Golf in Scottish Highlands

[buckI]

 

Going to be in this area for 3-4 days at the beginning of October. Would like to get in two rounds. I really want to play Royal Dornoch but looking for recommendations. In reading, it seems like Castle Stuart and Nairn get great reviews. Any input appreciated.

 

[socied]

I stated at Dornoch for about a week a few years back....it was amazing. Both courses are awesome. If you go anywhere near. PLAY there.

[FrazS]

If you want something really "quirky" for a change try Cullen Golf Club.

 

It's a relatively short (4,600 Par 63) links course but with some really interesting holes; 200 yard par 3s with 100 foot drops off the tee, blind shots over large red rocks that look like they fell from Mars!

 

It's nothing like a Championship course, but sometimes its nice to do something a bit different and the welcome we have had there has always been fantastic!

 

http://www.cullengolfclub.co.uk/

 

[MikeMcM]

Dornoch for sure, the next choice is tougher, but I'd have to go with Castle Stuart, while I love Nairn for its classic links, Castle Stuart has better views, and maybe more interesting holes, but its close to a toss-up. As an alternative, if you just want to stay around Dornoch, head up the road to play Brora, and you won't be disappointed.

[knothead63]

Royal Dornoch was my favorite course in Scotland by far.

[buckI]

Thanks for the replies. Cullen looks cool for a quick round. Dornoch is a must then need to decide. Going to try and get 4 rounds in but heading toward St. Andrews and Edinburgh after the highlands. I heard Cruden Bay is good but not sure if enough time or a stop in that area. Want to try and get on the ballot for the Old Course and if not, need to pick a couple in the St. Andrews/Edinburgh area. A buddy loves Kingsbarn and North Berwick gets great reviews. If you have recommendations in those areas, appreciate that too.

[gp7xs]

I just returned from a golfing trip to Scotland last Thursday. I did St-Andrews and the Highlands. Here are the courses I played:

- Carnoustie
- New Course
- Kingsbarns
- Old Course
- Castle Stuart
- Royal Dornoch (twice in one day)
- Cruden Bay
- Royal Aberdeen

It was my second time playing on the Old Course but my first time on all the others. Apart from the Old Course, here's how I would rank the others according to my preference and experience:
[list=1]
[*]Royal Dornoch (there's a special rate for two rounds in one day on the championship course... worth every pence!) - Just a fabulous golf course. Best pure links course I have ever played and that includes 95% of Scottish and Irish links.
[*]Kingsbarns - It expensive, but defenitely worth it. I would classify it as a [i]modern links[/i] as opposed to a classic links. It is a great layout, has tremendous views, terrific conditionning and the warmest welcome you will get at any of the courses I mentionned. Plus their caddy services were the best I've encountered.
[*]Royal Aberden - Another great classic links. The front nine is probably the best collection of consecutive holes I've ever played. The greens were fabulous (the best of the bunch!).
[*]Castle Stuart - Very, very nice golf course. It was in great condition when I played, but it was a tough and windy day. Much like kingsbarns, it has tremendous views. However, for me, the comparisons end there. To me, even though kingbarns is not a pure, classic links, it still plays very much like one. Castle Stuart however reminded me more of Whislting Straits. You still need to play it along the ground and keep the ball low, but it was the course that I found the furthest away from true links golf in my lineup. Still a great course and plenty of fun!
[*]Carnoustie - Just a monster of a course! So difficult! Great putting surfaces as well. You can tell it has a great championship layout, but don't expect great scenic views and jawdropping holes. It's about as tough a course as you'll get though. If you really want a measuring stick for your game, there's no better place.
[*]Cruden Bay - A quirky little bugger! The views from the clubhouse are magnificient. It had the biggest dunes out of all the course I played. It has many jawdropping holes, but a few weak ones as well. It also had the most blind shots out of all the courses. But if you want true links golf, put this on your itinerary. A big positive: unlike most of the older courses in Scotland, Cruden Bay has a driving range! On a more negative note: conditionning was average when I played it last week. The greens did not react the same way from hole to hole and a few of them had just been opened two weeks before because they had trouble with them.
[*]New Course - A great links course. To me, not as memorable as the others but still a lot of fun. Much tougher than it's older brother, but by no means does playing it equal palying the Old Course. To me, nothing beats going out on the first tee and coming in on the 18th on the Old Course. I've done it twice now, and it doesn't get any better as far as golfing moments go.
[/list]
So if I can give you any recommandations, here's what I would do:

- Dornoch is a must, period. Play it twice in the same day, it's worth it!
- If you're on a budget, I would choose Kingbarns instead of Castle Stuart. If you're not on a budget, play them both. Kingbarns is not far from St-Andrews, so you could probably play in St-Andrews and Kingbarns in the same day (that's what I did).
- If you're heading to the Northeast, I would play Royal Aberdeen instead of Cruden Bay. I know it's more expensive, but for me it was a better course, especially when considering conditionning.

