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At Faraway Fairways we’ve recently seen a welcome increase in the number of enquiries seeking to combine golf with Scottish history. Typically these types of enquiries tend to be friendship groups with non-golfers (usually spouses) being an integral part of the travelling party. They also tend to be point-to-point tours as they seek to try and cover Scotland whilst weaving world-class golf and genuine top-tier visitor attractions together. The final feature that people seem to ask for is a few days set aside for the whole group to spend time together rather than having any golf scheduled. As it happens we’re in luck
In a lot of cases Scotland’s apex golf courses just happen to be in close proximity to many of her most celebrated ‘sites’. Combining golf with Scottish history is a surprisingly natural fit. We aren’t having to ‘force’ things and pass second tier locations off in order to justify the golf. They tend to come to us.
The tour begins with Gleneagles and the city of Stirling, famed for its castle and the nearby battlefields of Bannockburn (1314 – ‘the Bruce’) and Stirling Bridge (1296 – William Wallace/ Braveheart). We then take a non-golf departure working our way across the northern section of the Trossachs National Park to Glencoe, scene of the infamous massacre of 1692, and also taking in Glenfinnan and Loch Shiel, where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard to begin the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. We then head north along the shores of Loch Ness, taking in Urquhart Castle, to the world top-10 course of Royal Dornoch, whilst non-golfers can explore Dunrobin Castle. The following day we begin the swing south, playing golf at Castle Stuart and visiting the nearby battlefield of Culloden (1746). We take a break from the golf now and travel down the A9, picking off Blair Castle, The battlefield and gorge of Killiecrankie (1690) and The Queens View. The next day involves undertaking an easterly a loop that combines Carnoustie with Glamis Castle, Scone Palace, and Arbroath Abbey finally driving onto St Andrews. The town is a legitimate visitor destination regardless of golf. The final leg involves two days in Edinburgh with the golfers adding another world ranked course to their haul at North Berwick
This is a comprehensive symphony of golf with Scottish history. The golfers should get five courses that hold world top-100 rankings, whilst the non-golfers have also assembled an impressive haul that takes you through the pages of Scotland’s often turbulent history
9 Nights
Scotland
Transport
Self drive is the most sensibleLogistics
Point-to-point tour. Multiple stop-oversNon-Golf Offer
Very Strong - Edinburgh, Stirling, Glencoe, Loch Ness, Culloden. The tour requires you to keep movingMileage
High - Approx 700 miles Approximately 17 hoursTravel Class
Supports - Luxury , Premier, & AffordableOld Course
Low chance of play through the ballot. Increases to medium if we're prepared to travel to play from Edinburgh with possible loss of North Berwick. Walk-Up-Rule should succeed.
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Friday - Gleneagles
The Gleneagles resort is closer in ambience to an aristocratic hunting estate with deep forest green pine trees, and rounded hills that stop just short of being called mountains. In autumn, the purple heathers and russet bracken blend seamlessly into a patchwork of golfing green, and give this place it’s hues. The yellows of the long rough introduce further colouration into the landscape. It would be categorised as a moorland course. A credible body of opinion regards the Gleneagles Kings course as the finest of its type in the world. In 2014 Gleneagles added the Ryder Cup to its portfolio when the Centenary course’ became only the second Scottish venue to host. The aesthetic Queens course is the shortest and completes the trinity of options.
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Friday - Stirling & Bannockburn
Stirling is one of Scotland’s great historical cities. It is overlooked by the castle that towers above it, the former stronghold of the Stewart dynasty. Stirling is also the scene of the battle of Stirling Bridge (1296) better known today as ‘Braveheart’. The consequential ‘Wallace Monument’ is another notable landmark in the skyline, with the ancient warrior’s sword (allegedly) on display, and can be visited as a paid entry attraction. The site of Bannockburn (1314), the scene of Scotland’s iconic victory over their English foes is approximately 3 miles to the south. The revamped visitors centre is opening time dependent, although the memorial can be visited free
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Saturday -Glencoe & Glenfinnan
Glencoe is the scene of the infamous massacre of the MacDonald’s in 1692, and one of the most notorious names in Scottish history. Glencoe is a spooky steep sided glaciated valley with mountains that rise threateningly above you.
