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| Home The Basics Detailed information Scottish Golf AFSD - how to determine the real length of a golf course Helpful Websites Aberdeen & Grampian Highlands Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay... Ayrshire Royal Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick... Northern Highlands Royal Dornoch, Brora, Nairn... Scotland's Golf Coast Edinburgh area, North Berwick, Muirfield, Gullane... St. Andrews area Out of the way, but worth a play Machrihanish, Pitlochry... Links Lite Great links golf for everyone Testimonials Donate Your website is both charming and informative. It is wonderful to read of the hidden gems. I have based much of my itinerary on your advice. Thank you again. Ross Docherty, Northern Ireland |
Detailed info on independent golf travel
in Scotland ©
Why independent golfing in Scotland is such an advantageBeing an independent golfer in Scotland means you're 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 go to your B&B and take a nap. Some golfers, wanting to squeeze all the golfing they can into their trip, will play all day. They find a course they like and purchase a "day ticket" allowing them all day play at a reduced price. They schedule a morning round, drop in the clubhouse for a leisurely lunch and rest, then play an afternoon round. Others may want to play a round in the morning then eat lunch before driving (over some beautiful scenery) to another golf course for an afternoon round. No need to rush because in the summer the sun doesn't set until after 10:30 PM, so plenty of time to eat lunch and relax. When you are not tied to a tour, you get to decide everything.Visit Scotland -- the beautiful "home of golf"
When you're an independent traveler, you don't have to stay at the large impersonal tourist hotels that travel companies have contracts with. Instead you can stay at a clean, attractive and friendly B&B where you can meet other travelers at breakfast 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 whisky (U.S. spells it whiskey) distillery and be given a "wee dram" to sample. All of this supports the local communities. Golfing with a local
In short, that expensive package tour lets 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 don't schedule the smaller quaint B&Bs because the tour operators can't include a suitable mark-up on them. Bottom line -- when you travel with a packaged tour you may travel a very long distance only to be deprived of an authentic Scottish golfing experience and never have the opportunity to know the real Scotland and the Scottish people. A do-it-yourself golfing trip in Scotland is highly do-ableReading through these pages you'll sense our enthusiasm for Scotland and the great Scottish links courses, and you may soon feel your own enthusiasm building. The basic how-to is all laid out for you here. Go ahead and do it. You'll have one of the most memorable times of your life. And this trip may not be a "once-in-a-lifetime-golf-trip" but the beginning of many trips, once you discover how easy and inexpensive it can be. In fact, making arrangements yourself can easily save you more than half of what the golf touring companies will charge you.Specific example of independent golfing in ScotlandA group of 4 couples from our golf club was quoted a price of $5,220 per person from a popular golf tour company for a 7 day, 6 golf course Scotland golf holiday in 2009. It included a 4 star hotel, all ground transportation (no airfares) and greens fees. Using our 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 booked a 5 star B&B featured listed on our Platinum Page. Unlike the hotel, the B&B included a traditional (very hearty) Scottish breakfast every morning and two gourmet 3-course dinners. And they had 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 it worked 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 What others say page.
An alternative to independent golf travel?If you decide independent golf travel in Scotland is the way to go, but want someone else to make the bookings for you, here's the right answer -- Ferguson Golf. See Helpful Websites. We highly recommend this excellent and moderately priced service. It will be invaluable to you..Now, if being an independent golfer sounds good but you feel a more organized golfing package would suit you better than being completely independent, we recommend this perfect solution -- Bonnie Wee Golf for traveling to any golf courses in Scotland and Ireland. Very personalized, so you'll still get a real taste of the country.
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 --
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