Three weeks in Scotland

[katbird]

I was to go to Scotland in August...but a change in plans has me in Scotland from mid-September to mid-October....

I'm looking forward to a month of real Autumn after 25 years in Florida with none to speak of....brisk air and bursts of color.

 

I really looking forward to all the possibilities for just wandering and gazing at the countryside and history...

I'll be taking trains (a Scotrail pass gets me a nice ol' fart discount) from one end of the country to the other (as far north as I can get)...perhaps rent a car?

...I will do some research to some nice airbnb hosts for this wanderer...

Lots to photograph...a one-time profession now a hobby, I won't be bringing a ton of camera gear....have to have priorities!

Lots of time and space to hike, to drink, to sight-see, to drink, to enjoy music (I even found a blues and jazz festival!) and night-life, to drink...

...and to play a few rounds of golf....

 

As for golf....

I'm taking Icelandair that lets me take clubs as my 2nd checked baggage at no extra cost (as well as a couple of days in Iceland too!...a nice plus...)

...I just got a SLDR 430 to lower my drive flight....lower than the r7/425/9.5 I've been using for a few years now...and replacing the 3/5 senior flex fairway woods with a single 5 wood with regular flex that keeps the ball lower...Scottish wind is as rough as here in Florida I'm told...just more so...

I'm practicing knock-down shots with my hybrids...

....and long lag/approach putts....

 

I'll be bringing "Dri-Joys" (w. extra cleats) and quick-drying socks...synthetic rain gloves (and a right-hand glove if it's cold), and rain gear head to toe that will also be handy in a backpack while hiking under gray skies....and a couple of dozen balls (Srixon Soft Feel and e6)....

 

Okay....what have I forgotten?

...and any suggestions?

[oldschooltarheel]

sounds fabulous... please post lots of photos of your trip... all the best

 

sounds fabulous... please post lots of photos of your trip... all the best

[az2au]

If you plan to play "no matter what" you'll need at least two pairs of shoes and two sets of rain gear. If, however, you plan to play during only light rain or better than I'd still have at least two pairs of shoes because once they get soaked it doesn't matter how waterproof they are. Stuff them with newspaper between rounds where they get wet and they'll dry faster. Always dress in layers as you're likely to experience all four seasons on any given day.

 

Balls are way more expensive there so you may want to bring a few extra. Oh and expect to play quickly on non big name courses. My last round in Scotland was a foursome that finished in 2:58 walking at St. Andrea Castle last fall. I joined them as a single and they specifically asked me if I was willing to play in 3 hours before joining them. I prefer to play quickly so that was no issue.

 

Finally, not sure that the rail coverage is adequate outside of the bigger cities. Not sure you can get over to Machrihanish without either a fairly expensive taxi or renting a car. I spent 127 days in the UK last year and whenever I was there on weekends I rented a small car and drove all over to play golf or flew to other parts of Europe to do the same (other than the weekends that needed to be in the office). I found train travel to often be expensive, slow or inadequate outside of the major metro areas.

[prsgtrman]

yeah youll be walking the courses, thats the norm over there. i wouldnt get too caught up on ball flights. just play your game and have fun. when the wind is bad its horrible. the hardest thing literally about golf over there is the greens. rock hard and so are the fairways. took some time adjusting to that. ie playing a ball intentionally short b/c it will run up to the green rather than flying it to the green, bc the greens dont hold balls like american greens. have fun.

[North Butte]

There is a web site at nationalrail.co.uk that will let you find schedules and ticket prices for train travel all over England, Scotland and Wales.

 

But as az2au has mentioned, unless you extremely restrict the courses you visit in order to stay near rail stations you will spend far more in taxi fees than the cost of a rental car. And that's in addition to the often steep price of the train tickets in the first place.

 

P.S. There is also bus service (they tend to call it "coach service") that's much more extensive in some outlying areas than the trains. I've never tried it but it looks like it would take a lot of planning and poring over route schedules and so forth. Plus the hassle of schlepping luggage and golf clubs on and off buses through possibly multiple stops and changes for a given journey. IMO you pretty much gotta rent a car if you really want to go here, there and yonder.

 

P.P.S. I would not buy different golf clubs for a trip like that unless you're just looking for an excuse to buy some clubs. Stick to the clubs and swing that you are most practiced at and don't throw yourself off your game trying to chase imaginary ball flight tweaks. The *only* thing that will matter if you play in a 25mph wind is striking the ball solidly with a square clubface.

[scott_Donald]

where are you thinking of golfing???

[katbird]

where are you thinking of golfing???

