Sean we were in Inverness in Sept and Castle Stuart didn't even hit the radar in our groups venue discussions. Boat of Garten, Brora and Royal Dornoch together were probably cheaper than a round at CS. That must say something if members of premium south east clubs don't even consider it. There are only so many rich Americans to spread around.
Yet as a local golfer at £50 it is good value IMO. Dornoch £130, Brora £55, BoG £35?
Jon
Jon:
This may be true, but the rationale is far different.
Castle Stuart is a privately owned daily fee course. There are no memberships available, as far as I know, or at least the members don't have any say in operations. They are offering a good value rate for the locals to try and stay good neighbours.
The other clubs you cited are all member-owned clubs. I think their attitude toward locals is, if you want a good deal, you should join the club -- otherwise you are just a visitor the same as everyone else. [However, I'm surprised they don't have some sort of inter-club competition organized so that neighbours can come and play once a year.]
Perhaps that's harsh, but it's a pretty common attitude. I've been welcomed as a visitor at clubs all around the world, but the private clubs nearest to my home, such as Stanwich, were totally unresponsive to a letter asking to come and walk the course, coming from the next town over. In the UK, it was ever thus. When I caddied at St. Andrews in 1982, there were lots of members of UK clubs who were willing to pay the visitor rate of £15 -- but now that it's gone to £150 or more, most of the visitors are from overseas.