Glenfinnan sits at the head of Loch Shiel and 45 mins on. It was here in 1745 that the Young Pretender – ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ came ashore to begin his campaign to seize the British crown which ended in defeat at Culloden. Today Glenfinnan is probably more famous for the curved railway viaduct that spans the head of the glen that features in the Harry Potter films, and as the inspiration for the ‘Black Lake’ in the ‘Goblet of Fire’
Sunday - Royal Dornoch
Golf Digest rated Royal Dornoch the highest of Scotland’s many worthy candidates. 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”.
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Sunday - Loch Ness & Dunrobin
Most casual visitors can get something approaching a Loch Ness experience by simply driving alongside her shores and stopping at various vantage points. One of the best ways of adding value to Loch Ness is to visit Urquhart Castle, which traces its history back to the 6th century and has been the scene of clan wars and Viking raids. Urquhart castle overlooks the waters of Loch Ness. With 189 rooms
Dunrobin Castle is one of the largest, and also the most northerly of Scotland’s great houses. The castle resembles a French chateau and dates-back to the 1300’s. Don’t be fooled by this majestic fairy-tale exterior however. This home of the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland has seen its fair share of blood-shed, this is the Scottish Highlands after-all
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Monday - Castle Stuart
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 recently been hosting the prestigious Scottish Open, and was used successfully by Phil Mickelson in 2013 as a springboard to Open success a month later at Muirfield.
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Monday - Culloden
This is where the Jacobite army of ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ were defeated by the crown (1746). If you ‘get’ Culloden, you’ll go a long way towards ‘getting’ Scotland. The battlefield itself is small and easily walked on a series of trails. The order of battle is well known, well-marked out, and very easy to relate to. You will be able to stand in the same positions that the armies stood in all those centuries ago, and the places where the clan chiefs fell. You don’t require an enhanced strategic appreciation of military tactics to understand Culloden. In many respects the story around the uprising and what it meant is more compelling than the battle itself.
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Tuesday - Non-golf, Perthshire
In north to south order, the first you come to is the House of Bruar, a retail outlet village that brings all that is the best of Scotland together in one location. The next stop you could make is at Blair Castle, ‘Scotland’s white house’ and ancestral home to the chief of the clan Murray. The nearby Blair Athol distillery (Bells whisky) comes next, if you wanted to add a marque distillery to your haul. Killiecrankie is a riverside walk through a gorge, and battlefield from 1689 from the first Jacobite uprising, a Scottish victory, albeit it came at a cost. It quite possibly set in motion a sequence of events that resulted in the Glencoe Massacre three years later. The Queens View’ is an elevated vista stretching the length of Loch Tummel and a well-established beauty spot.
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Wednesday - Carnoustie
American media commentators wasted no time dubbing the Tayside course ‘Car-Nasty’. Few would deny the claims of Carnoustie to the crown of toughest Open venue of them all. Carnoustie is long and menacing. It has a number of challenging holes, particularly the par fives. The Spectacles’ (14) and ‘Hogan’s Alley’ (6) are the two toughest assignments on the stroke index. The par 3 sixteenth is another shocker. It’s the enduring image from the 1999 Open of Jean van de Velde paddling in the Barry Burn however, that cemented Carnoustie’s legend. Sports Illustrated described the course as “a nasty old antique brought down from the attic by the R&A after 24 years” as scoring soared. Carnoustie revels in such notoriety. If the wind gets up you’re unlikely to ever play a tougher assignment.
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Wednesday - Scone & Glamis
Scone Palace is the ancient seat of Scottish kings, famed for its ornate state rooms and gardens. The ‘stone of destiny’ (the crowning stone of ancient Scottish kings) was kept.
Glamis Castle is the family home of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, the childhood home of HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, and the birthplace of Princess Margaret. The castle is incredibly well-storied and soaked in mystery, and numerous reported hauntings and peculiar goings-on
The ruin of Arbroath Abbey where the 1320 Scottish Declaration of Independence was signed is just along the coast as a compliment to Scone
Thursday - St Andrews
St Andrews, the home of golf, needs little introduction nor hype from us. The first surviving record of the game being played here dates to 1522. The town oozes atmosphere and the course is soaked in heritage. The view from the iconic Swilcan Bridge looking back up the final fairway to the magnificent R&A headquarters and red bricked Hamilton Hall is one of the most instantly recognisable in world sport, never mind golf. ‘The Road Hole’, the 17th, is the signature assignment. No hole yields more bogeys in the Open than this one. Another unique feature are the massive double greens. The secret? don’t be over-awed. Keep out the 112 bunkers, especially so ‘Hell Bunker’ at the 14th. Then attack the course! St Andrews is actually one of the more obliging links, so don’t leave wondering what might have been. It can be tamed!
