Golf Odyssey subscribers have one chance to play the private Renaissance Club on their Scotland golf vacations.
You won’t find many strict, members-only courses on a Scotland golf vacation, but a new one located outside Edinburgh, next to the well-known course at Muirfield, is one of them. Here’s how you can play it on your Scotland golf vacation and why you should jump at the opportunity.
First, some perspective. This course (sorry, I can’t divulge it’s name here) is Tom Doak’s first design in the “home of golf.”
Doak, who caddied at St. Andrews in college and took a seven-month sabbatical to study all the great courses in the UK and Ireland, designed Oregon’s Pacific Dunes, New Zealand’s Cape Kidnappers, Tasmania’s Barnbougle Dunes, and other greats. Enough said. Read more →
"Unforgettable" seaside holes at Castle Stuart Links will soon be playable on your Scotland golf vacations.
In just 75 days, those taking Scotland golf vacations will be able to play what the editors of Golf Odyssey recently called, “the most important golf course opening in Great Britain and Ireland — and arguably the world — during 2009.”
Castle Stuart Links, named for the 17th-century castle that is only a 10-minute walk from the first tee, is the work of two Americans, Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse, both of whom have notable courses in their design portfolios. Read more →
According to a recent pronouncement by Guinness World Records, you can play the world’s oldest golf course on a Scotland golf vacation, but you can’t do it in St. Andrews.
No, the oldest golf course on earth (or at least the one that currently has the most convincing evidence of such) is located approximately 60 miles farther down Scotland’s east coast, outside the capital city of Edinburgh, in the town of Musselburgh (easily reachable by bus and/or train). Read more →
Tee times at the Old Course and the other St. Andrews golf courses areup for grabs on Monday.
Those planning Scotland golf vacations are often disappointed to learn that the world-famous Old Course in St. Andrews is often booked solid a year in advance, but this Monday, it and its sister St. Andrews golf courses are offering unsold tee times on a first-come, first served basis.
St. Andrews Links Trust, which manages the collection of seven St. Andrews golf courses, announced that it has tee times available for the following upcoming dates in 2009: Read more →
Lower prices at top venues such as Ballybunion, above, are making Ireland golf vacation packages extremely attractive.
In the January 2009 issue, Golf Odyssey tipped readers off about one of the best bargain regions to visit when taking Ireland golf vacations.
This region boasts a trio of fantastic golf courses, and Golf Odyssey’s editors proclaimed, “each is a jewel, more highly polished now than ever, and each can be played for an average weekday green fee of only $66.” Read more →
Play the most famous St. Andrews golf course while this is the extent of severe weather "damage".
Have you seen the email going around claiming that the Old Course at St. Andrews is in danger of “crumbling into the sea?” Well, don’t call off your Scotland golf vacation plans just yet.
The rumors are based on a recent speech made by the head of a St. Andrews environmental group. Specifically, the part about how the most famous St. Andrews golf course and “the Home of Golf” could be completely destroyed by 2050 if the effects of climate change continue or intensify.
From the UK’s Daily Telegraph, about University of St. Andrews’ Jan Bebbington, professor of accounting and director of the St. Andrews Sustainability Institute: Read more →
The Fairmont St. Andrews is an example of UK and Ireland golf resorts that can seem very "American."
The tip you are about to read dispels one of the commonly held misconceptions about UK and Ireland golf vacations.
You see, in addition to the historic qualities and purity of UK and Ireland golf courses, we Americans are often lured across the pond by the romantic notion that overcrowded courses and slow play are never an issue over there. Read more →
Consider Kingsbarns and the other courses south of St. Andrews for your Scotland golf vacations.
With the recent opening of the formidable Castle Course, taking a Scotland golf vacation to play St. Andrews golf courses might be in your sights now more than ever.
If so, don’t feel like you have to stick to the collection of courses that compose the St. Andrews Links Trust (The Old Course, Castle Course, The New Course, Jubilee Course, Eden Course, Balgove Course, and Strathtyrum).
Particularly if you’re interested in sea-side golf, there are three other worthy courses that are, like the Castle Course, routed over former pastures and croplands along the same stretch of coast on St. Andrews Bay. Read more →
