Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation – the Scottish Highlands & Islands
Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Prestwick, Machrihanish, Machrie, Machrihanish Dunes, Askernish, Brora, plus nine-holers including Shiskine (12), Traigh, Isle of Harris, Isle of Skye & Durness
Golf in the Wilderness: Escape to Tranquility, the Highlands & Islands
In recent years the golf world has started to witness a subtle shift to ever more remote locations as we push the frontiers of the possible. Bandon Dunes, Cabot Links, and Barnbougle Dunes are just three stunning examples. Scotland is no exception and at Faraway Fairways we’re calling this ‘Wilderness Golf’.
The Western-Isles of Scotland are our Shangri-La. They’re isolated, with wild Atlantic facing landscapes of rugged bleak and inspiring beauty. Cruising the Western Isles is the ultimate ‘chill out’ experience for the golfer who wants to travel off the beaten track in a quest for solace and sanctuary. It’s a spiritual calling to the purists who treasure not ticking off bucket lists, but the ethereal game itself in a pure collision of landscape, course, and player.
Here we’ll encounter strange alien concepts like pay and play, or honesty boxes. So explore the spirit of Scotland and seek out the true enduring soul of golf in these remote and largely untouched communities on the periphery of the game’s spiritual homeland.
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The Itinerary
Thursday – Prestwick
Friday – Shiskine (12) (Isle of Arran)
Saturday – Machrihanish Dunes
Sunday – Machrihanish
Monday – Islay and Jura
Tuesday – Machrie
Wednesday – Traigh (9) (Glen Coe)
Thursday – Askernish (South Uist)
Friday – Isle of Harris (9)
Saturday – Isle of Skye (9)
Sunday – Isle of Skye
Monday – Royal Dornoch
Tuesday – Brora with Durness (9)
Wednesday – Castle Stuart (Loch Ness & Culloden)
Thursday - Prestwick
Prestwick is the home of the first ever Open Championship of Golf, and therefore the genesis of all such modern variants played since. This is your chance to tackle the original ‘Open’ undulations, the narrowest fairway in Europe, and the continents ‘biggest bunker’.
Surprisingly for golf (but less so when you think how the game came to the west coast) Prestwick has a little of a ‘blue collar’ tradition to it
Today’s course remains surprisingly faithful. Unreasonable fairway ricochets, and a plethora of ‘blind shots’ abound. Six of the original greens played from 1860 are still in use. A number of holes, including the famous par 5, ‘Cardinal’ have only received the absolute minimal alteration over the decades. The opening ‘Railway hole’ is another timeless links classic.
Prestwick’s quirky and charismatic. To play here, really is to step back in time. No where is quite like it, nor can it be.
Friday - Shiskine
The 12 hole course at Shiskine is likely to be one of the most unusual and fun courses we’ll ever play (yes we said 12 holes).
Everyone loves a dramatic par 3, and Shiskine has a plethora of them (seven in total), and they often play from dramatic tee boxes or hit into equally stunning locations. Not everyone shares the same affection for blind shots however, and Shiskine has nearly one of them on every hole
The course is set on a post glacial, post volcanic landscape due to a geological fault-line that bisects the island, which makes it even more dramatic.
Shiskine can only be described as idiosyncratic. The 3rd and 4th, “Crows Nest” and “The Shelf”, offer real excitement, nestling underneath the dramatic basalt Drumadoon Cliffs. One plays up to a high green perched well above us where we’ll find a wicked putting putting surface. The other is a tee shot returning the other way which challenges us to launch a shot into the sea as we aim at the small target below
We noted that Arran can potentially offer us a bit more than just Shiskine though, so it would perhaps be remiss not to mention a nine-hole gem on the other side of the island called Corrie, that we might be able to add using a protocol of ‘turn up and play’ and put the green fee in an honesty box
Saturday - Machrihanish Dunes
Scotland is the home of golf (you’ll this strap line a few times!), but in terms of finding a course that most faithfully observes the games foundations we might turn to something surprisingly modern, built in AD2009. If you want to experience a links challenge similar to that which the games pioneers faced, then ‘Mach Dunes’ this is the perfect symbiosis of natural landscape and hazard in harmony might be close to it.
