Ganton or ??????? Last minute trip planning

[Bryan Izatt]

I've decided at the last minute to go to Scotland for a week of golf.  Unfortunately (from a driving perspective) I have to come into Manchester and depart from Glasgow to get a reasonable airfare.  I arrive this Saturday morning August 1 and would like to find a course to play in Saturday p.m.  Ganton looks interesting, if I can get a time.  Is there anything else that's recommended in north-east England.  I'd prefer links courses that won't break the bank.  And, I'd like to get to North Berwick by Sunday afternoon.

If anyone is interested in a game, let me know.  My schedule is pretty undefined at the moment, but I'll need to finalize it by Friday afternoon.  I was thinking of the standard fare North Berwick, St Andrews, Cruden Bay, maybe Castle Stuart, Dornoch, Brora, and back to Glasgow, and maybe Prestwick, before flying out Sunday p.m. Aug 9th. 

[Sean Walsh]

Bryan,

I am a fan of Ganton but if you don't want to cross from the West to the East coast and then face worse roads heading north I would think heading straight north from Manchester is the best option. 

In that area I've  played West Lancs which is a nice links course.  Royal Lytham is another option that although pricey is worth a game.  I havne't played Siloth on Solway but that or Southerness just over the border would be worth consideration.

I would've thought for ease of access Siloth would probably be my pick, but there are plenty of other GCA'ers in the area that should know better than me.

Hope that helps

[Niall C]

Bryan, sent you a PM. Niall

[Tony_Muldoon]

Bryan I’m sorry I’ll be missing you as I arrive in Scotland as you leave. I wish I’d stayed and chatted more with you at Cruden Bay instead of attempting to play the St Olaf course.  I have often recalled that choice as I had to walk off the course before the interesting holes when I was only able to complete 5 holes in 1.5hrs and I didn’t want to miss my plane.  Golf in Scotland can be as slow as Milwaukee as I got behind two lots of Scottish Marital couples and they were hopeless. The exceptions that prove the rule?

If any of the Scottish contingent are reading this don’t miss a chance to play with Bryan – a lovely guy who hits a long ball.  

Sean has picked out the two favourites and it’s a difficult choice.  Ganton is the best inland course I’ve played and Silloth is one of the most intriguing- there’s a good photo thread on here somewhere.

For more local golf options on the Sat pm, see Mark Rowlinson's IMO piece about the courses of Cheshire or play Ganton on the Sat even and IM Mark Pearce re other stops worth making on the east coast – including Seaton Carew another MacKenzie links.

Enjoy your trip.

[Andrew Mitchell]

Bryan

Whilst Ganton is great it wouldn't be on my route from Manchester Airport to North Berwick.  You are far easier getting on the M6 and heading up the west side of England and then cutting across from Abington (through Biggar) to the Edinburgh bypass and then onto North Berwick.  If you want a more detailed route feel free to IM me.

With that in mind the obvious stop offs (none of which are directly enroute) are either the links courses on the Lancashire coast (Birkdale, Formby, Hillside etc are all in easy reach of the airport - Lytham is not available as the Women's Open is there this weekend) or Silloth.  I'm sure Niall will have sent you some info re Silloth and I'm sure you would have a great time there.  An underrated course which flies under the radar due to it's relative isolation.  I'm still sore (literally) about missing an opportunity to play there with Niall & other GCAers last week. 

Have a great trip.  Look forward to reading all about it!

[Mark Bourgeois]

Don't forget The Alwoodley!

[Mark Pearce]

Bryan,

Like Andrew I wouldn't travel from Manchester to North Berwick via Ganton, that's a substantial detour.  However, as Tony said, Ganton is the best inland course I have ever played and is certainly worth a detour.  If you decide to go up the M6 (rather than travelling East and up the A1) then Silloth is well worth a visit (again, I'm sure Niall will have told you all about opportunities there).  On the East coast (if that's the way you go) Seaton Carew is a fine links, as is Goswick, though neither is as good as Silloth.  Inland, the only other really notable course is Alwoodley, which is of great historic significance, of course, and a wonderful course.  It's not quite as good as Ganton but it's less of a detour from the M62/M1/A1 route to NB.

Mark

[Bryan Izatt]

Thanks for the prompt responses and good suggestions.  Ganton did look a bit out of the way, but I wanted to avoid the high priced locales around Birkdale.  Silloth sounds like a good bet. I'm going to call them to see if they have a time.   Hopefully I can reach there before falling asleep after the overnight flight.  Any suggestions on hotels or B&B's around there or back towards Carlisle where I can crash after the round?

[Ulrich Mayring]

This may come too late, but anyway. I've just stayed in a QHotel in Kent and it was a welcome surprise: 89 pounds for a double room in a 4 star hotel with spa. Definitely a business ambiance, but much nicer than Travelodge et. al. They do have a hotel in Glasgow and some in northern England. Single rates can be around 60 pounds.

The Glasgow hotel also has a Ballesteros design golf course, but I'm told it's dreadful.

Ulrich

[Bill_McBride]

I'm with Mark about Alwoodley, one of my favorites anywhere and a chance to play Mackenzie's first design and home course.  I played there with my wife and a member couple ijn 2005 and wish I had planned the trip on to North Berwick more carefully.  We drove up the east coast and I wouldn't stay in the hotel we booked in Newcastle-on-Tyne.  I'm sure there is a route northwest from Leeds that would get you onto the major motorways.

[Niall C]

This may come too late, but anyway. I've just stayed in a QHotel in Kent and it was a welcome surprise: 89 pounds for a double room in a 4 star hotel with spa. Definitely a business ambiance, but much nicer than Travelodge et. al. They do have a hotel in Glasgow and some in northern England. Single rates can be around 60 pounds.

The Glasgow hotel also has a Ballesteros design golf course, but I'm told it's dreadful.

Ulrich

Ulrich

I think the Glasgow based hotel you are talking about is Westerwood which is actually in Cumbernauld, about 15 miles to the north on the M80. Seve put his name to it but Dave Thomas is the man responsible. I wouldn't say it is dreadful, it does have quite a few good holes, but there are others which are not so good. The main problem with it has always been condition. The hotel wasn't doing so well and therefore the money wasn't being spent on the course.

They have since spent a lot of money on the hotel and were building 4 or 5 new holes last year to replace others that had safety issues. Haven't been back since but I expect it should have improved. Incidentally, Seve no longer gets a mention in the promotional material for the course.

Niall

[Ulrich Mayring]

Well he does on the website:

Designed by Seve Ballesteros and Dave Thomas, it’s one of Scotland’s best kept secrets. The signature hole, devised by Seve, is the par 3 15th, known as the Waterfall hole.

Ulrich

[Jonathan Cummings]

Just played Ganton a few weeks ago.  GOD is it hard!  JC

[Mark Bourgeois]

Jonathan

It looks like there's a typo in your post.  Where you wrote "hard," I'm sure you meant "perfect."

Sincerely
Society for the Promotion of Ganton

[Jonathan Cummings]

Make no mistake.  Ganton is a world class course.  But for the likes of me, a teens capper, it's close to beyond my ability.  JC