Trip Advice - Scotland

[Patrick Glynn]

Hi Folks,

I am heading to Scotland with my father in May. We have already been over a few times and played in the Edinburgh area (The Old Course, Carnoustie, North Berwick, Muirfield, The Renaissance Club). This time we have decided to make the pilgrimage to Dornoch and I am in the process of building a 5-day trip around it.

I have been reading up on the various threads here and just wanted to gather a bit of conventional wisdom.

Criteria
1. Maximise golf-time; both of us are single digit golfers who love to walk 36 holes / day
2. Cannot waste a day travelling - we are coming from Ireland so golfing on the day of arrival / departure is a must
3. Open to fun, links courses -  would always replay North Berwick and skip Gleneagles

Limitations
A. Scotland's Geography (!)
B. No Irish flights to / from Inverness that suit  
C. Working for an American multinational means I have 5 days (Monday - Friday) to work within

Proposed Itinerary - Monday - Friday

Monday - Fly to Edinburgh - drive to St. Andrew & play TOC
Tuesday - North to Aberdeen - play Royal Aberdeen / Cruden Bay (skipping Trump for now due to cost & rye grass / conditioning)
Wednesday - Across to Castle Stuart for 36 holes
Thursday - Dornoch for 36 holes
Friday - Early AM round before driving down to Edinburgh for 17:10 flight home

Thoughts?

Patrick

[James Boon]

Patrick,

As I read your post I spotted "maximise golf time", "cannot waste day travelling" and "open to fun links courses" so what happened to your itinerary? 

You say you have been to Scotland before so a pilgrimage to Dornoch, really should be to Dornoch, including other golf in the area, and not via other destinations in their own right?

How about:

Mon - Fly to Edinburgh, head north, 18 at Golspie, accommodation in Dornoch for 4 nights
Tue - 36 at Dornoch
Wed - 18 at Castle Stuart, a further 18 at Dornoch
Thur - 36 at Brora
Fri - 18 at Tain, drive to Edinburgh, fly home

or something like that?

Cheers,

James

[jeffwarne]

James has it about right.

Problems/suggestions with 1st itinerary
Hard to get tee time at St. Andrews, much less in your narrow window

It would kill me to be in 5 major golf areas (Edinburgh +Lothians, Fife, Aberdeen, Dornoch, Moray,and all in between) and play so few representative courses.

You could fly into Aberdeen from Dublin if CB an RA are must plays this trip, or even to simply land closer to Dornoch

How about ?
Mon. fly into Aberdeen or EDI -play Castle Stuart   (stay Dornoch 4 nights)
Tues-Golspie-Brora
Wed-, Tain, Fortrose & Rosemarkie
Thurs Dornoch x2
Fri-Boat of Garten-breaks drive up a bit

Though I must say I like James' suggestion of a double Brora
If I had to eliminate one it would be Tain, for me an extra Brora or Wick,maybe for you an extra Castle Stuart

[Patrick Glynn]

Thanks to both Jeff & James.

When researching, I thought that flying into Edinburgh & driving 4+ hours north would make a game in the highlands a bit of a stretch. I know its potentially possible, given the daylight, but this more than anything drove the TOC idea (or a course within 90 mins of EDI).

A quirk of the trip is the need to fly from Shannon (family from Lahinch; logistics just make sense).

Regards,

Patrick

[Bill Brightly]

Did you look at Aer Lingus flights to Inverness through Birmingham? Looks like you can leave Shannon at 7 AM and get there in 5+ hours, plenty of time to play.

[Patrick Glynn]

Unfortunately, Aer Lingus doesn't fly Birmingham to Inverness so not a runner. Doing point-to-point with a different carrier would just increase hassle & costs.

[Jonathan Mallard]

There's enough near Dornoch to stay 5 days there and enjoy the golf.

Dornoch (x2)
Golspie
Brora
Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle
Tain

If you want to venture down to Inverness, you also have:

Castle Stuart
Nairn
Nairn Dunbar
and Boat of Garten is a short distance away.

There are still others.

Enjoy!

[Tim Johnson]

Patrick
Quick points- try and keep Cruden Bay in your plans.
Regardless of the other courses, I would strongly suggest Brora, spent 2 days at Dornoch in 07(having played it once in 99) and my father and I decided against going up to Brora, we regret that decision although he had two great days at Dornoch, we  both feel we made a big mistake not going to Brora.

