note, pull carts are not permitted before 12pm.
Prices can be quoted for groups outside of these numbers depending on self drive or chauffeur driven bus.
Courses and hotels are FYI only and cannot be guaranteed until all confirmed. If we need to use alternate golf courses or hotels prices can change up or down.
All tours can be altered and tailor made to your requirements and this is a sample only tour.
Prices are indicative and depend on season and availability. Please contact us for exact pricing.
For information on these packages or other golf tours to Scotland email travel@ausgolf.com.au
Golf in Scotland
Although several countries and cultures have some historical claim on the development of golf, the genesis of the modern sport certainly stems from a simple game played with sticks and pebbles on the eastern coastal dunes of Scotland during the 15th century. This primitive game was popular enough in St Andrews by 1457 for King James II to issue a parliamentary decree forbidding it, worried that it may keep his subjects from the archery practice required to repel the frequent English incursions. Despite the decree the game expanded beyond St Andrews (right) and the Kingdom of Fife and by 1650 there were a dozen links along the Scottish eastern seaboard, from Dornoch and Aberdeen in the north down through Montrose, Carnoustie, Leven and further south around the city of Edinburgh and East Lothian.
Between this period and the game’s boom in the mid-to-late 19th century, golf was legalized and formalized, with clubs and rules established. The eighteen-hole course was standardized and its playing fields and hazards defined. Golf, however, remained prohibitively expensive due to the cost of handcrafted equipment such as the individually stitched featherie balls. That all changed with the introduction of the mass-produced gutta-percha ball in 1848, which made the game more accessible and led to the most significant period of growth in its history.
As player numbers in Scotland increased so too did golfing venues. Courses were created across the country with almost every seaside town, small or large, fuelling the national pastime by converting its suitable linksland into golfing fields. The influence of St Andrews on the greenkeepers and golf professionals who laid out Scotland’s early links was considerable. The course continued to have a substantial impact on the work of the first professional golf architects, men like Colt, Braid, MacKenzie, Simpson, Park Jr and Fowler, who studied its every natural feature and then tried to copy its style and strategy in their designs.
Scottish golf has an antiquated charm all of its own, the links here are older, the clubs more traditional and the venues more naturally suited for the game than anywhere else in the world. Beyond the historical ambience and superb scenery, the beauty of Scotland is the number of genuine hidden gems situated in close proximity to the famous classics. You would do well to also consider old-fashioned charmers like Elie and Crail outside of St Andrews, Monifieth and Panmure near Carnoustie, Western Gailes near Troon and Gullane’s No. 1 Course next door to Muirfield. Also, on the remote island of Islay the Machrie Golf Club is a wonderful destination and worth doubling with Machrihanish, while the championship quality of Nairn and the fun of Boat of Garten make both worthy of a side trip for those venturing into the Highlands for Royal Dornoch and Brora.
For many golfers a trip to Scotland is a rite of passage, and while its mighty Open championship venues are rightly revered throughout the world, to visit these shores and ignore ancient gems like North Berwick, Royal Dornoch, Machrihanish, Prestwick and those listed above is to miss as much as you see.