Your favorite four UK or Ireland pics - "the" favorites!

[Hawkeye77]

This is my favorite sub-forum on the site, has been forever. Used to lurk in it, finally got to use it to help plan a couple of trips and always check in to read about others' trips/planning/etc.

Things have kind of ground to a halt here with travel limitations, etc. I especially love looking at pics and taking them. I thought about one pic, but just couldn't do it, lol, so since I wrote the title I'm suggesting 4 that you think have special meaning or are pics you are particularly proud from a golf trip, even if they have nothing to do with the golf. Too easy to post a bunch and I'm curious to see how this resonates and really want to enjoy others' experiences on what promises to be a nasty Easter weekend here.

Maybe it will inspire some others to go someday, or go back, or just provide some good memories (hey, I was there kind of thing), whatever. Maybe sounds impossible to choose, but what the heck else is there to do, and I enjoyed reviewing all of mine, but in the end the choices really were impossible and I could easily switch out about 40 more photos!

And if you think it's dumb, I don't care if you say so! My eyes are a little watery right now just from about 1 1/2 hours of looking at photos this morning just because.

Our first links golf was 9 holes at Traigh because we were in the area - off on an adventure!

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Isle of May - total lucky shot from the boat heading back to Anstruther!

Finished the first trip with a round at The Old Course - the sun obliged by coming out on the inward holes!

Last summer while at North Berwick, Fringe By The Sea was going on. Lots of good pics from Troon and North Berwick, but the wife and I did a lot more than just golf as part of getting away and a wonderful evening in a "tent" enjoying "Old Blind Dogs" (pretty appropriate, lol) really summed up the good vibes of the two weeks just she and I spent on the second trip over (and who knows when we'll ever get back). Just a great memory of an evening out.

 

 

 

 

[leerob3]

Here's a couple from my time in Ireland, truly a special place. Brings back some fond memories for sure!

Old Head when it finally stopped pouring!

Local pub near my cousin's house, some fantastic jams, the Guinness flowed late into the night!

Made my way to Galway and the Isle of Inishbofin, thought this guy was gonna tear me to shreds but he allowed me just enough time to take a quick snap.

 

 

 

[Chanceman]

 

Ardglass

Castlerock

Ballyliffin

Donegal

Rosses Point

Enough already. But lots of great memories. Including:

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

 

Dunrobin Castle

 

Brora, which might not make it through the crisis

 

My buddy gets a history lesson about the course he had joined from overseas and is visiting for the first time- that was special

 

Royal Dornoch, didn‘t pony up the £180 for the main course, but played the Struie course, which was fabulous. The magic is in the air at this place.

 

The Inverness region is well worth the visit. I’ve joined a local club as well and can play Dornoch for £12 now :)). First thing I’ll do after Corona- golf trip to Scotland with my buddies.

[FairwayFred]

 

Best opening hole in golf. The 1st at Machrihanish.

The 5th at Machrihanish Dunes. Site of my then 8 year old sons hole in one.

 

The par 3 10th at Ardfin. Yes there is a green on the other side of that cliff......

 

One of the most scenic spots in golf. The 11th tee at Dunaverty.

 

One of my favorite pics. The 8th tee at Askernish with the flag on the punchbowl 16th green barely visable peaking out above the dune. Love to share the course with cows or sheep.

 

 

[tad950]

 

SW Ireland during a severe drought, two summers ago. Shorts weather all seven rounds . And Lytham last summer.

[El Gringo]

Four recent photos.

7 Alnmouth Village

13 Cleeve Cloud

18 Kington

15 Minch Old

[Bargegolf]

 

Royal aberdeen

 

Royal Dornoch

 

King’s Course Gleneagles

 

[sabram]

One each from England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland

Walton Heath New Course

 

Turnberry Ailsa

 

Corballis

 

Royal County Down

[Hawkeye77]

These are incredible and inspiring! THANKS!!!!!!!

And more please! Darn hard to pick for sure.

[jvincent]

Might as well chime in.

My most spectacular pictures are from Old Head.

Full picture from my profile. 18th at Carnoustie.

[Chanceman]

If you have played this course it is your turn to post.

It's Waterville.

