Organising a golf trip

[Tom Culley]

I am planning on organising a golf trip for next summer with some friends. Ideally I would like to play links golf, and was thinking that Fife may be a good area to go to.
I would love some recommendations of good links golf areas that can be played on a student budget.

[Chris DeNigris]

Not Fife but head north and rent David Tepper's nice townhouse in Dornoch. Play RD and Brora as many times as possible, throwing in Golspie, Tain and F&R for some variety if needed.

Shake well, pour over ice.

Great links golf, great accomodations, walking distance to RD and stumbling distance to the pub.

Really good trip.

[Tom Culley]

Chris, that sounds like golfing heaven, however i cannot imagine it would suit the budget allowed by our student loans 

I have just come across the company Links With History, they offer a package where you play one of the Crail courses, Scottscraig, Ladybank and Lundin all for £200. I know that two of those courses are not links, but it seems like a good deal. What do you think?

[Rich Goodale]

Tom

You are unlikely to find links golf in Scotland in the summertime at less than £50/day.  Chris' idea is a good one, but if that is too pricey, think about staying for a week in Brora and getting an unlimited (i.e. as much golf as you can play from sunrise (4am) to sunset (11pm)) weekly ticket for ~£200 (~$350).  If you are charming and lucky you'll meet some Dornoch members in Brora who can get you onto RDGC for peanuts.

Good luck

Rich

[Bart Bradley]

Tom:

Are in you Scotland now?  Where are you starting from?

There are a number of very inexpensive links options in Ireland...beginning with Corballis near Dublin.  Often available for as little as 20 euros.  Happy to help you if I can.

Bart

[Tom Culley]

Bart,

I'm based in Buckinghamshire, 20 minutes from Luton airport and less than an hour from Heathrow, so flying is not a problem. I've only played one links (St Enedoc) and loved it, i really just want to play some good links golf at a good price. Whilst i would love to play the top championship tracks, at my age i just want a fun affordable golf trip with my friends. After all, the cheaper the golf the more money you have for beer. I would say that £50 a round is our limit.

Tom

[Bill_McBride]

Bart,

I'm based in Buckinghamshire, 20 minutes from Luton airport and less than an hour from Heathrow, so flying is not a problem. I've only played one links (St Enedoc) and loved it, i really just want to play some good links golf at a good price. Whilst i would love to play the top championship tracks, at my age i just want a fun affordable golf trip with my friends. After all, the cheaper the golf the more money you have for beer. I would say that £50 a round is our limit.

Tom

The alternate courses at St Andrews - Eden, New, Jubilee - are reasonable and good courses, but not sure they meet the £50 now.  You could perhaps share B&B rooms to save some money.   

[Simon Holt]

East Lothian.

Stay in a hostel in Edinburgh so you have great nightlife.  Bus and/or train out each day and play Kilspindie, Gullane (good rates for day play over multiple courses), The Glen (£50ish), Dunbar (£50ish) and even train down to Berwick to play Goswick at a bank breaking £32.  All of those courses will have great day rates too so you can play 36.  You can even play The Braids on Edinburgh and Musselburgh Old with hickories for £12 then about £30 to hire hickories (you can share a set).

You could play The Glen, Kilspindie, Dunbar and Gullane No. 2 for all under £200.  There might even be deals to be had on the East Lothian golf website.  I love Fife but for students I would say all of the above makes more sense.  Money is more important at this stage....along with nightlife.

Treat yourself to North Berwick or Gullane No.1 on one of the days for approx £100.

Very good golf at affordable prices.  Easy to fly or train to Edinburgh from the South.  Edinburgh has loads of cheap accommodation for students and has great nightlife for you youngsters.  No brainer.

[Bart Bradley]

Tom:  

Here is my 2 cents.  Cheapest true links experience I know.

Fly to Dublin.

Play Corballis (20 euro), play Laytown and Bettystown (40 euro) , and then play Baltray (85 euro).

3 true links for 145 euro (perhaps slightly cheaper if you use a booking agent).

And by they way, they have plenty of beer in Ireland.

Bart

[Martin Toal]

Tom:  

Here is my 2 cents.  Cheapest true links experience I know.

Fly to Dublin.

Play Corballis (20 euro), play Laytown and Bettystown (40 euro) , and then play Baltray (85 euro).

3 true links for 145 euro (perhaps slightly cheaper if you use a booking agent).

And by they way, they have plenty of beer in Ireland.

