Geoffrey,
Bet you wish you hadn't asked by now
If you dont mind me coming late to this thread, heres a bit of a summary as I see it...
Getting a foursome together for my first trip to Scotland. If you could play any five courses (which allow public access) in Scotland to experience links golf, where would you play? Assume TOC must be included. I am fairly open on price and travel distance - I just want to get the right combination.
Going back to the original question, public access isn't going to be a problem apart from one or two courses. I think the key thing from your question is the "best represent links golf in Scotland" from the title of the thread? Others have touched on this as well. I'm not keen on pigeon holing things but lets give it a go for a minute...
1. Where it all started.
2. Classic championship challenge
3. Golf for the people
4. Golf for the elite
5. Funky, quirky, they dont build them like that anymore...
6. The new breed
I'll give examples in a minute but I think if you played one course from each category you would have had a pretty good representation of golf in Scotland. Some will also cross over into a couple of categories... So examples (feel free to agree or disagree with these):
1. TOC, Musselburgh Old, Prestwick
2. Any Open course, Nairn, Royal Dornoch
3. Take your pick from a whole load of wee 9 holers with honesty boxes, or more likley Gullane 2 or 3, or Brora
4. Muirfield? Renaissance?
5. North Berwick, Prestwick
6. Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart
Following that, people are right that youd be better of spending the time in one area assuming you will be able to return one day, but you seem keen to travel a little, and only you know if you will ever come back. So bearing that in mind, I dont think you draft itinerary is too far off, my only comment is that even though its a golf trip, it wouldnt hurt to smell the flowers along the way (especially if it will be your only trip)...
I see the logic in not trying to hit three regions in one short trip. How about this schedule:
Day 1 - Fly to Edinburgh, drive to Dornoch
Day 2 - Play Royal Dornoch, Play Brora
Day 3 - Play Royal Dornoch, drive to St. Andrews
Day 4 - Play TOC, Play Elie, drive to North Berwick
Day 5 - Play North Berwick, Gullane, drive to Prestwick
Day 6 - Play Prestwick, fly home from Glasgow
Seems pretty close to a good itinerary based on the previously mentioned criteria. Will certainly need a sleep on the plane home! But how about:
Day 1. Fly to Edinburgh, fly to Inverness. Golf at Castle Stuart (6)
Day 2. Golf at Royal Dornoch (2) and Brora (3)
Day 3. Drive to St. Andrews. Golf on TOC (1)
Day 4. Either a second round on TOC or golf at Elie (3), drive to North Berwick
Day 5. 36 holes and lunch at Muirfield (4)
Day 6. Golf at North Berwick (5), fly home from Edinburgh
I have written a longer, more in depth version with a few more choices, but I'll PM that to you to save waffling on here...
What do you think???
Cheers,
James