[Bargegolf]

 

There you go Chanceman!

[Chanceman]

Ok well done! No clues this time.

[sabram]

It's a little dark, but looks like #14, a long par 3 called "Calamity Corner " , at the Dunluce course at Royal Portrush.

 

[Chanceman]

Precisely. And this?

[tiderider]

i don't have a pic, but i have a memory ... i first went to scotland 25 years ago ... was living in houston at an apt complex, and met/hung out with a couple of guys, one who had been in the pga program for a bit (at The Country Club outside of boston), and another that worked for continental ... so we decided to go to scotland ... so the airline guy calls up the office in london and wants some advice ... that person says "just so happens, i got an aunt with a cottage in lower largo, bout 10 minutes from st andrews .. rents about $300 a week for the whole place" ... 50 yards from the Railway Inn ... we got snowed in the 3rd day there, so spent all of our time at the Inn, meeting all the locals, drinking, & whatnot ... went back a couple of years later for a week with a bigger crew ... played 7 rounds in 6 days, stayed up every night at the inn with all of our "old" friends ... stayed up more than one night till the sun came up ... remember one time about 2 am there were about 20 of us in a circle dancing/singing to the beatles' "obladi oblada" ... had a fabulous time the entire week ... couple of us (including yours truly) had a very good time with a couple of local lasses ... first pic is the railway inn ... our driver both times was Jimmy ... worked at the U of St Andrews ... took us up in the colleges' tower when the snow hit ... got to see the whole town from the rooftops ... wonderful guy to be around ... fabulous golfer who played at Lundin Links ... remember Maggie, the bartender ... 2nd from the left ...

it's a wonderful time over there ... every time you go ...

 

[dcmidnight]

It was actually hard to cut them down to just 4.

I've posted this in other threads but this is probably my favorite picture from my trip to St Andrews. We were having a beer on the roof of the New/Jubilee clubhouse and this old guy was playing frisbee with his dog all the way down the last hole. Turned out the frisbee was actually his hat - but the dog never left his side. Just reminds me of everything I loved about the place.

 

My 2nd favorite is probably one of the nights we camped out at the Old Course. There is just something insanely cool about being there all night, 4am or so rolls around, the birds area all waking up, there are suddenly more mowers than you can count rolling out onto the course...but you are just sort of left to walk around with no one else out there. No big fences keeping you out, no one yelling at you, no alarms going off. Hard to explain maybe.

 

The best shot of the trip was playing the 16th at Carnoustie. It was sunny but the wind was absolutely howling. Even from the red tees it was playing 205. Stepped up and hit a 5 iron to one foot. Might be the best iron shot I've hit in the last 5 years lol. It was made even more cool because we were only there a couple weeks after the Open so all of the grandstands were still up - definitely added something to the experience for sure.

 

Our final round of the trip was at the Old Course and we had to split up into singles. My brother finished and caught up with me on 16. On 17 I was in the rough but hit an absolutely perfect shot, landed it just short of the green, rolled up to within 15 feet of a back left pin. Just an awesome hole.

 

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

I’ve said it before, and I‘ll say it again: you don’t have to pony up for the famous courses, there are so, so many cheaper options that have the same magic and less hype, which mostly results in pleasant surprises. The magic is real, it’s the home of golf and everybody should go to Scotland at least once. Save some money for more rounds or a better hotel and enjoy the courses where the local, regular people are playing. It’s the ultimate experience.

I talked to a lot of golf travelers from the US when I was in Scotland, and was shocked that every single group had an itinerary packed with only name courses. For a week of golf, that’s at least 1200-1500 bucks per person. If you’re not filthy rich, this results in super high expectations and would ruin the fun for me.

Am I the only one with this opinion?

[jvincent]

@LukeDonaldsTiger you have a valid point. However, for a lot of people they may only ever get over once so they want to get as many of the big names as possible.
I've been over twice and each time we've played a couple of local courses. Not only does it save some $$$ but it's been a good experience each time. I would definitely recommend adding some local courses to anyone going over.

[dcmidnight]

Am I the only one with this opinion?

