[kconway]

I have played Westen Gailles twice and loved it...any other opinions/comments of Western Gailles out there

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I loved it too and that included getting bombarded by three separate sleet storms during the course of one round, interspersed with patches of brilliant sunshine.

TP

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Oh yeah..here we go...
One of the greatest places on the planet...
It is like playing golf as it used to be ..pure links golf, no gimmicks..straight forward marvelous links golf.
The variety in hole design is reamarkable whether it be the punchbowl second green, the wee burn running through those holes around the turn, the steep binkers and railroad tyes.
The howling winds..fantastic place great course and for me a must on any trip to Scotland.

[Tom Huckaby]

Add me to the chorus of Western Gailes lovers.  I cannot thank Bob Huntley enough for INSISTING that I include this in my tour of great courses a few years ago... Put me down with a "me too" for everything said so far.  GREAT place.

[Paul Carey]

It was one of my favorites on my one trip to Scotland.  The course is a lot of fun with a bit of quirk to keep it interesting.  If I had a choice I would play it rather than Troon and maybe Prestwick.

PC

[Brian_Ewen]

Funny , just spotted a photo posted on FlickR today of the 6th hole I believe ?

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Great picture...I would agree cetainly I would play it ahead of Troon and Prestwick, and to be quite honest any of the west coast courses.

[Tom Huckaby]

Hmmm.... I do have quite a fondness for Prestwick.
It's just so funky, quirky, old, historic... I have to put
that #1.  Of the ones I've played I'd rank them as such:

1. Prestwick
2. Western Gailes
3. Turnberry Ailsa
4. Troon Old
5.  Turnberry Kintyre
6.  Troon Portland

TH

[Daryl David]

Western Gailes is a gem.  The club used to have a bit of a reputation as being one of the more unfriendly in Scotland.  That has changed dramatically in the last 5 years.  Wonderful staff, nice clubhouse and great course combine for one of the best values. 2008 rates are 165 pounds for 36 holes and lunch.  (which is pretty good)  Now if we could get the exchange rates back to normal, it would really be a bargain!

[Bart Bradley]

WOW... I am surprised by some of these responses...better than the Ailsa...REALLY?

My rank:

1. Ailsa
2. Prestwick
3. Western Gailes
4. Troon Old..

The Kintyre and Troon Portland were just mistakes on my part...should NOT have wasted any energy/time/money on these tracks...nowhere near the 4 above...In fact, I played Dundonald...right next to Western Gailes and it was much better than Kintyre and Portland..

Just my opinion,

Bart

[Bob_Huntley]

Western Gailes is a gem.  The club used to have a bit of a reputation as being one of the more unfriendly in Scotland.  That has changed dramatically in the last 5 years.  Wonderful staff, nice clubhouse and great course combine for one of the best values. 2008 rates are 165 pounds for 36 holes and lunch.  (which is pretty good)  Now if we could get the exchange rates back to normal, it would really be a bargain!

Daryl,

I find the bit about being unfriendly in the past to be a mystery. I have played there for something like thirty years and found it to be quite the friendliest and most welcoming Scottish club of those that I have played...and that's a lot.

It is not only Tom Huckaby who I have insisted that he should play WG, but a host of friends both here and abroad. Michael sums it up well, it is a course and place that pleases the soul.

Bob

[Tom Huckaby]

Bob you remain a solid messenger of golf for us all.  

 

And Bart, well.. perhaps I am getting carried away, but
I too did find WG to be so good for the soul, so right, so
perfect.. that perhaps that taints my impression.  Turnberry Ailsa is one hell of a golf course, for sure.  
But everything there screamed out "making money"...
which of course is no problem... but it doesn't make me WANT to like it as much as I truly did want to like WG.

BTW, I liked each of Troon Portland and Turnberry Kintyre
and would definitely not say either was a waste
of time.  They are significantly below the rest, for sure...
but to me each was solid, fun golf.

[Daryl David]

Bob,
I have wondered that too, as all my trips have been very good.  I chaulk it up to jealous feelings from other clubs.  From what I know of the history, there was a period where WG was not easy to join and tried to be fairly exclusive.  The club generally still gets described in travel books as being one of the most private in Scotland.   I think that is old news.  

[kconway]

Does anyone know what their membership policies/procedures are?

[Bart Bradley]

And Bart, well.. perhaps I am getting carried away, but
I too did find WG to be so good for the soul, so right, so
perfect.. that perhaps that taints my impression.  Turnberry Ailsa is one hell of a golf course, for sure.  
But everything there screamed out "making money"...
which of course is no problem... but it doesn't make me WANT to like it as much as I truly did want to like WG.

I understand that the environment surrounding Turnberry is not as pure..it is not off the beaten path by any means...But once you tee it up, the Ailsa is fabulous...one of my very favorite courses.  Is there anything about that course that is lacking?  It just pains me that I payed to play the Kintyre instead of going around the Ailsa again.  Even if your heart  wants to say Western Gailes, I think it is the Ailsa by a good bit.