The pioneers who took to the links land didn’t have mechanical earth moving machinery. They looked into the landscape, worked with it, and went about conceiving their own challenges. In time consensus emerged which gave way to the adoption of ‘routes’ which duly became courses.
Of its 270 acres only 7 have been subject to earth working. The rough is managed by two flocks of roaming sheep with grazing rights, and bunkers are developments of burrowing animals! This is authentic links, and actually genuine.
The course was designed by David McClay Kidd (of Bandon Dunes fame), so has pedigree. It’s possibly taken a bit of time for the golf travel writers to realise that this is a fine golf course and not some sort of eco-project
Sunday - Machrihanish
Perched on the western most tip of the Kintyre Peninsula, Machrihanish is wild, remote, windswept and very, beautiful. As you might expect being just 12 miles from Northern Ireland, the coast shares some Irish traits, notably dramatic high dune systems, whereas the subtle undulations in the fairways are more Scottish. This is pure links theatre.
Golf Digest has rated Machrihanish as high as the 57th best course in the world. It’s top drawer. It also possesses what many regard as the finest opening tee shot in the UK, played over the beach onto the fairway beyond, and daring you to carve off more and more until you perish. It sets the tone for an exhilarating round.
It would be criminal however to suggest that Machrihanish is one great opening hole and that’s it. The entire front nine are exceptional and magical experience is we sail our over rolling fairways and dunes. The greens are firm, fast, true and are positioned in the most varied of locations. Some are sunk in punchbowls allowing us to run out, whilst others are on a raised plateau or flattened dune tops which will slam the door, or challenge us to ride the wind all the way into the target. There are blind tee shots, fabulous sea views, undulating rippling fairways and exciting rugged dunes.
Monday - Islay & Jura
Islay is known as the ‘Queen of the Hebrides’ and most famous for its distinctive whiskies including Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Caol Ila. A connoisseur has a full day on these alone.
If it’s true tranquillity and escapism you seek however, why not ‘cross the sound’ to visit the Isle of Jura and disappear into the real wilderness. George Orwell knew, he took himself off to the northern tip of Jura to write ‘1984’
As you begin to explore this trip you seem likely to come across the name of Ardfin on the Isle of Jura. Before you ask, the answer is probably not, but it’s getting closer! Ardfin is a genuine world class masterpiece, but originally conceived as a private pleasure for a billionaire. Gradually some stay and play packages have been introduced for a minimum of 12 people, and word reaches us that some limited public tee-times might be released for 2026. It’s slowly getting there maybe? But if Ardfin were to become accessible for public play it would complete the mosaic
Tuesday - Machrie
The Machrie occupies one of Scotland’s most striking links settings on Laggan Bay, Isle of Islay facing out onto a wild Atlantic.
In the last decade the old layout underwent a major redesign. The course became less penal with wider fairways and more sympathetic run off areas allowing us a chance to recover errors. Most of the blind shots were also eliminated. Yet it didn’t seem to lose its personality. Most feedback we’ve heard has been positive, which is a minor achievement given that golfers tend to hang onto the past
The links turf on which Machrie was built is among the finest in Scotland. Machrie always enjoyed a reputation for throwing out a different challenge and most notably in the green complexes
Heroes and plotters are given an equal chance to work their way around
The course is a mix of raw dunes and romance, a work of nature and a legacy of golf’s golden age that invites you to step back and sample it for a fleeting flirtation with nostalgia.
Wednesday - Traigh
Traigh Golf Course is the most Westerly golf course on the UK mainland, just south of the herring port of Mallaig at the western end of the ‘Road to the Isles’
A series of pristine sandy beaches run alongside the course, with stunning views to the Hebridean islands of Eigg, Rum, and the Cuillins of Skye.
It is set in one of the most beautiful parts of the Western Highlands of Scotland. It is a nine hole course, (par 68), based on a line of grassy hills, with the springy turf.
Like many courses that have to survive winter in the western highlands, its conditioning can never be 100% perfect, so we need to cut it some slack, but when they’ve got it right the word ‘gem’ probably is a fair one to use
Traigh is a subtle golf course that rewards accurate shot-making. One of the biggest challenges you might face is loss of concentration brought about by scenery and serenity!
