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Scottish Links Golf a different game The Basics AFSD - how to determine the real length of a golf course Helpful Websites Platinum Page Upscale places, products & services Aberdeen & Grampian Highlands Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay... Ayrshire Royal Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick... Scotland's Golf Coast Edinburgh area, North Berwick, Muirfield, Gullane... Northern Highlands Royal Dornoch, Brora, Nairn... St. Andrews area Other golf courses Machrihanish, Pitlochry... LINKS LITE Great links golf for the not-so-great golfer Testimonials Donate |
Independent golf travel in Scotland has two
superb advantages.
1. You can save large amounts of money |
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Visit Scotland -- the beautiful "home
of golf"
Golf Nook Scotland is for people who really love the game of golf--the history and tradition of golf, the great players and famous courses, the skill involved, the game itself with all of its frustrations and rewards. If you're the one who maintains a respectful silence at golf tournaments while the person next to you screams "GET IN THE HOLE," or if you're the one who replaces divots and repairs your own ball mark and then looks for another to repair, or if you're the one in your foursome who suggests letting the group behind you play through, this site is for you. If you respect the game, if you love the lore and the aesthetics of the great courses, the stories about the great players and the skill involved with this frustratingly seductive game, we think you'll enjoy Golf Nook Scotland. Why independent golfing in Scotland is such an advantageThe great thing about being an independent golfer in Scotland is that you are not tied to an itinerary. You choose where to play, where to stay, and what to do all day. You choose whom you want to play with and how much golf you want to play. If you like a golf course you can play it again. Or you can go to another or you can go to your B&B and take a nap. Some golfers who want to squeeze all the golfing they can into their trip play all day. They find a course they like and purchase a day ticket which allows them all day play. They schedule a morning round, drop in the clubhouse for a leisurely lunch and rest, then play an afternoon round. Others will play a round in the morning then eat lunch before driving (over some beautiful scenery) to another golf course for an afternoon round. This does not have to be rushed because the sun doesn't set in the summer until around 10:30 PM, so there's plenty of time to eat lunch and relax. When you are not tied to a tour you are free to decide for yourself.When you're an independent traveler, you don't have to stay at the large impersonal tourist hotels that travel companies have contracts with. Rather you can stay at a clean, attractive and friendly B&B where you can get to know other travelers at breakfast time and have unhurried conversations with the B&B owners if you wish. You can choose your own places to eat and meet the locals at the neighborhood pub. You can tour the local Scotch whiskey distillery and be given a "wee dram" to sample.
Golfing with a Scot On a golf company tour you will never have the pleasure of golfing with a Scot and comparing golf in your country with golf in Scotland. You'll never have a member show you the best line off the tee or give you a read on an undulating green. On tour you'll never be able to play another round on that special course you know you would have played better if only you could play it again. You'll never have the opportunity to laugh at the differences in the language that you share. For example, as a Scotsman and I (Richard) were playing, we talked about Payne Stuart's untimely death. I mentioned how good Payne looked in knickers and that he always wore them. The man looked at me strangely and said, "I never knew Payne Stuart was a Nancy Boy." It all cleared up when I found out that what we in the U.S. call "knickers" are "plus fours" in Scotland. And "knickers" are woman's underpants in Scotland. He thought I was saying Payne Stuart wore women's underpants. We shared a laugh that lasted the round and even into the clubhouse bar where the story and laughter were shared with all. (By the way, in the UK the word "pants" means "underpants, " They use the word "trousers." So if you spill a drink on your trousers, don't say, "I just wet my pants.") In short, that expensive golf package tour will let you play only a few of the more famous courses. They never schedule the wonderful lesser-known courses because their clientele don't even know they exist and they never schedule the smaller quaint B&Bs because they can't include a suitable mark-up on them. Bottom line is that when you travel with a packaged tour you probably travel a very long distance only to be deprived of an authentic Scottish golfing experience and never have the opportunity to get to know the real Scotland and the great Scottish people. A do-it-yourself golfing trip in Scotland is highly do-ableWe love everything about the game of golf and the great Scottish links courses. As you read through these pages you will sense our enthusiasm for Scotland, and may soon feel your own enthusiasm building. The basic how-to is all laid out here for you. Go ahead and do it. You'll have one of the most memorable times of your life. And this trip won't be a "once-in-a-lifetime-golf-trip," it will be the beginning of many trips once you discover how easy and inexpensive it can be. In fact, making arrangements yourself will save you more than half of what the golf touring companies will charge you.Specific example of independent golfing in Scotland -- a group of 4 couples was quoted a price of $5,220 each from a popular golf tour company for a one-week 6 golf course Scotland golf holiday in 2009. It included a 4 star hotel, all ground transportation (no airfares) and greens fees. Using information from Golf Nook Scotland, the couples decided to put together the trip themselves. Their arrangements included everything the golf tour company included but instead of staying at a 4 star large commercial hotel they are booked a 5 star B&B featured on our Platinum Page that includes a traditional Scottish breakfast (very hearty) every morning and two gourmet 3-course dinners. And they have the entire B&B to themselves including a plush TV room and outdoor putting green. The cost? Only £965 which in January 2009 dollar/pound exchange rate works out to $1,448 each or $207 a day! Compare that to the $746 per day the golf tour company wanted to charge and you can see why independent golf travel is the way to go. This is just one example of how much money you can save if you make arrangements yourself and all it takes are a few phone calls. You can read what some others have said about their experiences as independent golfing travelers in Scotland by visiting our Kind Words & Kudos page.
Equally important, as an independent golf traveler you are not tied into an itinerary set in stone. If you play a golf course you enjoy and want to play it again, you can. If you want to sightsee rather than golf one day, you can. The independent traveler is always free to take spontaneous action during a golfing vacation. That's why it's a real vacation. An alternative to independent golf travel? If all the above sounds good but you feel an organized golfing package would suit you better than doing it independently, we would recommend two fine solutions--Bonnie Wee Golf for traveling to any golf courses in Scotland and Ireland, and North Berwick Golf Lodge for concentrating on Scotland's Golf Coast. Both solutions very personalized, so you'll still have a real taste of the country. Read about these unique opportunities on our Platinum Page. How Golf Nook Scotland came about- Ever since we began coming to Scotland several years ago, we'd been on a fruitless quest for a source of solid information for people like us--information from someone who has been there and knows the country--someone to hold our hand, so to speak. Over the years we've met many others also wishing for a reliable, user-friendly source for independent golfing/non-golfing holidays in Scotland. Since we are writers by profession, we decided to create the material ourselves. This website is written by the two of us, so after this intro we'll each be creating our own sections. And we admit it--our opinions and recommendations are strictly our own as the result of our experiences, and may not always concur with the popular ideas. We offer them to you in the hope we've de-mystified the process of putting together an independent golfing/non-golfing holiday in Scotland. What you can expect from Golf Nook Scotland - Golf Nook Scotland offers advice and help for the independent golfer and his or her non-golfing companion. Because you'll want to know what you can expect and where you can stay in complete comfort, all the information and suggestions are here for you--things we personally experienced and can share with you. You can have confidence in any recommendations we make, because we list only places and things we personally believe in. We include --
Haste Ye Back - (An old Scottish term.) We continually update our information, so please check back with us from time to time. Thank you for stopping by this time.
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