Thursday - Non-golf, St Andrews,
It’s always worth underlining that the town of St Andrews is a legitimate visitor draw in it’s own right irrespective of any golf. St Andrews is host to the third oldest university in the western world and consequently lends the ‘auld grey toon’ a certain vibrancy and a lot more life than you might expect. The ruined old castle and cathedral lend it historical relevance and can be visited on foot from the town centre, as can the beach made famous in the opening sequence of the film ‘Chariots of Fire’, The National Golf Museum is certainly worth spending an hour looking around too.
Friday - North Berwick
The links of North Berwick are a traditional out and back nine. Undulating fairways, blind shots, tricky burns and even stone walls make their presence felt in the landscape. The course really is a throw back to the experiences of the game’s pioneers. They had to interpret the landscape and weave the hazards nature handed them into their own personal tapestries. The courses were handcrafted, and North Berwick has an endearing old-fashioned feel. It also possesses the original ‘Redan’ hole, (15). Found the world over, ‘Redans’ are the most copied hole in golf. With an eerie similarity to Turnberry’s Ailsa Craig, Bass Rock rears out the ocean, and lends North Berwick further personality. It would be wrong to think that it’s a curiosity relic though. It’s a beguiling world top-50 ranked course on merit.
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Saturday - Non-golf, Edinburgh
Few trips to Scotland could really be considered complete without Edinburgh. The Scottish capital is frequently regarded as one of the UK’s most charismatic cities and famed for the castle that overlooks the city, as well as being an arts, entertainment and hospitality centre. Prince’s Street is the main shopping thoroughfare. Most visitors will prioritise the castle that overlooks the city below. Greyfriars Bobby, Holyrood Palace, and the various galleries are all legitimate attractions. Princes Street is the main shopping thoroughfare with its adjacent gardens providing respite. Finally, if you wanted to visit the Royal Yacht and take a look at the how the Queen sailed around the world for decades, it’s currently moored at nearby Leith
The St Andrews Links Trust don't publish ballot strike-rates. Faraway Fairways do occasionally succeed in extracting an off the record opinion however. In addition to this, we’re also able to draw on our own evidence, and that which we’re able to extract from credible co-operative partners (usually hotels) plus what other tour operators might tell us. We have a good guideline idea of strike rates by month of the year and by day of the week
It needs to be stressed that these are indicative averages only. Different parts of a month will behave differently dependent on any end of factors. The ballot is quixotic and unpredictable, Extended runs of good or bad luck can, and do, happen. They are provided in good faith, but can of course fail, and can't therefore be used as a basis for compensation
Multiply by the number of days you are available to give you a guideline
Ballot Strike-Rates
MONTH OF THE YEAR
| APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT |
| 59% | 21% | 20% | 16% | 14% | 17% | 19% |
DAY OF THE WEEK
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| 20% | 21% | 16% | 23% | 15% | 30% | n/a |
St Andrews 'Guaranteed' Tee Times
There is a heavy price premium on a guarantee a tee-time. Plus they usually involve a minimum hotel stay in St Andrews of at least three nights, playing an additional St Andrews course is mandatory, and normally a minimum food & drink spend in a specified hotel. Faraway Fairways wouldn't be completely convinced a guaranteed tee-time is worth pursuing for this tour, especially as they aren't sold for weekends anyway.
An aggressive and determined application of the walk-up rule, allied to a normal ballot application or two, should tilt the odds in your favour
Handicap requirements
St Andrews advise the following for the Old Course. “A current official handicap card (Golf Club affiliated to a Golf Union/Association) record or certificate must be presented to the starter prior to play. Maximum handicaps – 36 for both gentlemen and ladies. St Andrews will not accept letters of introduction from a local Club Professional”.
Carnoustie operates a handicap threshold of 28 for gentlemen, and 36 for ladies respectively.
North Berwick operates a handicap threshold of 24 for gentlemen, and 36 for ladies respectively.
Some known issues to consider
St Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns jointly host the Dunhill Links challenge in the first week of October
Despite its remote location, Royal Dornoch does sell-out and is amongst the first courses to come under pressure. We advise that you think in terms of a planning horizon of July for play the following year
Castle Stuart and Royal Aberdeen do periodically host the Scottish Open which will close them down from about mid June until early/ mid-July
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