Maybe, yes? I was only there for 7 days / 7 rounds. Was I going to give up a round on the Old Course to play Crail? Nope. Was I going to give up my dream of playing Carnoustie to play Elie? Nope. If I was there for three weeks I could have (probably) played all the courses just in the St Andrews area. But the idea that only tourists play the "big name" courses is simply not true. I met a bunch of great locals hanging out at the Old Course first tee for four hours - the Old Course has their whole morning blocked off for locals and members. Carnoustie was the same way, met a ton of great locals there.

I dont like telling anyone where they should or shouldn't spend their money or that their way of travel is wrong. Sorry/not sorry.

But I dont want to derail the thread going down this rabbit hole again.

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

@jvincent “However, for a lot of people they may only ever get over once so they want to get as many of the big names as possible.”
Absolutely. For me, it’s a 2:30 hr flight and I have a lot of golf left in me, so it’s a different story.
@dcmidnight “But the idea that only tourists play the "big name" courses is simply not true.”
Didn’t mean to say that! Of course there’s locals on the big name courses, too!

I was just dumbfounded how much money everybody seemed to be spending, but it’s absolutely none of my business. I grew up pretty frugal, too, so that definitely affects my opinion.
Play wherever you want, people! Lovely pics, keep them coming...

[Chanceman]

 

This is Macreddin in Ireland near Druids Glen and The European Club. Just as enjoyable to play if not more so - and only 40 euro.

Having played most of the big boys I am now far more interested in trying the little courses like this one. Many are superbly designed, well maintained, in great locations, and at a cheap price. Even so the prices on the second tier courses are getting up there. But good golf is always worth paying for. You only live once, I assume.

[Hawkeye77]

I'm thinking that pic may be best enjoyed with Maggie May spinning on your turntable.

 

Late edit:  I must have screwed up the quoting - reference is to @tiderider's photo!

Edited February 20, 2021 by Hawkeye77

[Hawkeye77]

That's where I played in from on 17!

Our pin was tucked tight to the front of the green just behind The Road Hole Bunker. I was aiming out to the right hoping for an angle on my third, but had just seen my daughter go long and right and couldn't commit and ended up pulling mine and was luckily 25-30 or so yards from the pin with the bunker smack in between. I hit what took over first place for the best shot of my life with a lob wedge from a tight lie that landed in the perfect spot on the top of the hill and rolled down gently and just missed going in. I couldn't see it, but one of my daughters and my caddie were looking pretty excited for a couple of seconds and then heard the groans as it apparently just missed falling in! Knew it was a great shot when I hit it. Greatest shot, greatest par of my life! Pretty sure I texted Monte right after the round my thanks for the short game tuneup just a couple of weeks before at his clinic in Sioux Falls.

Loving the pics!!!!!!!!!!

[jonnymc44]

Anyone is always welcome for a round with me at my home course whenever you guys come to visit North West England. It only costs £15 with a member. It's not a Top 100 UK course by any stretch, Top 20 in Lancashire behind the likes of Royal Birkdale et al , but it's a Dr MacKenzie designed course on the West Pennine Moors with views across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, North Wales, Merseyside and Lancashire. The greens staff do an incredible job with their resources and the greens are easily the best in the local area. https://www.boltonoldlinks.com/index.html

A view up our 6th hole. Straight uphill, par 5, always into the wind. Par is often a good score.

 

[Chanceman]

You are on! I love that sort of golf course.

Combine Bolton Old Links with Cavendish and Reddish Vale to make a mini McKenzie Trail?

ps I caught the train once from Manchester Airport to Southport, did we pass your course on the way?

[jonnymc44]

If you had binoculars out you may have been able to! I think the course you will have seen is Deane Golf Club- you will have passed a par 3 with a small river just in front of the green, then a long par 4 running parallel to the train track. Both on the left side of the train when travelling (forwards) to Southport. My course isn't too far from the large TV mast that you might have seen on top of Winter Hill. A breath of wind at Deane Golf Club means a gale at Old Links!

[duffer987]

Liphook Golf Club #16

Reigate Heath Golf Club #1

Saunton Golf Club - East Course #18

Seascale Golf Club #17

Wouldn't say these are my 4 favourite UK golf course pics as such, but I think the composition is good on them.

[Hawkeye77]

Great photography! ^^^^^^^^