Bart

[Bart Bradley]

BTW, I liked each of Troon Portland and Turnberry Kintyre
and would definitely not say either was a waste
of time.  They are significantly below the rest, for sure...
but to me each was solid, fun golf.

Tom   snuck this part in on an edit, huh

Ok, if I lived in Scotland, or was going to spend months or years in this part of Scotland, I might play these courses and have fun.  But, given any sort of limitation on time in the area they do not warrant a play.  There are so many other courses far better than the Kintyre and especially Troon Portalnd that I could not in any way recommend them.  Just as you have stated...play Western Gailes twice, thrice or even 4 times before playing these courses.  For most of us who can only get to Scotland once or at best a few times, our time would be better spent playing elsewhere.  That's what I think.

[Tom Huckaby]

Bart:  yeah, snuck that in after I saw your comments
about the lesser courses.  

It came down to this for me:  to play Troon Old, we
also had to pay for Portland, and lunch.  Neither seemed
like a waste of time.  Re Kintyre, it was just practical
to do that in our 1.5 days there.  At neither place could
we get repeat rounds on the better courses; not without
paying hundreds of dollars anyway.

So given that scenario, I had no regrets.

But yes in a more perfect world one does play WG or
Prestwick or Ailsa again instead of those.  My world
was not perfect.

TH

[Mark Smolens]

On my only trip to Scotland (in '99), Mike my pro brought Gibson Beattie the manager at Western Gailes a bottle of Jack Daniels as he did not like single malt.  We dropped it off after our round at Glasgow Gailes -- a nice first day course, and right across the street.  Gibson moved our tee time up the following day to 9, and played with our three ball.  He then invited us up to his apt., which was on the second floor of the clubhouse, where he introduced me to single malt scotch (with Bud Ice chasers).  After trying six or seven different brands, we retired to our hotel.  Mike went to bed as he was failing to qualify for the Open Championship the next day, and I ended up in the hotel bar with a local couple who were flying to Orlando the next day.  The next day at Prestwick, my caddy had to tee my ball and remove it from the hole.  I've since heard that Gibson was no longer the mgr. at Western Gailes, but a better host one could not imagine.

[Bart Bradley]

Bart:  yeah, snuck that in after I saw your comments
about the lesser courses.  

It came down to this for me:  to play Troon Old, we
also had to pay for Portland, and lunch.  

But yes in a more perfect world one does play WG or
Prestwick or Ailsa again instead of those.  My world
was not perfect.

TH

Tom:

I think all rounds at Troon include lunch and the Portland...but if I were to go back, I would just skip my tee time at Portlland, go somewhere else (any of the others listed), show up for lunch and go off of Troon in the afternoon (visitors are only allowed on Troon on 2 afternoons).  Even though included, I think the Portland should just be written off and replaced --again, to maximize one's time in the KINGDOM  

Bart

[Tom Huckaby]

Bart:

I think I just have different financial thresholds than
you do.  I have a very hard time passing up golf
I have paid for.  But your idea would be the best way
to do it, for sure.

I too believe that the both courses plus lunch, with
Old after 2pm, is what is required for all
unaccompanied visitors.  And under that, it's tough to
pass up what one pays for.  But maybe next time....

TH

[Bart Bradley]

Bart:

I think I just have different financial thresholds than
you do.  I have a very hard time passing up golf
I have paid for.  But your idea would be the best way
to do it, for sure.

I too believe that the both courses plus lunch, with
Old after 2pm, is what is required for all
unaccompanied visitors.  And under that, it's tough to
pass up what one pays for.  But maybe next time....

TH

Tom:

I can completely understand your point.  It is interesting though, that some golf packagers don't even tell their clients about the Portland tee time.  The couple that my father-in-law and I were paired with didn't even know that they didn't show up for their Portland tee time...and in fact I am not sure that mine did either until I asked to include a little more golf in my package.  What do you think about that... the Kintyre does have one cool hole:

[Ally Mcintosh]

bart, i haven't played the kintyre but that's the par-4 8th hole, isn't it?... how does it play?... i was of the understanding that it's a blind 2nd shot therefore totally minimising the impact of that wonderful green site?

[Rich Goodale]

To paraphrase Ogden Nash...

"The two-L Gailles was a Knight,
the one-L Gailes is a delight."

I love Western Gailes and have said so many times on this site, over many years, but I would never say it was "better" than Troon or Turnberry or Prestwick--as good or better in some ways, but not as good in others.

I think this deserves another thread.......

[Bart Bradley]

bart, i haven't played the kintyre but that's the par-4 8th hole, isn't it?... how does it play?... i was of the understanding that it's a blind 2nd shot therefore totally minimising the impact of that wonderful green site?

You can only see the top of the flagstick from where you hit your approach...a 20 ft tall flagstick at that...yes, it minimizes the quality of the hole...but it is still probably the best hole at Kintyre...as per the rest of this thread, I would skip Kintyre in favor of lots of other courses.

Bart

[Brian_Ewen]

Nice pic. Bart.

Funny but that hole has always been very driveable when I have played it .

Normally the driving rain doesnt start until the next hole .

Did you ever play the hole when it was the Arran ?

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