Open Championship Venues
Playing not just history, but the games 'now' as well
The Open Championship Collection
When golfers begin to assess their options for creating their perfect trip there tends to be three things we see featuring prominently
1 – St Andrews
2 – Open Championship Venues
3 – World top-100 lists
Luckily there is a quite a lot of overlap within this trio
This portfolio focuses on itineraries where there is a significant presence of Open Championship courses (at least three), although we should also acknowledge that we’ve cut ourselves a little bit of license with some historic inclusions, and another one which we can perhaps anticipate being added shortly (Portmarnock)
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This is a difficult tour to assemble as we have to navigate a minefield of visitor restriction conditions and still need to get high-demand courses to line up sequentially. It typically needs planning well in advance
Duration
Typically about 17 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Royal Troon, Royal Portrush, Royal Birkdale, Hoylake/ Royal Liverpool, Royal Lytham, Royal Lytham, Royal St Georges, with Portmarnock, Kingsbarns plus the St Andrews New and Jubilee Courses
This tour has been specifically designed to capture Scotland’s Open Championship rotation, including a couple of historic courses at Prestwick (and even Musselburgh) which have long ago dropped off the pattern
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, with (Musselburgh?) Carnoustie, Royal Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick, Kingsbarns, North Berwick, and the St Andrews New and Jubilee Courses
Traditionally, the West Coast of Ayrshire might have been considered Scotland’s ‘second region’ after St Andrews. It was perhaps no surprise therefore that as visiting golfers expanded their dragnet beyond Fife, that they started to take in Troon, Turnberry and Prestwick. The Coast to Coast tour is therefore quite an old one too, and linked by Gleneagles at the halfway point. The only Open Championship venue that misses out is Muirfield
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie with Turnberry, Royal Troon, Prestwick & Gleneagles
The ‘best’ golf vacation in Scotland has been designed with the Open Championship very much to the forefront of our thinking. It’s the only tour we offer where we make a conscious effort to get all five of the venues considered to be qualifiers (Turnberry’s status is a little opaque of course)
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick, Turnberry, Royal Troon, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Gleneagles, Royal Burgess, with St Andrews New Course
Royal Troon doesn’t really offer a workable shoulder season. Muirfield might also be considered a little bit problematic. St Andrews, Turnberry and Carnoustie are available however if we’re seeking defend a budget on a slightly reduced duration
Duration
Typically about 8 nights
Features
St Andrews, Turnberry, Carnoustie, North Berwick, Kingsbarns, Gleneagles, Elie, Royal Burgess & St Andrews New Course
We sometimes refer to this ambitious break as our ‘par 3’ tour, as we’re trying to predominantly ‘get’ the courses which feature in the world’s top 25 list in a shorter space of time than might be considered normally. The Open Championship rotation might not have been a design intention, but by going after quality we naturally encounter five of the venues. It is a bit of a treadmill therefore. The emphasis is very much on the golf and maintaining movement
Duration
Typically about 7 nights
Features
St Andrews, Royal County Down, Muirfield, Royal Dornoch, Turnberry, Royal Portrush, Carnoustie
We sometimes refer to this ambitious break as our ‘par 4’ tour. The longer duration is naturally more expensive than the par 3, but we’re also able to add additional courses in closer proximity of each other to draw some of the sting from the intensity of the shorter programme
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Muirfield, Turnberry, Carnoustie, Royal Troon, North Berwick, Kingsbarns, & Portmarnock
We sometimes refer to this ambitious break as our ‘par 5’ tour. The longer duration is naturally more expensive than the par 4, but needn’t be as intense as the shorter durations as we’re able to better distribute the mileage
Duration
Typically about 11 nights
Features
St Andrews, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Muirfield, Royal Dornoch, Turnberry, Carnoustie, Royal Troon, North Berwick, Kingsbarns, Portmarnock, Castle Stuart, & Gleneagles
The Lothian Coast is really dominated by Muirfield and North Berwick but this trip invariably needs reinforcing with St Andrews and Carnoustie however, which means that we discreetly meet our definition threshold of at least three venues. One of the most appealing characteristics of this itinerary is the proximity of Edinburgh which when combined with St Andrews affords any non-golfers a strong offer to run alongside the golf
Duration
Typically about 7 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie, with the St Andrews Castle and New Courses
With the trio of Lytham, Birkdale and Hoylake in England’s north-west augmented by Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, the Irish Sea loop can offer at least four venues and as the jungle drums start to beat louder and louder to indicate that Portmarnock, is on the cusp of being added, this vacation might be expected to be offering five venues soon. With Dublin, Liverpool, Blackpool and Belfast also featuring in this itinerary it has the capacity to become quite lively! This trip should be looked on favourably by any party who has non-golfers to accommodate
Duration
Typically about 10 nights
Features
Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham, Royal Liverpool / Hoylake, Portmarnock, Rosapenna, The Island Club and Royal St Davids
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 & Pennsylvania
“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
“I would and will highly recommend your company to anyone looking to plan an unforgettable golf trip. Thank You for putting together a fantastic trip for J.C. and me”
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
“You are about to tee it up in your Major. Seek wisdom, integrity and professionalism. Alun Davies and Faraway Fairways will not disappoint you. They cannot assure a calm sunny day with temperatures in the 70’s on the Old Course.”
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.”
Enquiry
We don't need to make this an ordeal by 101 filtering questions! In reality there are probably little more than half a dozen things we need to know to build out a proposal. The guidance below might help you frame answers
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