Thursday - Askernish
In an era when powerful plutocrats plough millions into luxury resorts, Askernish is evidence that the spirit of golf is alive and living on South Uist, a barren windswept island 50 miles off the Scottish Atlantic coast.
The original course was designed by Old Tom Morris in 1891, but was lost to neglect. On discovering this, a band of local volunteers formed. Against all expectations they succeeded in restoring the links to its 19th century specification and appearance. The seventh has started to feature in these composite ‘best 18 holes in Scotland’ lists. This is one of golf’s more warming stories. The purist surely wants to be a part of it and play.
We might need to manage your expectations though. Askernish is not a manicured, “pristine” modern course, but rather a “living museum” that allows us to stride across the pages of golf history and play a course from centuries earlier. It’s wild, rugged, and untrammelled. You’ll need to embrace the raw experience positively and recognise that this is what golf courses used to look like, and how it began.
Scotland has plenty of ancient courses with impressive dates on the club crest, but the course(s) long ago left behind any trace of this. The thing is, they’ve been updated in line with technological advances. Askernish hasn’t been, and is deliberately left in its 19th condition. Even the fairways were ‘semi’ back then
Friday - Isle of Harris
The Isle of Harris golf course at Scarista has justifiably been described “as one of the most picturesque 9-hole courses in the world”.
Bordered on one side by the Sound of Taransay, leading onto the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst all down the west side of the course stretch the pristine white sands washed by an aquamarine sea, typical of this part of the Hebrides. It’s not an idle boast.
Although only a nine hole course many are very demanding with more than a few natural hazards.
Among the many famous golfers who have played the course are Nick Faldo. Shortly after winning the 1992 Open, and opining the industry and lost soul of the game, Faldo took himself off on an odyssey to rediscover golf.
The story runs that he came across the Isle of Harris, climbed over a wall and played without anyone realising. Only when they came to empty the honesty box the next morning did they find a five pound note with his signature and thanks on it. A subsequent call to his agent confirmed it’s legitimacy. The ‘Faldo fiver’ is played for annually as the clubs trophy today
Saturday - Isle of Skye
“Because it’s there” legendary mountaineer, George Mallory famously said when asked why he climbs, and to some extent the same might be said of the Isle of Skye Golf Course
People who live in amongst stunning scenery often seem to be the most matter fact about it. Overseas visitors by contrast will typically be hypnotised by the views of sea and the Red Cullin beyond, and indeed the Isle of Skye Golf Course does have something of a wow factor to it
The fairways can be a bit on the narrow side, and the greens are small. With rough that’s typically allowed to grow, we tend to think accuracy is the key here rather than trying to belt the lacquer off the ball
The slight problem we have with the Isle of Skye course however is that the island itself can compete for our attention. The golf course is only a nine hole layout so it’s not as if we’re going to build a day around it, and with that in mind we tend to the opinion that an evening round is the best option
Sunday - Isle of Skye (non golf)
With its post-volcanic landscape the Isle of Skye has some of Scotland’s very best scenery.
The Quinraing is a corkscrew drive through basalt outcrops. The ‘Old Man of Storr is a monolithic rock of needles formation whilst the Mealt Falls plunge over a cliff into the Atlantic below.
We can call in at small communities dotted around the isle, the brightly coloured houses of Portree being the pick perhaps.
Despite its beguiling beauty Skye hasn’t escaped with a bloodless history though (this is Scotland!). Visit Trumpan church to learn of its macabre past, or Dunvegan Castle.
Skye has developed a world class food offer too as top chef’s have migrated there
Monday - Royal Dornoch
Golf Digest has rated Royal Dornoch the highest of Scotland’s many worthy candidates, and it remains one of elite quartet that vies for the title of best courses.
The Championship course represented a paradigm in design that endures today. The ‘bump-and-run‘ was the traditional shot to mitigate a links wind. Elevated plinth greens were introduced and ringed with fiendish pot-bunkers to guard them from any such commando approach. Without completely taking the traditional ‘stock shot’ out of the equation, a degree of risk was added. Dornoch therefore challenges you to go the aerial route, and ride the wind. Iron play is the key to the course. The rationale is simple: hit a good approach shot and you should be rewarded. Hit a bad one, and you pay the penalty.
