Where to play between Dornoch and Prestwick

[Eric Franzen]

Will be driving down from Dornoch (yes, over two days) for an evening flight from Prestwick in the middle of May.

So where should we stop along the way for a quick 18? Cruden Bay (besides Brora and Dornoch) is already on the list for 36 earlier in the same week.

We rather play something funny/quirky along the way than making plans for a round in the Prestwick/Troon area.

[Brent Hutto]

We rather play something funny/quirky along the way than making plans for a round in the Prestwick/Troon area.

Boat of Garten?

It has the advantage of being pretty much right along your route something like midway. I've always figured that would be a good stop for a quick round when I make my Dornoch pilgrammage one of these years.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Tain, a little worth it, Nairn, great course, Western Gailes, great course, Troon, great course. One might even consider Machrihanish on the way. lol It is also a great course. Cruden Bay is not on the way.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tiger - you wouldn't call Cruden Bay on the way? I sure would.  Of course one can go another way, down Loch Ness... but there's a very viable drive more toward the coast that puts Cruden Bay well within reach.  And of course it is worth playing, especially now that they apparently plan to butcher it... play it now before it's ruined....

Tain is just to the south of Dornoch - Nairn is a very good stopping point as well.

2 days might not be enough.

 

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Tom, Cruden Bay is my favorite course outside of Dornoch north of St. Andrews. I would find a reason to go play there. The M highway goes down the middle of the country and nowhere near Cruden Bay if one is trying to go from Troon/Preswick to Inverness/Dornoch in a semi direct way.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Tiger - correct.

But isn't there another smaller north-south road that gets one pretty near Cruden Bay?

I sure did exactly this... that small road going north, with the stop at Cruden Bay), the M going south....

TH

[David_Tepper]

Eric -

Fortrose & Rosemarkie (in the village of Fortrose) is a bit north of Inverness. A James Braid layout in a spectacular setting and very high on the fun/quirk quotient. Boat of Garten, as mentioned by Brent H., also fits that bill just fine.

www.fortrosegolfclub.co.uk

Nairn is a fine course, but low on fun/quirk in my book.

Cruden Bay is WAY out of the way if you are driving from Dornoch to Prestwick. However, if you making the drive from Dornoch to Cruden Bay, there are few courses along the Moray coastline that might be worth a look: Cullen, Duff House Royal (a Mackenzie course, I think) & Royal Tarlair. I have not played any of them myself, but have heard enough about them and seen pictures to be interested.

www.theduffhouseroyalgolfclub.co.uk

DT  

[David_Tepper]

Tom H. -

The A9 is the main (and only) highway from Perth going north to Inverness and up the coast (past Dornoch & Brora) all the way to John O'Groats/Thurso. You pick up the A9 at Perth going north from either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Cruden Bay is a 90-120 minute drive east from just about any point on the A9.

DT
 

[jeffwarne]

If you read Eric's post again, you'll see he's already playing Cruden Bay earlier in the week.


Boat of Garten and/or Fortrose and Rosemarkie should fit nicely into your plans.
I'm playing Fortrose on the way to Dornoch and Boat of Garten on the way back in September.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tom H. -

The A9 is the main (and only) highway from Perth going north to Inverness and up the coast (past Dornoch & Brora) all the way to John O'Groats/Thurso. You pick up the A9 at Perth going north from either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Cruden Bay is a 90-120 minute drive east from just about any point on the A9.

DT
 

David - thanks.  It has been awhile.  And "on the way" is very relative if one really wants to see a course.

Great call adding our favorite F&M!

 

[ForkaB]

And now something completely different, as Monty Python was wont to say.

Spend your two days going down the west side of Scotland.  See Loch Ness and its Monster.  See Glen Coe, one of the most beautiful places in Scotland, if not the world.  Stop and play golf at Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, which was a cow pasture when I last played it in 1981, but oozing potential--it has now apparently mellowed, please report back!  Maybe even play Colt's 9-holer at Fort Augustus (if it is still there).  Then go past Loch Lomond, another bit of world-class eye-candy (the loch not the golf course).  Spend a few hours in Glasgow, shopping, drinking, trying to understand the natives.

All these are within a half-mile of the A82 (the main road from Inverness to Glasgow).  At the very least, you'll see parts of Scotland that 95+% of the visiting golfers never see.

Regardless of what you do, enjoy.

[Tom Huckaby]

Rich - that's the road we took driving south one time!  Down Loch Ness (stopped at touristy Monster exhibit - exceedingly cheesy but exceedingly worth the time), then proceeded down past Loch Lomond...

I must say it was one hell of a drive.  We didn't play any golf on the way though.

Did I just screw up your percentage, though?  There were 3 of us in the car.

 

[Tom Huckaby]

Sean, OK, Ok, I get it.  


Could you call it on the way from Edinburgh to Dornoch?

Because I guess we were crazy Yanks, but that's exactly what we did.

 

[ForkaB]

I'm going up to Dornoch from Fife via Cruden Bay next weekend, and we're planning a two day rest stop for the horses.  The road "system" in Aberdeenshire makes Ireland's country paths seem like autobahns......

[Tom Huckaby]

I'm going up to Dornoch from Fife via Cruden Bay next weekend, and we're planning a two day rest stop for the horses.  The road "system" in Aberdeenshire makes Ireland's country paths seem like autobahns......

Love it.  I recall that as well.  Thus when people say they have 7 days over there and want to play all the great courses from Turnberry to Dornoch, well... I tell them good luck and be careful and allow a lot of windshield time.  

[David_Tepper]

Rich G. -

I have driven 6 trips between Glasgow & Dornoch. We have always taken the A9 via Perth. From Glasgow Airport to Dornoch is about 230 miles and usually takes 4 1/2 to 5 hours on the road. The scenery is not half bad, especially between Perth & Inverness.

I have thought about taking the A82, the "scenic route," but it looks like it would be slow going.  Do you have any idea how it compares in terms of mileage and drive time vs. taking the A9?

DT  

[ForkaB]

David

I would guess 7 hours, but the scenery is so spectacular, you shouldn't worry about the time, and will want to linger rather than barrel forward.  Check out MapQuest if you want a more precise reading of the distance and time.