Scotland – A Golfer’s Heaven

Ask any golfer from Hawaii to Moscow where the home of golf is and they’ll point you in one direction. As Jack Nicklaus, still the greatest champion to have ever played the game, said: ‘When the Open is in Scotland, there’s really something special about it.’

Over 550 golf courses in Scotland and counting . . .

Today there are over 550 golf courses in Scotland, indeed, some parts of the country are so studded with golf courses that it seems like they are the very fabric of the land. In a short stretch of coastline running from Largs in the north, down to Ayr in the south, there is an endless procession of fairways and greens, including some of the finest links courses in the world: Turnberry, Royal Troon, Kilmarnock Barassie, Old Prestwick, Bogside, Glasgow and Western Gailes . . . and that’s just Ayrshire!

In many places golf is still regarded as a rich man’s pastime. Not so in Scotland which has many of the finest municipal golf courses in the world, courses where any member of the public can come along and play a challenging round of golf amid stunning scenery for less than twenty pounds! If you drive into the town of Troon on a summer Saturday morning, where the three public courses of Dalry, Fullerton and Lochgreen intersect (allegedly the busiest public golf courses in Europe), you would be forgiven for thinking that the very town itself was built out of golf, and that every single man, woman and child in the county owned a set of clubs! As the novelist and keen golfer John Updike remarked ‘Here, in Scotland, golf was not an accessory to life . . . golf was life.’

Scottish golfers

And, of course, Scotland has produced more than its fair share of world-class players over the years: Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle. But one of the most legendary of all is Ayrshire-born Sam Torrance OBE. Winning 21 European Tour titles over three decades, Torrance went on to become one of Europe’s most inspired and beloved Ryder Cup captains, when he led the side to victory over the Americans at The Belfry. No one is more vocal about Scotland’s golfing charms than Torrance, ‘I know I’m a little biased here,’ he said, ‘but is there any golf course in the whole world more photogenic than the Ailsa links at Turnberry? I think not. Let‘s face it, perhaps the greatest ever Open was played at Turnberry in 1977 when Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson went at it in what became known as the “Duel in the Sun”.’

Homecoming 2009 – A Great Year for Scottish Golf

With the British Open Championship returning to Turnberry this summer after a fifteen year absence and the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond now firmly established as one of the professional’s favourite fixtures, it looks like 2009’s Year of Homecoming – a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, which is being marked with a programme of over 300 events on the themes of Burns, golf, whisky, ancestry and great Scottish minds – is also going to be a special year for Scottish golf. Torrance for one is keenly anticipating the summer: ‘I‘d love to see the Nicklaus/Watson scenario re-enacted come July, this time with Tiger and Sergio going head-to-head down the stretch. How great would that be?’

And it’s not just the Scots who think this way. Scotland’s No. 1 status was cemented last year when it won ‘Destination of the Year’ in the awards held by Britain‘s top-selling golf magazine ‘Today‘s Golfer’, finishing ahead of countries like Portugal and Ireland.

Golf in Scotland – Hidden Golfing Gems

As well as world famous Scottish golf courses like Turnberry, St. Andrews and Carnoustie, Scotland is packed with hidden golfing gems waiting to be discovered. There’s Shiskine on the island of Arran – a very rare twelve-hole golf course that runs up steep cliffs overlooking the sparkling water of the Irish Sea. Or, further north, Ardnamurchan on the spectacular Ardnamurchan Peninsula, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a haven for walkers, birdwatchers, painters and archaeologists. Where, as well as spectacular golf you can enjoy wildlife like otters, seals and golden eagles.

And, thanks to Scotland’s northern location, it is possible to find yourself on the eighteenth green, finishing your round and looking forward to a wee dram of fine malt whisky in the nineteenth hole (the bar!) as the hands on the clock above the clubhouse reach 11pm! Considering the sun rises in the summer just before 5am that’s nearly nineteen hours a day that could be spent on the course.

What golfer wouldn’t be in heaven?