Brad: I'm headed to Scotland for the first time on a nearly identical golf itinerary with my best friend about a month after you (arrive June 24th). I believe as a direct result, winter is passing slower than normal this year...
We're flying into Edinburgh but doing the same afternoon trip to North Berwick as well - didn't seem too unreasonable although we allowed 5 hours after our scheduled arrival to get there just in case. That's followed by 3 days in St Andrews to play the New, Jubilee, and Kingsbarns (TOC is closed by then for the Open although we are hoping to at least roam around & get some good pictures), Carnoustie, 2 days at Royal Dornoch, and a grand finale at Royal Aberdeen & Cruden Bay.
Most of the tour groups seem to place more emphasis on the west coast/Turnberry area and East Lothian (which makes since as the $$$ for Tunberry, Troon, and Muirfield were huge turn-offs for us), so I am hopeful Dornoch & Aberdeen will make for a true Scottish experience a little more off the beaten path.
Looks like you are getting to St Andrews on the last good week of availability at TOC before the Open, so hopefully you will get to experience what we will miss there:
http://www.standrews.org.uk/golf/the_courses/busy_dates2010.htmlCarnoustie is great to hit on the way up to or back from Cruden Bay/Aberdeen as it is directly on the way. Don't forget sunset is not until around 10pm that time of year so 36 in a day is certainly possible if an opportunity presents itself although we have just planned for 18 each day - certainly 9 straight days of golf will be plenty!
Another poster referenced this, and I would echo to yourself & others - DEFINITELY buy the Ferguson book on Scotland - although it sounds like you've figured your courses out already, it was the best $24.95 I've spent thus far on the trip as it definitely impacted my selection of courses and also helped somewhat with lodging options. I think it's the 1st result on Amazon under "scotland golf", and there's a good reason for that. If you haven't booked lodging in Dornoch yet, I would suggest prioritizing that as supply is very limited up there given Dornoch itself only has 10K full-time residents. That was arguably the toughest thing for me to get booked. We're staying at the Bank House, which was recommended by Ferguson. Surprisingly, everything else was very easy, although availability was already getting lean in November at a couple of places. Can't imagine what this was like prior to the internet and e-mail.
If I had any follow-up questions for the group, I guess they would be: 1) where would be the best courses for a lesser-known course for a 2nd round in a day if it presented itself, 2) a continuation of thoughts on best pubs, as I like where this thread is going