Bart

Or drive to Holyhead (I do it from Berkshire) get the fast ferry (100 minutes across), arrive in Dublin, drive out of the port, straight into the Port Tunnel and you are practically out of Dublin and both Baltray and Laytown are a short drive. Seapoint (a Des Smyth course) is also nearby.

You are not a million miles away from Ardglass either. RCD is a bit out of budget, but you know it is worth it.

[hhuffines]

Glad to see Corbalis getting some pub here... I had a great time there!

[Tom Culley]

Bart and Martin,

Dublin looks extremely tempting. I've done some quick calculations and we could play Baltray, Corballis, Laytown and Bettysdown, and Seapoint for £145! It looks like they are all close to Dublin also so we would be able to stay in the city and experience the 'culture'.

Brian,

I love Cornwall, and St Enedoc is probably my favourite course that i have played, but i think i'll struggle to persuade friends to come if there isn't much nightlife involved.

Simon,

East Loathian looks superb for golf, i'll have a look at the courses and try to figure out some prices.

[Scott Warren]

Tom,

I'm with Brian. Cornwall is the go. Burnham the Sauntons and Weat Cornwall on top of those he named. Plenty decent night out inSt Ives or Newquay, or head to Rock where the young Royals hang out in the summer and try to bag Pippa.

Cheap to get to, cheap for accoms and great golf. What's not.to love?

[Mark Chaplin]

Tom - I'm with Scott and Brian - Cornwall is the place, why do you think half the countries students decamp to Rock and Newquay for the summer??

[David_Tepper]

Tom Culley -

Greetings from Heathrow. I am on my way home after spending the past 3 weeks in Dornoch.

I am a big believer in golf in the Highlands. The Dornoch Firth Golf Pass might just help fit rounds at Dornoch, Brora, Golspie & Tain into your golfing budget. Click here for further info: http://www.dornochfirthgolf.co.uk/default.php

If you wanted to head further north, playing the links courses at Reay and Wick are likely to be even cheaper.

Another inexpensive option would be golf along the Moray coastline. Take a look at courses such as Fraserbrugh, Peterhead & Spey Bay. Duff House Royal (in Banff)is not a links, but it is a very nice parkland course.

If you have any questions at all about golf in the Highlands, please feel free to send me a message.

DT

P.S. It looks like the winter green fee (October thru March) at Reay is 10 pounds, which could be one of the great bargains in links golf as you are likely to get some pretty good weather in October. Of course, that is offset by the cost of petrol to drive there.

   

[David Davis]

Gentlemen,

As a newbie, not yet been to a BUDA but living in, knowing my way around and being a member of THE best links course in The Netherlands. I'm happy to offer my humble services. If only a veteran can be entrusted with responsibility for organizing then there is always the option of having that veteran do so with the help of a local (newbie in this case) contact. The Hague might be tough for this type of thing as they don't love groups but Noordwijkse/Kennemer (one of my best friends is a member at Kennemer) might be an option to impress all of you and perhaps have you sent home in shambles after a severe but extremely fun links beating from Noordwijkse. Kennemer would offer a touch of refrain perhaps although not too much. I do note that the KLM Open returns to Kennemer next year in the beginning of September.

Just an option so you know it is there, since it's been mentioned.

Would be happy to welcome you all and do battle with a sizeable home court advantage.

[David Davis]

Tom, sorry with the last post, wrong thread. two windows of GCA open somehow among 8 and got lost in the shuffle

[Jason Topp]

David:

I am not sure of the quality of players in your group but if they have handicaps and enjoy competition, many clubs have golf weeks that consist of a variety of competitions for a very reasonable price.  The other advantage of this approach is that you get to play with locals and a get a real feel for the destination.  Taking such a trip is on my bucket list.

Here are a couple of options:

Brora - June 3-8 this year -  http://www.broragolf.co.uk/BroraGolfWeek/BGW_End.aspx
Pennard - September - http://www.pennardgolfclub.com/images/PosterforOpenWeek2012.pdf

If you want to stay in St. Andrews there is a links pass that allows you to play all of the courses other than the Old Course for a 3 or 7 day period that would make the price more reasonable.  My first trip, I spent the week staying in St. Andrews and it was a terrific way to enjoy the town rather than rushing from place to place trying to get every possible course in.  Prices were a bit different then.  The Old Course was 35 pounds and others did not cost enough for me to pay attention even though I was a student.
 

[Jud_T]

Why not go to Askernish, pitch a tent and play all year for 150 quid?