Tom Watson said of Dornoch “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course”.
The bunkerless 14th, ‘Foxy’ is often regarded as the signature hole and one of the toughest par 4’s in Scotland
Tuesday - Brora with Durness?
Raw, bleak, yet tranquil with an intoxicating solitude. In the summer Arctic terns swoop acrobatically over the beach holes at Brora. They’re adopted on the club crest.
This is a traditional out and back nine hugging the north sea. We will enjoy the mixture of bent grass and beach sand, burn water and gorse in glorious yellow bloom. Brora is a scenic course but the absence of dunes means that it’s perhaps the relationship with the sea and the wind that we’ll remember most! (or ‘’ shall we say).
If we wanted to head onto the extreme north coast, where we really are talking untrammelled and savage, then the nine-hole course at Durness is definitely worth it
Wednesday - Castle Stuart
Castle Stuart is another modern addition to the golfing landscape having opened in July 2009.
The course is set on two-tiered balconies overlooking the dark and foreboding waters of the Moray Firth. Players enjoy stunning panoramas from the highest elevations. The course is rich in the textured signature landscape of Scottish ‘whins’, gorse and broom, heather, and marram from beginning to end. These change colour with the seasons as nature commanded, and weave a tapestry of highland hues into this landscape mosaic of rugged beauty.
The course has quickly established a bit tour pedigree when it hosted the prestigious Scottish Open, where Luke Donald and Alex Noren have triumphed. It was used successfully by Phil Mickelson in 2013 as a springboard to Open success a month later at Muirfield
Non Golf Options
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What's Involved?
Not only is this a point-to-point tour, it also has a number of unique characteristics. Anyone considering it needs to weigh up. We are dealing with remote locations, low capacity destinations, and a transport framework that in many cases only has one fragile option. It’s likely that more experienced travellers, or those with a healthy attitude towards disruption will be better equipped to handle its potential demands. At the time of writing, Faraway Fairways has never had a Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands, ‘go wrong’ (the worst we’ve encountered is a double puncture), but one day we will (that’s inevitable). Whereas we can ameliorate some things in situ, the further out we travel, the harder it becomes to do so. The ability to ‘think on your feet’, problem solve, and improvise could become an asset
The bottom line here is that travelling into low capacity and remote destinations brings its own special rewards. It also carries its own sense of enhanced risk. We need to be accepting of these. You might be required to work with us in solving any challenges we meet, rather than simply demanding that we “sort it out” and sit back. In truth, it’s largely the leg on Islay and ‘the Uist’s that are most vulnerable. The other bits we can usually resolve
Finally, with Prestwick or Royal Troon, Machrihanish, Royal Dornoch and Castle Stuart all capable of appearing in Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands, it would be a mistake to think that this is an exclusive exploration into a land that civilisation left behind! The trip has an air of class about it too
Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands is laid out as a fourteen night duration that observes a point-to-point itinerary, staying at:
- Troon – 1 night
- Campbeltown – 3 nights
- Port Ellen or Machrie (Isle of Islay) – 2 nights
- Lochboisdale (South Uits) – 2 nights
- Portree (Isle of Skye) – 3 nights
- Dornoch – 2 nights
- Inverness – 1 night
At about 1175 miles, the Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands is a high mileage.