Regarding Dornoch in May, after dinner, grab a couple of balls and a club, we took 7 irons. Spent two hours just walking around playing holes until the sun went down, great memories.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Patrick,

For 5 days you have to forget St Andrews and Aberdeen and just concentrate north as the others have said. You can get from EDI up to Inverness in about 2.5 hours. For what it's worth, I'm doing a similar 5-6 day trip late May / end of June. Still to be finalised and to be honest more jumping around than I'd ideally like (all local though) but a little like this:

Tuesday evening - Brora
Wed morning - Royal Dornoch
Wed afternoon - Golspie
Thu morning - Royal Dornoch
Thu afternoon - Castle Stuart
(somewhere in there - see Jon Wiggett's course)
Fri - Moray Old
Sat morning - Nairn
Sat afternoon - Nairn Dunbar
Sun morning - Boat of Garten
Sun evening - fly home

2 nights in Dornoch, 3 nights in Nairn

[Thomas Dai]

Patrick,

My suggestion would be to concentrate on one area and not be overly ambitious with the driving. You'll just knacker yourselves out otherwise lessening the likelihood of enjoyable golf.

As to flights, I think you'll find that Flybe have Dublin-Inverness flights if that helps.

Have a great time.

atb

[Sean_A]

Yes, I tend to agree with the others.  If Dornoch is the main show then go to Dornoch - don't be greedy.  Plus, you may get one horrible weather day so best to hedge your bets with Dornoch. Assuming Edinburgh is the airport:

1. 18 Castle or Moray way up

2. 36 Dornoch

3. 36 Dornoch

4. 36 Brora

5. I would want to be a lot closer to Edinburgh airport than somewhere near Inverness after my last game.  In fact, assuming you get an 8AM time, how in the hell do you make a 5PM flight in Edinburgh - very dodgy call that is.  If the course has to be links I would suggest Elie or Leven. You can bang out the 4-4.5 hour drive while the world sleeps and grab a 8 or 9 AM tee time.

Ciao

[Rich Goodale]

My advice is to maximize Dornoch and minimize travel.  Play one round at Golspie and Brora and 1-2 at Castle Stuart--both for the unique experiences that they offer but more importantly, to compare and contrast.  Spend the rest of the time at Dornoch and play as much golf as you can (in late May the sun rises ~5am and sets ~10pm).  All 4 of the courses on this itinerary are interesting, but Dornoch is very special, and a fount of practical knowledge for anybody interested in golf course architecture.

Yes, I am biased, having visited Dornoch annually for over 36 years and being a member there since 1981, but that bias is very much experience-based, and I would not suggest such an itinerary if I did not think it was the best one for you and your Dad, given your parameters.  Regardless, Enjoy!

Rich

[Niall C]

Patrick

Have you ever been to Forfar ?

Niall

[John Cowden]

"Far for Forfar".  Delightful track; a parkland Brora, but hardly practical for Patrick's goals. 

[Jim Eder]

Patrick,

This is an ambitious itinerary.

I think it depends on what you both want to see. The big courses or enjoy all the gems that aren't as well known.

In would also say, personally 3 36 hole days in a row is my personal max. Just make sure your body can handle an ambitious trip.

I also like to drive the evening before to the location I am playing the next day. Just to make sure that I start the day close by and make it a little easier. One never knows about traffic etc. Also, I like to break up long drives with golf. For example, if I am driving from Manchester to Fife I'll stop at Penrith or Carlisle and play or driving from Edinburgh to Dornoch I'll stop at Pitlochry. This could be done on your trip (my Blairgowrie idea) but it is less of an option. Just something to think about if you ever have long drives on another trip.

Finally, consider playing the courses you really want to see on different days or days apart so that maybe the weather will behave on one of the days and you can have a good look at the course.

Here is what I would suggest:

Monday -  fly into Edinburgh play TOC late morning/early afternoon and possibly Kingsbarns late afternoon (then drive to Aberdeen to stay the night) or play Cruden bay in the late afternoon and stay in Aberdeen

Tuesday - Royal Aberdeen in A.M. then Castle Stuart in the afternoon stay in Dornoch

Wed - Royal Dornoch 36 holes or just 18 if rest is needed or add Brora in the afternoon if physically able stay in Dornoch

Thursday - Royal Dornoch 18 holes in AM (helps to play a separate days as well just in case weather is poor) and then a few options if 18 was played day before and rest is not needed either Castle Stuart again in afternoon or Nairn or Boat of Garten then drive A9 to Blairgowrie and stay Blairgowrie or drive all the way to Edinburgh and on Friday play North Berwick

Friday play Blairgowrie Rosemount drive to Edinburgh airport or if you skip Blairgowrie then play North Berwick or if you know a member Muirfield.

The other ideas are terrific, it really just depends on what you guys want to see. Enjoy your trip.

[David Kelly]

I like the idea of a 36 hole day at Dornoch a 36 hole day at Castle Stuart and a third day with 18 at Dornoch and 18 at Brora. 

[Ian Mackenzie]

I like the idea of a 36 hole day at Dornoch a 36 hole day at Castle Stuart and a third day with 18 at Dornoch and 18 at Brora. 

