Aiming for off-the-beaten-path Scotland
Yeah, I’m a little nervous but a lot hyped. Three friends and I are headed to Scotland for 12 days and it’s going to be all golf, all the time. Only one of us, Alabama Golf News Web Editor Dan Vukelich, has teed it up at the home of golf before, so it will be a new experience for everyone else.
It’s a diverse group – Eric Petersen is the general manager at Cragun’s Legacy Resort and Conference Center in Minnesota, a fine chap I met last year on a trip to the Land of a Thousand Lakes. Jerry Felts, the Global Communications Director for Hexagon and a longtime friend who lives in Madison, is our fourth. He was supposed to be on my trip to Nebraska last summer but bailed on us because something work-related came up in Amsterdam.
Me? The only time I have played outside the continental United States was when I was growing up in Puerto Rico and subsequent visits to “La Isla Del Encanto.” I’ve played links golf before, but never anywhere near where the game first took shape.
Plotting the trip to Scotland
Because it was my idea to venture across the Atlantic Ocean, born from having played at Bandon Dunes a few years ago and reading Jim Hartsell’s wonderful book, “When Revelation Comes,” I took it upon myself to plot out the trip. I eschewed going through a tour group, essentially because I wasn’t sure doing it that way would give me the experience I was looking for.
Quite frankly, planning it wasn’t as nearly as difficult as I first imagined. Not to say there weren’t some challenges, but to say my excitement for our visit has reached a crescendo as we are about to leave is an understatement. I’m eager to see how things turn out. I’ll even absorb the blame if nobody likes it (which they won’t).
Fortunately, my group put their trust in me and gave me carte blanche in planning the courses we’ll play. From the start, and particularly after reading Jim Hartsell’s book, I had it in my mind how I wanted our trip to go. In short, I wanted to play some of Scotland’s gems perhaps not quite as well-known but equally good as the so-called “name” courses. I want an experience where we aren’t mingling with a bunch of tourists. I want an off-the-beaten path experience.
Do I want to play the Old Course? Sure. But my attempt to get us on through the annual lottery ended with a Dear John letter – something akin to better luck next year. But Scotland has like 500 courses, so I wasn’t totally bummed out we didn’t get a tee time at St. Andrews.
I know there is a daily lottery, etc., but realistically the odds of getting a foursome on the Old Course that way aren’t good. So, I proceeded to Plan B. And this is where the experience of Jim Hartsell and another friend, Tony Dear, came in handy. I needed to find us a home base for the first week. As much fun as I had last summer barnstorming through Nebraska – that’s a must-do experience, by the way – picking up and driving to the next stop each night after golf was exhausting. For Scotland, I wanted to be able to unpack and stay awhile in one place. I’m not sure if Jim Hartsell suggested Gullane or if I read about it somewhere, but that’s where we are staying for the first seven days.
Is Scotland golf heaven?
If you watched the recent Scottish Open, a graphic was shown listing the many great courses in the region known as East Lothian. The first five courses we are going to play are within easy drives of Gullane. All are seaside links, starting with Kilspindie on day one. Our second stop is Gullane No. 3, one of three courses in town that is perhaps not quite as challenging as Nos. 1-2. We’ll see.
From there we hit North Berwick, which is the one premium-priced course we are playing and one of the top three or four well-known courses in the area. North Berwick has taken off in recent years and is a frequent stop for many of the PGA Tour players headed to the Scottish Open. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth caused quite a stir there a few years ago, and this year Michael Kim posted about his visit on X/Twitter.
Our next two rounds are at the Glen Golf Club and Dunbar. We might add a couple more while in Gullane – depending on how we are feeling. We are not as young as we used to be. I mean three of us qualify for senior discounts at most restaurants.
You might not have heard of any of those courses except for North Berwick, but I have been assured they are really, really good.
For lodging, we found a house to rent for the week that saved us quite a bit of money. Unless we kill each other before the week is out, I think that’s the best way to go. It has a washer, too, so that has made packing for our extended stay a little easier.
Eric is headed back to Minnesota after a week to begin preparing his resort for a PGA Tour Americas event, so he’s going to miss out on the second leg of this golf adventure.
We’re going to drop him off at the Edinburgh airport and head north to an inland course called Aberfoyle. Jim Hartsell assures me it won’t disappoint, and judging by the photos I’ve seen and the friendly correspondence with the club, I’m sure we’re in for a treat – although it looks very hilly. Here’s hoping our legs are still in good working order by the time we get there for our mid-afternoon tee time.
From there, we head west to play Machrihanish and Dunaverty, two courses that Jim Hartsell has written about eloquently. These were the two must-play courses for my trip – it didn’t matter how out of the way they are. There’s a nine-holer near Dunaverty that I’m going to check out as well – Carradale. Jim Hartsell highly recommends it.
We’ll be staying three nights in Campbeltown, and again we found a house that will keep our costs down. From there, it’s a three- or four-hour ride back to Edinburgh for the flight home.
Planning the Scotland trip
Obviously, you need to get everybody committed to the trip and to a certain timeframe. Once I did that, I started contacting courses through email. Some, like North Berwick and Gullane No. 3, I booked tee times online and then built our other courses around those dates. I started working on the trip in November 2024 and had most everything set up by late January.
Corresponding with the courses was very easy despite the time difference. I usually had a response the next day about availability for the day or days I was requesting.
Several of the courses required advance payment, so it’s easier if one person handles the payment and have everybody pay you later. Jerry Felts took care of our housing and I booked the two hotel rooms we’ll need for the trip. I used some Marriott points for one of the hotels, another way to keep some of the overall cost down.
We’re renting a van for the trip. Splitting it four ways also helps keep expenses down. I’m a little worried about being the driver because you drive on the left side of the road. Friends assure me that you get used to it pretty fast, so we’ll see. Also, I’ve been told drivers in Scotland are a little more courteous than we are here in the United States.
Packing has been a conundrum. The forecast calls for temperatures mostly in the 60s and some rain. Going from mid-90s and humid to those temps will be a system shock. Even though X/Twitter can be somewhat of a cesspool, I’ve gotten to know some folks on that platform who have offered advice on what to pack. Mostly, they said don’t bring shorts which are a staple of my existence.
I’ve got rain gear, rain gloves and some warm outerwear. My umbrella is packed, even though if the wind blows it probably will not be of much use. I’ve got a handwarmer, too, because I don’t do cold very well.
I’ve got my passport, my temporary UK travel permit and some Scottish pounds ready to go. I’ve checked all the boxes on my to-do list. All that’s left is to get there and peg it Monday at 11:28 a.m. at Kilspindie.
Gregg Dewalt is the editor of Alabama Golf News
Have a story idea or a news item to report to Alabama Golf News? Email gregg@alabamagolfnews.com
Featured image of the Scottish coast courtesy of CNN.