 

PM sent

[katbird]

Just booked Royal Dornoch!

[thecraw]

What's your dates and itinerary?

[360_CS]

+1 on the rain gear. That was the mistake we made when we played golf in Scotland.

 

St Andrews Old Course is closed on a Sunday and you are allowed to walk the entire course. That was a thing we wished we had done.

[katbird]

What's your dates and itinerary?

 

I start in the south (Glassgow, 5 days), head to the north (Aviemore, 2 days; Golspie, 5 days) and then back to southern Highlands, Doune for the last 10 days.

 

Sept 19-22 Glasgow and Ayr: Girvan and Royal St. Nicholas, perhaps Troon Muni

Sept 23 on the road to Aviemore: Traigh just south of Mallaig

Sept 24-25 Aviemore: Boat of Garten

Sept 26-29: Brora, Tain, Golspie and Dornoch.

Sept 28: Durness at the far north

Sept. 29-Oct 1: NO GOLF....Callander Jazz and Blues festival

Oct 4: Braid Hills in Edinburgh

Oct 6: Gulane#3 (double round) in Berwick

Oct 9: a Sunday walk through St. Andrews, then south to Aberdour for my final round overlooking Firth of Forth

 

That's 12 golf days (13 rounds in 3 weeks, many more than I play in the US) with time for some local sightseeing, and 10 days for just sight-seeing/photography.

[katbird]

I've been invited to Machrihanish Dunes and if it works out that and Prestwick St. Nicholas covers my 1st week in Scotland.

 

I decided to walk a mountain course in Scotland...Pitlochry

https://www.google.c...V5tBLAQ_AUICCgD

It was a toss-up between this and Boat of Garten, but I'm traveling through the area of Pitlochry so I chose this course.

This will be very reminiscent of my 1st years of golf as a kid in similar "mountains" of upstate New York.

[North Butte]

I just love me some Pitlochry Golf Club. The first six or seven holes are brutal. Uphill and into the prevailing wind all the way (except for one Par 3 that cuts sidehill to give you a breather). It's a spectacular course with out-and-out mountainous terrain. One morning I walked up the hill just above the course (can't recall its name) and then came back down and played 36 holes carrying my bag. The word "tired" does not begin to describe how I felt by the end of the day!

[katbird]

18 holes will be just fine for me thank you. I play a Donald Ross track Palatka in Florida that has some up and down treks too....not anything like Pitlochry...but I think I can handle it....perhaps I'll take one or two fewer clubs ;) for the hike

[thecraw]

Pitlochry is beautiful but I'd choose Boat every time as its just simply stunning. Better course with majestic views of the Cairngorm mountains.

 

Just sent you a message and included my mobile. Safe journey.

[katbird]

Pitlochry told me that they're coring the course in mid-September so it's been replaced in my "rota" by an afternoon game at Boat of Garten, only 15 minutes from where I'm staying in Aviemore...giving me the morning to drive around the Cairngorms before hiking them with my bag...

...and I won't have to drive far or in the dark...something I am trying to avoid....

That gives me Sun at Boat, Monday at Brora, Tues at Tain, Thurs at Royal Dornoch, Friday at Golspie.....whew, a lot of golf there....the most intensive days of golf on the trip...

...leaving me the following weekend to recuperate listening to jazz and blues in Callander, and a week still to sight-see and play a round at Braid Hills, a DAY at Gullane#3, and one more open day for golf....

 

Anyone know of Stonehaven?

In Perthshire....the only part of Scotland mainland I haven't yet plans to see....

[katbird]

Gathering pix from my trip....

 

Here's a shot from a course I found in Iceland on my way to Scotland...beneath the taller grass off the fairways is grass covered lava so rock-solid balls don't settle...instead, they bounce anywhere....so keep on the fairway!

The greenskeeper kept the course in great shape and I had a very "Scottish" round full of sun, wind and horizontal rain, such that the flag stick on 9 had been blown out of the hole taking me a while to find it. My approach shot landed near the fallen pin and I 2-putted for a nice bogie.

 

 

Prestwick St Nicholas #2 my first par in Scotland: chipped from the white wire rings at the right to the back of the green and let the ball come back to the hole for a 3' putt.

 

Prestwick taught me the problem of being new to "the flats" where there are no trees to help judge distances...causing me to come up short and to hit over the greens because I refused to believe my Fabian's call on the yardage....dumb.

Still, I came away with a lot of nice memories of classic "links" shots, punched approaches, and putts and chips from off the green...

 

Thank you Fabian for your kindness and courtesy for a great day....and for letting me have honors on a few holes!

