London & Scotland recommendations

[Art Roselle]

I am going to Scotland for a much anticipated golf trip in July.  We start at Nairn on the afternoon of Sunday July 13th.  However, I am flying into London on Saturday morning and have no plans until I have to meet the group up at Nairn mid-afternoon the next day.  So, what would you recommend I do with that day to day and a half?

As I see it, I could do one of the following

a) Try to play somewhere near London on Saturday and then fly up to Inverness the next day.  I have no idea how hard that is to do as a single, but I have a sense that the better courses around London can be hard to get on.

b) Fly up to Inverness or Aberdeen that first morning and try to play another area course that afternoon, or at least the next morning.  We are not playing Cruden Bay, so that might be worth trying to make happen.  Other ideas (that I have heard of but never played) are Tain, Invergordon, Brora, Golspie, Tarbat, etc.

c) Fly to Edinburgh on Saturday and play in that area.  Meet the rest of my group the next AM in Edinburgh and ride with them to Nairn.

d) Hang out in London for a day.  Do not play golf.  Fly to Inverness the next day and meet everyone.  That is a little less adventurous, but we have plenty of golf scheduled and I would probably rather do that, then play a so-so course by myself.  If there is a great one that I can get on, then I would certainly play.

So, what other ideas am I missing?  What other courses should I try to see?  Also, I have not figured out exactly where everyone on this board is from, but I would certainly love to play with someone if there are GCAers that don't mind picking up a solo American tourist for a round either in London or Scotland.

Thanks
Art

By the way, in case it matters in your recommendation, we are scheduled to play
Royal Dornoch
Nairn
Royal Aberdeen
Carnoustie
Muirfield
Gullane #1
North Berwick

[Chuck Brown]

The overnight sleeper train from London to Edinburgh is kind of neat; saves you part of an airfare and a night's hotel.

Those are some great courses you are playing.  Excluding the Ayrshire coast courses (Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick, Western Gailes, Girvan) you've practically picked the creme de la creme.  You're going to see a lot of Scotland in the process!  Aberdeen-to-Carnoustie-to-East Lothian!  That's a wee bit of driving, laddie!

In London, if you wished to play, it would be worth your while to try to get onto Royal St. George's, which is quite private but not impossible to arrange, or even Royal Mid-Surrey, a freindly club which would be a gentle way to loosen up after a transatlantic flight.   But I think you'd have to go straight up to Surrey from Heathrow!  And tehn straight back, to get a flight!  It seems like you might be trying to squeeze too much in...  It has been a long time since I played in the London vicinity, so I am not up on what is new and worthwhile.

[Pete Lavallee]

Art,

Are you flying into Heathrow or Gatwick; that can make a big difference. Although all the London area private clubs are accomadating to visitors the only one that I know of that allows weekend play is Royal Ashdown Forest. That course is very close to Gatwick and could certainly be played on a Sat. afternoon.

[Chuck Brown]

I think Pete is right, Art.

Also, bear in mind that auto traffic in and around London is horribly, shockingly, plan-changingly bad.

[Art Roselle]

I am flying into Gatwick, so Ashdown Forest may be the best call if I stay in that area.  The overnight train is an interesting idea, but I don't think my aging body can handle an overnight flight, followed by an overnight train, followed by a 7 day golf death-march.

I agree with the traffic concern too.  Given that my early arrival was supposed to be to "get acclimated" and relax, I may try to get up to the Highlands area on Saturday and put all the planes, trains and automobiles behind me.

If I do that, what would you recommend out of the Cruden Bay, Brora, Golspie, Tain options?  Or should I just try to squeeze in another round at Dornoch?

Chuck, while I know we are driving a lot, my twice-per-decade golf odysseys always tend to involve too many rounds and too much driving.  I think it has become sort of a masochistic tradition.

[CJ Carder]

Cruden Bay can be done from Inverness, but you're looking at roughly 2.5 - 3 hours or so drive.  If you do Cruden Bay, I might suggest looking to stay out that way overnight and drive back really early on Sunday. 

Of course, you'll never go wrong squeezing in another round at Dornoch - you might even try and play the other course there, though I guarantee you'll have a leg up on your playing partners if you get a practice round in on the championship course.

You'll love the Carnoustie-Muirfield-Gullane-NB leg of the trip - absolutely awe-inspiring. 

Incidentally, how come no stop off in St. Andrews?

[Art Roselle]

I would love to do St. Andrews again, but we are trying a different itinerary this time.  Last time we did the Fife circuit and then went down to Ayrshire.  This time we are doing the Highlands and then Edinburgh.  So, many courses, so little time.

[Stan Dodd]

I would say Brora as an easy intor to the trip.  Easy walk and fun interesting, novel course.  My first trip to Scotland , Brora was the first course I played and was the perfect appetizer for the feast that followed.