If you want restaurants recommandations, don't hesitate! Enjoy your trip!

[buckI]

[quote name='gp7xs' timestamp='1372713898' post='7365568']
I just returned from a golfing trip to Scotland last Thursday. I did St-Andrews and the Highlands. Here are the courses I played:

- Carnoustie
- New Course
- Kingsbarns
- Old Course
- Castle Stuart
- Royal Dornoch (twice in one day)
- Cruden Bay
- Royal Aberdeen

It was my second time playing on the Old Course but my first time on all the others. Apart from the Old Course, here's how I would rank the others according to my preference and experience:
[list=1]
[*]Royal Dornoch (there's a special rate for two rounds in one day on the championship course... worth every pence!) - Just a fabulous golf course. Best pure links course I have ever played and that includes 95% of Scottish and Irish links.
[*]Kingsbarns - It expensive, but defenitely worth it. I would classify it as a [i]modern links[/i] as opposed to a classic links. It is a great layout, has tremendous views, terrific conditionning and the warmest welcome you will get at any of the courses I mentionned. Plus their caddy services were the best I've encountered.
[*]Royal Aberden - Another great classic links. The front nine is probably the best collection of consecutive holes I've ever played. The greens were fabulous (the best of the bunch!).
[*]Castle Stuart - Very, very nice golf course. It was in great condition when I played, but it was a tough and windy day. Much like kingsbarns, it has tremendous views. However, for me, the comparisons end there. To me, even though kingbarns is not a pure, classic links, it still plays very much like one. Castle Stuart however reminded me more of Whislting Straits. You still need to play it along the ground and keep the ball low, but it was the course that I found the furthest away from true links golf in my lineup. Still a great course and plenty of fun!
[*]Carnoustie - Just a monster of a course! So difficult! Great putting surfaces as well. You can tell it has a great championship layout, but don't expect great scenic views and jawdropping holes. It's about as tough a course as you'll get though. If you really want a measuring stick for your game, there's no better place.
[*]Cruden Bay - A quirky little bugger! The views from the clubhouse are magnificient. It had the biggest dunes out of all the course I played. It has many jawdropping holes, but a few weak ones as well. It also had the most blind shots out of all the courses. But if you want true links golf, put this on your itinerary. A big positive: unlike most of the older courses in Scotland, Cruden Bay has a driving range! On a more negative note: conditionning was average when I played it last week. The greens did not react the same way from hole to hole and a few of them had just been opened two weeks before because they had trouble with them.
[*]New Course - A great links course. To me, not as memorable as the others but still a lot of fun. Much tougher than it's older brother, but by no means does playing it equal palying the Old Course. To me, nothing beats going out on the first tee and coming in on the 18th on the Old Course. I've done it twice now, and it doesn't get any better as far as golfing moments go.
[/list]
So if I can give you any recommandations, here's what I would do:

- Dornoch is a must, period. Play it twice in the same day, it's worth it!
- If you're on a budget, I would choose Kingbarns instead of Castle Stuart. If you're not on a budget, play them both. Kingbarns is not far from St-Andrews, so you could probably play in St-Andrews and Kingbarns in the same day (that's what I did).
- If you're heading to the Northeast, I would play Royal Aberdeen instead of Cruden Bay. I know it's more expensive, but for me it was a better course, especially when considering conditionning.

If you want restaurants recommandations, don't hesitate! Enjoy your trip!
[/quote]

Great help. Any other tips and restaurant recommendations would be great. We are flying into Edinburgh so trying to figure out where to play near there or St. Andrews also. Chavez some questions so may message you. Thanks.

[gp7xs]

As far as restaurants go, here's a few that I enjoyed (some might be more expansive than others).
[list]
[*]Dornoch: Luigi's (owned by an american from New Jersey). Don't let the name fool you, it's not an italian restaurant. Great food and service. Try his Orkney Stout (dragonhead), it's my favorite local beer I had during my stay in Scotland.
[*]St-Andrews: there's a few good places to eat, depending on your budget. There's Dunvegan, which is a St-Andrews classic. The One Under right by the 18th hole is good. The Peat Inn is something special, but pricey (very pricey). Again on the pricey side is the Rocca Grill, but the food is tremendous. Also, there's the Swilcan restaurant in the Links Clubhouse which has a good lunch menu.
[*]If you drive down from Dornoch to the Aberdeen area, and if you're a whisky fan like me, I'd recommend a pit stop in Aberlour at the Mash Tun. It's one of my favorite restaurant. I've had the chance to eat there a few times already and it's just great. Very good choice of whiskies as well. And while you're there, you should definitely look into visiting one or two distilleries. If you want to know which ones to visit and which ones have the best tours, just send me a message.
[/list]
Also keep in mind that most, if not all of those courses, offer very good lunch food on their menus. For example Kingbarns (where I strongly recommend you have lunch) served me one of the best club sandwhich I've ever had. And that's saying a lot since I've had them pretty much all over the world (I travel a lot on business).

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a message.