I second this.
Having just been to Dornoch in September, I loved playing RDGC as well as Brora. Castle Stuart was worth it, but it's a totally different experince. It's a 5 hour round and the starter gives you a tartan pouch with tees and a divot tool. It's just much more...eh..."institutional" than Dornoch or especially Brora.

[Anders Rytter]

If staying in Inverness i can recommend Culloden House hotel

[Jon Wiggett]

Patrick,

as others have already said your original itinerary is pushing it. Scotland is much bigger than it looks on the map when your sat in a car.

I think the idea of 36 at both Royal Dornoch and Castle Stuart are good ones. I would also advise maybe a morning round at Brora and afternoon at Golspie. Also Nairn and Nairn Dunbar on the same day is a good combination though I would be tempted to play some of the lesser known courses as well such as Tain and Rosemarkie.

Where to stay I would recommend my place of course (B&B with attached course) but otherwise David Tepper's place is perfect as well. Let me know if you need any more in depth info.

Jon

[Greg Taylor]

Yes, I tend to agree with the others.  If Dornoch is the main show then go to Dornoch - don't be greedy.  Plus, you may get one horrible weather day so best to hedge your bets with Dornoch. Assuming Edinburgh is the airport:

1. 18 Castle or Moray way up

2. 36 Dornoch

3. 36 Dornoch

4. 36 Brora

5. I would want to be a lot closer to Edinburgh airport than somewhere near Inverness after my last game.  In fact, assuming you get an 8AM time, how in the hell do you make a 5PM flight in Edinburgh - very dodgy call that is.  If the course has to be links I would suggest Elie or Leven. You can bang out the 4-4.5 hour drive while the world sleeps and grab a 8 or 9 AM tee time.

Ciao

I've done the same run and Sean has it right here... there is A listers like Royal Aberdeen, and worthy B listers e.g, The Boat etc..., but if it's quality over quantity maxing out at Dornich is the right call.

Castle Stuart I would say 18 only... ditto Nairn too if you're adamant you want to play them.

Cruden Bay is the only other "must play" for me one the way up.

One thing: the roads aren't quite like Ireland's but there are no motorways and the drives whilst scenic can be a drag.

[James Boon]

Patrick,

Sean makes a good point about golf on Friday and it being nearer to Edinburgh. I would have suggested Blairgowrie but you hint at preferring links so something in Fife probably works best. Tain is worth squeezing in if you can, but for me would be the one to drop of those I've mentioned. But I think you are probably getting the idea by now...

Cheers,

James

[Bill_McBride]

I hope they don't overlook Golspie.  It's a terrific links / parkland hybrid and quite "dad friendly."   Easy walk, great set of par 3s, several thrilling short par 4s, a few daunting long par 4s, and some nifty seaside holes.   Plus as friendly a membership as you could find.  And David Tepper is a member, try to get a match vs David and John Davies who was captain when I was there in 2008.   Golspie and Brora are a fine 36 hole day. 

[ed_getka]

I would advise playing Dornoch, Cruden Bay, and Castle Stuart. Dornoch is almost certainly going to be in your top 5 favorite courses after this trip, so keep that in mind with your planning. Make sure to sit and have a bite in the clubhouse at Cruden Bay, you are not likely to find a much better view while enjoying some sustenance.
Dornoch is one of the best courses I've played. If you break it down into driving demands, approach shot requirements, and short game/putting challenge I think you will find Dornoch to be one of, if not the, most balanced courses you will ever play. Have a great time.

[John Crowley]

My advice is to maximize Dornoch and minimize travel.  Play one round at Golspie and Brora and 1-2 at Castle Stuart--both for the unique experiences that they offer but more importantly, to compare and contrast.  Spend the rest of the time at Dornoch and play as much golf as you can (in late May the sun rises ~5am and sets ~10pm).  All 4 of the courses on this itinerary are interesting, but Dornoch is very special, and a fount of practical knowledge for anybody interested in golf course architecture.

Yes, I am biased, having visited Dornoch annually for over 36 years and being a member there since 1981, but that bias is very much experience-based, and I would not suggest such an itinerary if I did not think it was the best one for you and your Dad, given your parameters.  Regardless, Enjoy!

Rich

Patrick,
Heed the advise of Sean and Rich. They ring true with my many pilgrimages to Dornoch.
John

[Mark Chaplin]

For you Cruden Bay lovers it's 3.5 hours from Edinburgh Airport and another 3 hours to Inverness, plus the hour to Dornoch. It's "just" 4 hours from the airport to Dornoch. Patrick get to EDI and head straight to Dornoch if it's a late'ish arrival you may get a twilight rate in the main course, also the Struie is worth a play. You have chosen an awkward destination from Ireland don't complicate it further by going off in different directions.

You doing the Brassey and/or Willingdon?