[Bill Shamleffer]

I recommend:

d) Hang out in London for a day.  Do not play golf.  Fly to Inverness the next day and meet everyone.  That is a little less adventurous, but we have plenty of golf scheduled and I would probably rather do that, then play a so-so course by myself.  If there is a great one that I can get on, then I would certainly play.


You have an all-star course line-up.  Enjoy Londond and let you body get adjusted to the time change.  Stroll Portabello Road street market, or some book stores, or Harrods.

[Phil McDade]

Art:

My only two cents -- it is a long drive on two-lane highways from Inverness to Cruden Bay. A very scenic part of the country, often bypassed by the touring golf set, and with a few ultra-quirky courses (Cullen, Royal Tarlair, Strathlene) along the way. Once at Cruden Bay, there are a couple of other courses worth looking at -- certainly the under-rated Fraserburgh and, well, at least the back nine of Peterhead. In terms of travel time, you may be better off staying in the Dornoch area -- GCA regulars have very good things, generally, to say about the likes of Brora, Golspie, Tain and Fortrose & Rosemarkie, all very convenient to Dornoch/Inverness. Cruden Bay and the others really are not; simply depends on how much time you want to spend in a car.

[Chris Kane]

I partly concur with Chuck's recommendation of the sleeper train to Edinburgh, or a day train.  When I was living in St Andrews I stopped bothering with flying to London from Edinburgh, as the train takes about the same amount of time door-to-door and has less hassles.  Its around 4.5 hours from London to Edinburgh, and the station is right in the middle of town.

If you get the overnight sleeper, make sure you book a ticket which has a bed attached - when my Mum came to visit she was quite impressed with the cheap fare she got, until she found she had to sleep in the seat!

[John Chilver-Stainer]

Art,

I agree with Stan - if you want to maximise your time and avoid lost time in traffic jams and the stress of Greater London get up to Inverness as quickly as possible, hire a car, go to Brora and enjoy a visit to the 19th century - a course you will never forget!!

[Reef Wilson]

I say get thee to Inverness ASAP.

I suppose you could do Brora, Golspie or Tain Saturday evening, but you might be dead tired afterwards.

Depending on what time you start at Nairn you might be able to do Golspie or Brora in the morning and still get to Nairn.

If not there is a course called Hopeman that is quite close to Nairn. It's not talked about here much, but it is a nice heathland layout that pokes out onto the coast briefly. I had the place to myself on a nice rainy day and I could see it being a good warm up round for you.

There is also Moray Old 25 miles east of Nairn which I did not play but sounds cool with the classic start in town and return to town layout.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Art, in addition to RAF then the Addington and Walton Heath are very convenient for Gatwick.  The Addington was practically a pay and play until the new owners last year, so check it out.

Flybe offer discount flights to Aberdeen from Gatwick so Cruden Bay is possible.  Alamo allow you to pick up  a vehicle at one airport and drop it at another (for a charge).

"When a man is tired of London he is tired of life" Dr Johnson.    Enjoy

[R_Paulis]

One of the best decisions on my three week golf "walkabout" in the UK was renting (aka hiring) a car in London and driving up to and around Scotland.

Clearly more wasteful (compared to train) and more costly (gas/rental/conversion rate). The freedom and flexibility of auto travel helped to make my trip special. Perhaps my opinion was tainted a bit by being restricted to mass transit while residing in London for a year.

Most Americans are comfortable driving greater distances compared to the majority of residents in the UK. And to put it into perspective, the distance from London to Edinburgh is about the same distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Not a trip that you'd want to do on a regular basis but I drove it roundtrip last weekend. Conversely, I had more of an American perspective, when driving from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I failed to look at the map and reserved the better part of the day for the long trek between Scotland's two major cities...

If I had to choose between air and train, it would be the latter. Air travel is a real pain unless you're already at the airport I suppose.

[Brent Hutto]

The overnight train does not run on Saturday nights.

Check the commuter airline schedules for Saturday and Sunday. If you arrive on an early morning overnight flight from USA there will likely be a several-hour wait for any flight to Inverness. Perhaps the schedule is more favorable from London to Edinburgh (depending on airport of course) I have not checked into it.

If you can catch a plane from London to Scotland within 3-4 hours of your scheduled arrival that's worth considering. Alternatively if you can catch something like a 9.00am flight up on Sunday morning I'd advise enjoying a wonderful day in the London area sightseeing.

Finally, the day train from London to Inverness is quite a long one. Pretty much all day. You may have the option of a day train from London to Edinburgh (maybe 4 hours?) and then driving the rest of the way to highlands.