The travelling intensity transport burden however is very difficult to describe. In terms of the ‘road time’ (with time spent sailing as well) it’s also very high, but it isn’t what we’d describe as intense at all. Indeed, many travel guides actually categorise the driving and transport as a leisure pursuit in its own right. The roads are scenic and uncongested. It’s not like we’re in urban areas. We will largely have relatively free flowing open roads
In total, the transport demand is about 48 hrs +, which is an average of slightly under 3.5 hrs a day (that’s actually more manageable than it sounds). In a lot of cases we won’t realise it
The itinerary threatens to end a little bit abruptly however. Dependent on whether we’ve routed south to north (as modelled in the website) or north to south, we could find we have a final leg to complete, or one to put onto the start before we set out. The key to this is Inverness, which is in the highlands, and likely to be functionally 4 hrs away from any central Scotland airport that we’ve used. One way to remove this transfer would be to fly through London Heathrow. This is worth considering as away of removing 4 hrs of road time. Heathrow has direct flights to both Glasgow and Inverness
We wouldn’t advise the use of a hired driver for the Scottish Highlands & Islands Golf Vacation. It’s not at all practical to do so. We might consider using a driving guide selectively on Skye or Islay however, but they charge some extortionate prices (particularly on Islay, where they perhaps think that people using their service are hostages having arrived without their own vehicle). We encourage self exploration and discovery instead. It’s always more rewarding and leaves the more indelible memory
Any tour of the western isles involves threading together a series of ferries. This gives us a weather disruption dependency as well as potential mechanical reliability issues. The safety record is immaculate, but the fleet is ageing and suffers mechanical issues until such time as the vessels are replaced (they’re on order and slowly being introduced – in what has become something of a political scandal)
We’ll need to make the following ferry trips, eight sailings in total
- Troon or Ardrossan > Brodick (Isle of Arran) – 55 mins
- Lochranza (Isle of Arran) > Cloanaig – 30 mins
- Kennacraig > Port Ellen or Port Askaig (Islay) – 2 hrs 20 mins
- Port Ellen > Kennacraig – 2 hrs 20 mins
- Mallaig > Lochboisdale (South Uist) – 5 hrs 15 mins
- Berneray (North Uist) > Leverburgh (Isle of Harris) 1 hr
- Leverburgh > Berneray (1 hr)
- Lochmaddy (North Uist) > Uig (Isle of Skye) 1 hr 45 mins
The ferry to Machrihanish that cuts across Arran is easily mitigated normally since there is a long way round by road
The ferries to Islay and South Uist are the more vulnerable should we get ‘pinned’ on the island by poor weather, or unable to get off.
The ferry between Berneray and Leverburgh isn’t essential to the integrity of the trip. If we thought there was a risk of it failing to sail, we could omit it without losing anything materially substantive
The Lochmaddy to Uig crossing (despite being shorter than the Lochboisdale one) will usually be withdrawn in the face of poor weather first. Although we wouldn’t want to rely on it, we might be able to switch into alternatives from Tarbert or Lochboisdale, but out preference would normally be to try find somewhere to stay the night and ‘wait any poor weather out’ (easier said than done on South or North Uist)
It’s probably worth recording that some of these golf courses, are very close in places to being 19th century (Askernish, Traigh and the Isle of Harris). This needs explaining.
When the games pioneers first ventured out onto the links land centuries earlier, they did so largely as solitary individuals. They had to interpret what nature had bequeathed them by way of landscape, and frame their own challenges within it. They utilised burns (streams) sheep holes (bunkers), vegetation, contours, etc Gradually they will have to recognise other ‘golfers’ engaged in this strange pastime pursuit, and doubtless compared notes. This is one step away from establishing playing routes (a recognisable course) and presumably as they were invited to play each others routes, they started to form de facto associations and early clubs.
These were the days before industrial earth moving machinery, fertilisers, ground maintenance teams, and course design consultants. The courses were wild, and rugged, with whatever TLC they could lend to them, likely confined to the greens
Some of this lives on today and we might need to remember that we’re stepping back in history a bit here in the pursuit of something closer to the games origins rather than the multi billion dollar industry we’d find in St Andrews
We won’t necessarily find perfectly manicured greens and immaculate fairways in some of these places. The climate in the western isles is harsh, the terrain is rugged, and the clubs budgets are low. Some of them can be a little bit more authentic than perhaps we’re used to! We will need to embrace this. Remember this is how golf used to be as a pastime transformed into a sport
It’s not certain that we’ll run south to north starting on the Ayrshire coast. The direction of travel for the Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands often depends on the ferry timetables. Faraway Fairways has run this north to south in the past as well
For now at least, we’ve featured Prestwick as our Ayrshire option, in no small part because of cost and having more visitor playing days available. If we wanted to add the Open Championship venue of Royal Troon to replace Prestwick however, this is a relatively straight-forward change to make with no significant impact on the mileage and feasibility
In truth, a combination of Troon, Machrihanish, Royal Dornoch and Castle Stuart is serving us four courses that feature in the world’s top-100. The Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands needn’t be quite the back-water you might think it is
We’ve buried this confession right out in a remote part of the Faraway Fairways website (if you find it – well done)
Australian hedge fund billionaire Greg Coffey bought the Ardfin estate and set about having a private golf course built for his own private use and that of his invited guests. Architect Bob Harrison certainly didn’t disappoint.
