Scotland Trip - Finally

Bbo569 · April 18, 2022

Just got back from Scotland this Saturday from the trip I was supposed to make back in 2020 (COVID had be reschedule twice). We spent 6 days in St Andrews in a flat about 2-3 blocks from the first tee at the Old Course and 3 days in Symington (near Prestwick) in a cottage on some private land. We originally had 7 rounds booked, but ended up adding 36 holes on the day we were traveling between destinations as the weather was great and we got the chance to play the Old Course again with the 48 hour ballot.

4/9 - Castle Course and Jubilee - winds were pumping on day 1. Made the Castle course extremely tough, but I will say I don't get the hate here. Although not traditional links, the course was fantastic and the green contours are not as insane as others have said. Any decent putter shouldn't have much of an issue. Jubilee was a fun intro in links golf, but I didn't find it to have a tone of charm.

4/10 - Kingsbarns - Best word to describe is unbelievable. This was my 1a in terms of favorite courses we played. The views and the hospitality are second to none.

4/11 - Old Course - This was our original round I won in the lottery a few years ago. All 4 of us took caddies, which I highly recommend for your first time as the routing is rather difficult. Had some significant winds that really messed with my game. +2 playing out downwind and then +9 playing into the wind back home, but was able to par the road hole with a back left pin behind the bunker. 1b in terms of ranking for me.

4/12 - Carnoustie - We got wind for the whole round and rain for the last 6 holes. Lived up to its name as being tough especially the home stretch. 2 of our 4 had to hit driver on the par 3 16th. We took caddies, but I don't know that they are needed to get around well unless you are looking for the experience.

4/13 - Dumbarnie and Old Course - This was supposed to be our travel/rest day, but the weather was looking great so we added Dumbarnie for the morning. After booking, we got notice that we were selected for a late afternoon round in the 48 hr ballot for the Old Course and couldn't say no. Dumbarnie was awesome. You can tell it was built to be a championship course and I wouldn't be surprised if its hosting some pro events in the future. My second attempt at the Old Course was on a mild wind day and I was able to shoot even par. Highlight or the trip for me! Drove across to Symington that night.

4/14 - Turnberry Ailsa - Probably my favorite layout of all the courses. It also had way more teeth than I expected as they had the rough grown up quite a bit. We took caddies for this one and they were better than the ones at the other courses. I would say this would be my 2a course with Dumbarnie being 2b, but this was a couple of our players favorite.

4/15 - Western Gailes - Biggest let down of the trip. While the bones of the course were great and it was fun to navigate, but they had a temporary green, had punched them out of schedule, and had a ton of ground under repair in landing zones that were not shared with our group when we arrived. Just let us come across them during play while charging full rack rate.

9 rounds over 7 days isn't everyone's cup of tea, but we are all relatively young and had a blast. Honestly wish I had added some more 36 hole days.

Side note: if you are in Prestwick on a weekend night you must check out Vic's. Lots of good sites there.

hammergolf · April 18, 2022

Awesome trip! Sounds like you got some decent weather too… I’m the same as you, I really enjoy playing The Castle course but many hate it. I’m looking forward to making a return trip to Ayrshire to play The Ailsa course and see the changes that were made. All the reviews I’ve heard rave about the changes. Also good to hear the ballot worked for you.

kermitm · April 19, 2022

Did you take an umbrella and if so we’re you able to use it? I can’t decide if I should take one for my trip next month. Thanks for your help

hammergolf · April 19, 2022

6 hours ago, kermitm said:

Did you take an umbrella and if so we’re you able to use it? I can’t decide if I should take one for my trip next month. Thanks for your help

On my trips I’ve taken to Scotland and Ireland an umbrella is useless because of the wind. A Gore Tex rain suit, a waterproof bag or bag cover, and rain gloves are my recommendations.

Bbo569 · April 20, 2022

23 hours ago, kermitm said:

Did you take an umbrella and if so we’re you able to use it? I can’t decide if I should take one for my trip next month. Thanks for your help

I did take an umbrella as a back up to my rain gear. Fortunately we only got rained on for 6 holes of the whole trip at Carnoustie. Honestly though, I am not sure it would even be worth using an umbrella though because of the wind. Invest in some good rain gear and you should be alright.

knickerbocker · April 20, 2022

Umbrellas are useless in Scotland. Don't even bother.

Late April/Early May is best time to go to avoid rain, especially on East side of Scotland. It will be colder, but dry which I take over warm and wet. The added benefit is the rough is short during that time so easier to find wayward golf balls.

milesgiles · April 20, 2022

1 hour ago, knickerbocker said:

Umbrellas are useless in Scotland. Don't even bother.

Late April/Early May is best time to go to avoid rain, especially on East side of Scotland. It will be colder, but dry which I take over warm and wet. The added benefit is the rough is short during that time so easier to find wayward golf balls.

Think ive had about 50 rounds in Scotland yet to get more than a sprinkling. General uk rule is east is dry but can cold. I rarely head west, and why I would never commit to an expensive Ayrshire round in advance

hammergolf · April 20, 2022

1 hour ago, milesgiles said:

Think ive had about 50 rounds in Scotland yet to get more than a sprinkling. General uk rule is east is dry but can cold. I rarely head west, and why I would never commit to an expensive Ayrshire round in advance

Interesting, I had never heard that before. I lived in Suffolk, UK for 8 years so I was no stranger to the rain. In fact last time I was in Ayrshire the caddies were telling me that they had a microclimate there that was a little warmer and dryer… Must have been wishful thinking… lol I’ve been lucky on my Scotland and Ireland trips with the October weather. Only had 2 days of all day rain and 2 days of intermittent showers. The rest of the days were great. I think people believe that it rains all day every day in the UK and Ireland for some reason. The weather definitely gets a bad rap.

milesgiles · April 20, 2022

2 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Interesting, I had never heard that before. I lived in Suffolk, UK for 8 years so I was no stranger to the rain. In fact last time I was in Ayrshire the caddies were telling me that they had a microclimate there that was a little warmer and dryer… Must have been wishful thinking… lol I’ve been lucky on my Scotland and Ireland trips with the October weather. Only had 2 days of all day rain and 2 days of intermittent showers. The rest of the days were great. I think people believe that it rains all day every day in the UK and Ireland for some reason. The weather definitely gets a bad rap.

London has less rain than Miami..

i think east is about a third drier than the west. You would be monumentally unlucky to have a solid week of bad weather on the east coast anywhere

hammergolf · April 20, 2022

10 minutes ago, milesgiles said:

London has less rain than Miami..

i think east is about a third drier than the west. You would be monumentally unlucky to have a solid week of bad weather on the east coast anywhere

We’ll, living in South Florida for 15 years, I can pretty much assure you that at 3:00 almost every day during the summer it’s going to rain hard for about 20 - 40 minutes. No doubt we get heavier rain here, where it’s just a miserable drizzle in the UK. Last two trips, we had a steady rain our first round at Crail. Then the trip last October we had a “biblical” day at Tralee with 30 - 40mph winds and hard rain. Besides this dates, it was magnificent. I even gave the pics to prove it.. lol First one is at TOC and second one was at Tralee. I really don’t understand why even more people don’t go across the pond for golf.

Edited April 20, 2022 by hammergolf