Mike W. and I will be in a similar situation in June except that we are arriving on a Sunday morning rather than Saturday. So that made the sleeper train an option and we were able to score a (shared) cabin with very cheap advance purchase tickets. We're going to sightsee (me) and catch a nap (Mike) in London during the 10 hours or so between our Gatwick morning arrival and Euston evening departure. Plus have a good early dinner somewhere no doubt. Then on arrival at Inverness we'll grab a rental car and hightail it up to Dornoch for a mid-day round of golf. But like I say, the sleeper doesn't run on Saturday.

[Chris Cupit]

Art,

Walton Heath is very good,  Very difficult first hole and some interesting history there as well.  Maybe the nicest golf pro of all time--Ken MacPherson (I'm not sure he's still there but I hope so.)

It's a little south of London just off the M25 I think.  I think it is the 4th or 5th hole with its rolls, hills and bumps that is fascinating.

[jeffwarne]

Wouldn't it have been better to have planned to fly/connect into Inverness in the first place?

However, at least fly up to Inverness the same day you fly in and avoid going to the airport twice (ugh).

Cruden Bay is a LONG way from Inverness and you're going back that way later in the trip-so if you really want to play it catch it in tandem with Royal Aberdeen(although for convenience sake I'd probably play next door Murcar instead)

If you reach Inverness at a reasonable hour and are up for it Brora is fantastic and an easy walk. Fortrose and Rosemarkle is even nearer and while not as great as brora, is quite good and a very easy walk.
You could even grab a nap, come out late and finish around 10 pm or later since you can sleep late on sunday.

[Art Roselle]

Thanks for all the ideas.  To answer Jeff, the flights that really work to Inverness cannot be booked though USAirways anyway.  So, while I am flying home from Edinburgh all the way to Charlotte, the outbound was just as easy to do separately and gave a few more options.  There is an EasyJet flight to Inverness at 12:45, so I am leaning toward that.  It would get me into Inverness before 3:00 and would leave time for a round somewhere if I am up for it.  If not, I will just mess around in Inverness which is a very cool little town (if memory serves) and play Sunday morning with all the travel misery behind me.

In the end, as Jeff mentioned, the idea of an extra trip in and out of the airport probably tips the scales.  Although I originally thought that a random side trip to a London-area course would be worth it, I think I would like to be done with flights and baggage and uncertainty as soon as possible.  Now the question becomes an extra round at Dornoch or Nairn vs. a solo round at Golspie or Brora.  That one can be pondered for another month or so.  Any recommendations are still welcome, but it sounds like it is hard to go wrong.

Thanks again.

Art

[Melvyn Morrow]

Art

If playing Tain, Dornoch etc , you must travel to Strathpeffer Spa (about 30 south west of Tain) and play a round there. Cullen is also enjoyable.
Do you have time to fly over the South Uist and play Askernish?
There is also Tarland, perhaps Newton more,

Whatever courses you play, relax and just have fun. Also car hire is a good idea, will give you more flexibility.

[Rich Goodale]

Art

If you are going to be in Dornoch, it is a no brainer to play another round there rather than see Brora, Nairn or Cruden Bay, or anywhere else for that matter.

Just imagine if you were in Monterey and had the choice of:

1.  A game at Cypress Point or Pebble Beach plus a game at Spyglass or MPCC

2.  Two games at Cypress Point or Pebble Beach.

A no brainer, IMHO, and since Dornoch is a better golf course than Cypress (and maybe even better than Pebble), and Brora, Nairn and CB are inferior to Spyglass, get a brain transplant if you choose any other option!

Regardless, enjoy!

Rich

[Tony_Muldoon]

Art,

Walton Heath is very good,  Very difficult first hole and some interesting history there as well.  Maybe the nicest golf pro of all time--Ken MacPherson (I'm not sure he's still there but I hope so.)

Agreed and as of last year he was.

[Art Roselle]

Well Richard, when you put it that way, I guess it is pretty simple.

As for the many comments about drive time, I totally agree that we Americans have a high tolerance for travel time.  I worked in London for a bit and would travel around on the weekends.  My British colleagues thought I was nuts when I would head off to Edinburgh or Wales for a one or two day visit.

I guess we are just accustomed to big painful spaces.  A two hour drive to play golf is nothing (although as our gas prices catch up to yours we may have to rethink that)

[Gerry B]

i second walton heath (old) and you should try and play sunningdale as well when in london

[Sean_A]

Art

Not to sink Rihc's ship, but if you do go up to Inverness early, I would suggest Brora.  Dornoch is a better course, but there isn't as much in it as most think.  Brora is a destination itself with or without Dornoch.

If you decide to saty near London, I would suggest Addington.  They take weekend visitors and you can probably dump your kit and take the train to within 5 minutes of the course. 

Ciao