We’re sometimes asked what we think the best course in Scotland is? Although our mood can dictate our answer, we usually answer Turnberry’s Ailsa course. The more we look at Ardfin however, the more we wonder if Turnberry is the correct answer any more? Ardfin is more dramatic and impactful. The only thing it lacks is heritage.
Gradually Ardfin began to offer some restricted and exclusive (and expensive) stay and play deals, but limited them to large groups (12). Word reaches that in 2026 they’re considering making some limited stay and play tee-times available for smaller parties of two or more. Who knows? perhaps in five years time it might be possible to offer some limited opportunity to play this true masterpiece? Things seem to be slowly moving in the right direction
For the moment at least, we need to consider Ardfin to be slightly out of reach. They aren’t a particularly communicative organisation to deal with, rarely answer phones and can simply ignore email. Those clients who did make the most progress (so far) have done so by pursuing them as private individuals rather than under the wing of a GTO
The Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands can’t really support a luxury option. Instead we can only offer it as ‘premier’ or ‘affordable’
The non golf offer for the Machrihanish & Askernish Golf Vacation to the Scottish Highlands & Islands is strong, but it needs to be stressed that its largely landscape touring punctuated by points of interest as we encounter discreet communities in remote locations and flashpoints from Scotland’s history book. In a lot of cases the golf complements the non-golf well, but in a couple of situations the quality of the non golf is considered strong enough to justify a dedicated day
- Isle of Arran with Shiskine
- Campbeltown with Machrihanish
- Islay and choice of high class distilleries with Machrie
- Glen Coe & Glenfinnan with Traigh
- Isle of Skye
- Dunrobin Castle with Brora (if turning down Durness)
- Loch Ness & Culloden with Castle Stuart
There is going to be a sense of ‘non-golf’ interest all around us however in a lot locations
The following courses operate the following handicap thresholds for gentlemen and ladies respectively
- Royal Troon (20 & 30)
- Machrihanish (24 & 36)
Prestwick appear to have downgraded their ‘ask’ of 24 & 28 to “preferred”
Prestwick don’t permit visitor play on Saturday’s or Sunday mornings
Royal Troon is capable of replacing Prestwick if we preferred to add a bit of name recognition. Royal Troon only allows visitor play on Mon, Tues and Thurs however
Adding Non Golf Value
Isle of Arran
Geologically, the Isle of Arran is often described as a ‘mini Scotland’. A circular road allows you to discover the various settlements dotted around the island, and takes about 2½ hours to circumnavigate. Highlights include the castles of Brodick, and Lochranza, the ancient standing stones at Machrie Moor, and the whisky distillery
Islay
Islay is the self-styled ‘Queen of Hebrides’, a wild a remote island with a rugged and beguiling landscape sitting off Scotland’s west. Aside form any golf, Islay is going to cover any whisky requirement with Lagavulin and Laphroaig being two of the most respected names.
Glen Coe
Glen Coe is a steep sided glaciated valley with mountains that rise threateningly above you. It’s also one of the most notorious names in Scottish history being the scene of the infamous massacre of the MacDonald’s in 1692. In terms of the ‘outdoors’ Scotland doesn’t get that much better than Glen Coe
Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan is an impressive vista down the length of Loch Shiel. It was here in 1745 that Bonnie Prince Charlie came ashore to raise his standard and call in the clans to begin the Jacobite uprising that would end a year later at Culloden. Glenfinnan is increasingly famous today for its Harry Potter association, be it the arched viaduct, the loch itself
South Uist
South Uist is a wild and windswept piece of wilderness and not necessarily an ‘A list’ visitor location in that it possesses famous sites that you tick off. It’s much more of an ethereal experience and gives you an insight into what was a harsh existence in these poorly served communities.