 

 

 

Big grin on the tee between my only two pars on the front nine at Machrihanish Dunes.

Unfortunately I lost my game on the back nine (the weather took all my energy just to finish the round) but I still remember the beauty of the course.

...my thanks to Crawford for the invite to Dunes...the kind of course you really want to come back and play again....when you know more about the course layout and can play "to get even."

 

 

2 shots from Boat of Garten.

The 2nd is from the tee-box hitting into the sun. I had no idea where the drive landed. I just walked down prepared to drop/replace a lost ball when I found it down in the fairway!

 

 

 

2 groups before me had hit all their drives to my feet walking up the fairway to the right....they stayed after the round to talk to me, likely to apologize, (and to see just who was crazy enough to carry his clubs up and down these fairways...just about everyone here and on elsewhere played with motor-carts leading their way), and we enjoyed a nice talk likening BoG to those THEY AND I PLAYED IN UPSTATE NEW YORK, which is why I had come to play here....to recall my first days playing golf as a kid.

 

 

Brora, north of Inverness, where when you go, you must REMEMBER TO KEEP DRIVES LEFT OF CENTER! It was about the most pleasant day in terms of weather, and I made enough pars (and a birdie) for my best score in Scotland, an 86. No animals were injured in the course of the round played there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two of Tain....where the wind and rain was on and off and so strong that I barely remember the course....

...but it was a great feat, finishing in the late PM sunset under full rainbow with a few pars and a birdie (a low screaming 3 wood sliced around a dogleg to the back of the green, 2 feet from the hole), and a score in the mid-90s where most of my Scotland rounds ended up.

A teenager caught up with me at the par3-17 where I waited after punching a 3-wood to 20'. I asked how he "enjoyed" the weather, and he said he waited for it to pass and just played 9 under the setting sun. He then proceeded to loft a 5-iron inside my ball

 

 

 

 

 

Royal Dornoch, where I was paired with a Londoner who kept saying nice things about my short game (bunker escapes and lag putts) despite not making a par. On one par3 where I replicated the on-line video of the 2nd shot...hitting 15' up from behind the green for a 2-putt bogie.

Though it was the only round I failed a par, it was still a lovely day and I was happy with a 101 score.

He also warned me that Gullane was "horrible" and can't say I altogether disagree.

 

 

 

 

 

Gullane #3. I had my best 9 of the trip, a 40 on the front nine that began with a double bogie but was followed by a sand-save par 3 that kept up my optimism and my game on track, making some nice par approaches and chips for a few 1-putt pars.

 

But most of the course was played on and round the "mountain" top that was just crazy in the wind. Wind by the oceanside (firths) was nothing compared to what blew on that "hill."

 

My drive on this down-hill par 3 (below) started 20 yds left of the fairway and ended up all the way across in the right rough.

I did recover though with a nice chip that trundled down and around the bunker at the right and onto the green for a 2-putt bogie....typical of the 56 on the back nine.

 

My round was followed by a nice lady and her well-behaved dogs

 

 

 

The celeb photog at the Alfred Dunhill Championship kindly shot me on The Bridge....

 

 

 

Driving in Scotland (on the course and on the roundabouts) was a pain....literally, as I had a slight pinched nerve/muscle in my neck (that twinged every time I looked right for cars entering the roundabout ahead of me) that is only now 2 weeks later easing up.

 

My AirBnB host in Doune swears that the pinch-pain is a result of my allday computer job rather than a bad golf swing, and so my end of year resolution is to raise my chair (lowering my wrist) at work as well as to take some golf lessons (my 1st ever) for better posture on the tee-box as well.

 

I drove over 2500 miles in 23 days in Scotland and still missed a lot I had plans to see, in part because 23 days weren't enough, but also because my AirBnB hosts took me into their lives and THAT was more important than sightseeing. Still, I have a thousand or so photos to choose from, edit and post of my trip.

 

Yes, I met a lot very nice Scots (and Americans too! a lot going to college there) along the way and have brought back a lot of great memories (and a nice tartan golf hat, bottles of Glenlivet and Old Pultney, and a Gore-tex rain suit found in the Dornoch Charity shop) as well as the photos.

 

Thank you Scotland!

[thecraw]

Was a pleasure and I'm delighted with my Bethpage Black cap.

 

Glad you had a safe and pleasant journey.

[Gem]

I am delighted you had a great trip and it is a shame you didn't enjoy Gullane. #3 isn't the best course and is tricky of the wind blows but #'s 1+2 are really good although more expensive.