Isle of Skye
Everyone loves Skye and this post volcanic landscape is probably to Scotland’s most stunning scenery. The ‘Old Man of Storr’, The Kilt Rocks, and Mealt Falls are all part of a corkscrew road that weaves its way through the Quinraing. Dunvegan Castle and harrowing remains of Trumpan Church (another massacre) are other options.
Culloden
The battlefield of Culloden is where the Jacobite army of ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ were defeated by the crown, and Scotland finally lost. If you ‘get’ Culloden, you’ll go a long way towards ‘getting’ Scotland. You can stand in the same positions that the armies stood in all those centuries ago.It’s genuine authentic history that seems all too real.
Loch Ness
Urquhart Castle, traces its history back to the 6th century and has been the scene of clan wars and Viking raids since. Urquhart castle overlooks Loch Ness, where we can take a cruise on the dark water in pursuit of the legendry monster
Testimonial
From BB Canada
“I told Alun the courses I was interested in playing and he prepared a stay and play package with 14 days of outstanding golf, but also tremendous site seeing opportunities for my wife.”
From JC Illinois
“His attention to detail is amazing--I think our travel plan booklet ran to forty-eight pages, with gorgeous descriptions of cities and sights, plus maps showing where to go to catch trains, or walk from trains to hotels, sights and golf courses, etc.”
From DF Alabama
“I will cherish the memories for a long time- especially the wonderful times spent on and off the golf course with two of my brothers and brother-in-law. None of the memories and golf would have been possible or enjoyed without your tremendous planning and logistical support.”
AS from Colorado
“Alun and Faraway Fairways created possibly the most memorable golf trip we have ever experienced. EPIC is the only word that comes to mind.”
AC, From Florida/ New York, 2025
“We were hopeful to secure a 4 ball at St. Andrews while avoiding the massive expense other operators had quoted. He was very clear about the plan for achieving a tee time at the Old Course through the ballot, including detailed instruction on how it could be done, and what our odds were. He suggested mid- to late April as the best chance of success and advised that this is also the least rainy part of the year. We took his advice and trusted the process. Well, he was right on all counts!”
From SB, Minnesota
“We wholeheartedly recommend Alun and Faraway Fairways if you’re looking for a golf trip that is effortless, enjoyable, and truly unforgettable—even for a non-golfer in the mix! My husband and I will be daydreaming about this trip for years to come. 5.5 stars!”
From JB, California
“The best part was that the service was surprisingly affordable. They were thousands of dollars below other quotes that I received, in fact the prices were very similar to what I would have paid if I would have booked everything on my own.”
From JCA, Maryland
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From WF Connecticut
“I think all eight of us would agree that Alun at Faraway Fairways did an absolutely wonderful job of putting this “golf vacation of a lifetime” together for us. His focus on the details was extraordinary from the choice of courses and the timing of the tee times, the amazingly beautiful accommodations along with some excellent meal selections, and the transportation options he provided to get us from place to place.”
From DR South Carolina
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From MM, California
“One fantastic trip you organized, and more importantly took ownership of in terms of daily communication and stewardship during our 2+ weeks in Scotland and Ireland. The logistics were spotless…100% of the transports were on time and excellent, the lodging choices spectacular and the golf was off the charts in terms of quality and arrangements made”
DH from California
“You cannot go wrong with the support Faraway Fairways offered. I did this trip solo and all last minute but I have already begun to plan the next trip which will include my best golfing buddies.”
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Duration - usually best expressed as a range up to a maximum
Time of year - can be anything from a specific date range to a named season
Travel class - Faraway Fairways uses 'Luxury', 'Premier' or 'Affordable' for generic purposes. You might choose to reference the international 'star' rating system. We're only looking for something to help steer us into the right sector
Self drive or hired driver - In broad terms, self driving is normally less expensive, and much more flexible, but some folk just don't want to do it
Must play courses/ must do places - a few name checks is all that's needed