To paraphrase an old saying, the fun is in the journey not the destination.
When you take a golf vacation to the home of golf, the fun is in both the destination and the journey.
And before you get on the road there is the fun and discovery of planning the trip. If you’re a planner, like me, doing your research, making the bookings and negotiating with your partner (or partners) in crime is a big part of the fun of the trip. My brother says I enjoy that aspect as much the trip itself. That isn’t exactly so but it does serve as an enticing appetizer for the trip that is many long months in the future.
My brother Jeff and I have had the good fortune to have hauled our sticks and old bones over the pond and then over the ragged dunes of Scotland’s links for three of the past four years. We’re now putting the finishing touches on our plans for another summer sojourn to our ancestral home as we walk our way through the very long list of Scottish links courses.
After four goes at trip planning, I’ve developed some principles about how to put together a trip that everyone in your group will enjoy – guaranteed.
- Choose your foursome wisely. This is without a doubt the most important factor in determining the success of your golf trip. You’re going to be stuck with these boneheads morning, noon and night, probably sharing a room with one (or more) of these gents. You need to choose folks who you can tolerate at their worst and really enjoy at their best. Finding simpatico traveling mates is more of a challenge for some of us than for others. That is why I only travel with my brother- he’s used to my boorishness and I am to his. The best foursome is typically only a twosome.
- Do it yourself. Every one of my golf buddies and acquaintances who has taken a golf trip to Scotland has booked through some agent or tour company. One benefit of this route is that you’re typically booked into big name courses that are familiar to the golfing public in the states. One of the disadvantages of this route is the big price tag. We’ve booked two full weeks of golf, lodging, transportation and dining for the same price as a one week vacation done through a booking agent. During our first trip to St. Andrews in 2016 we stayed at a townhouse on Golf Place which was a mere nine iron from the first tee at the Old Course. And a weeks booking cost us only $1200, less than a C note per man per night. So do yourself a favor and spend your hard earned dinero on an extra week in Scotland and not on the profit margin of a booking agent. Your wife and her back door man will really appreciate it.
Quirky Cullen Links
- Play courses you’ve never heard of before. The “familiar courses” , some of which are in the rota for the Open Championship, are wonderful tracks and certainly worth playing. But playing exclusively on premier courses, though a challenge and a pleasure, doesn’t give a traveler a full experience of golf in Scotland. Golf in Scotland, especially links golf, is a natural part of the fabric of society. With very few exceptions, every course, even prestigious private clubs are accessible to the general public. Golf in Scotland isn’t a country club social strata experience like it is in much of the US. It’s more affordable (for locals), more casual, more integrated into daily life and more healthy- most courses are walking only, at least the links courses are. Although green fees for locals are low, the Scots are shrewd business men and ladies, and they’ve capitalized on the huge influx of foreign golfers, especially Americans, by upping the green fee structure for visitors. Kingsbarns will set you back over $400 which we’ll gladly pay. But we’ll offset that astronomical price tag with a $30 round at a hidden gem like Strathlene. The Scottish coasts are dotted with lesser known links that offer incredible seaside vistas along with a great variety of shot values and hole designs. Many at very affordable prices.
- Pay the Piper. If you’re a single guy you can skip this part. If you are a happily married man, like me, pay attention. If you are unhappily married and don’t care, you can also skip ahead. Some might see an extended golf trip as a one time experience and many understanding wives willingly consent to a one off golf experience for their deserving hubby. But what if your wife doesn’t think you’re so deserving? If you’re such an unhappy hacker there is still a way forward. This also pertains to the happy few, like me, with an understanding wife and a compulsion to take a golf trip every year to Scotland. It’s all about the Quid Pro Quo. That’s a much used term these days but I was speaking it well before it came into fashion. The Quid is your golf trip to Scotland. The Quo is the trip you send your wife on while you’re chasing that little white orb through whins and gorse. Believe me it works. We first put this into practice in 2018 when, after a week of sightseeing in Edinburgh with the ladies in tow, my Greek brother Matt and I sent our better half’s off to Paris and Provence while we scampered off to Kintyre for golf at the magical pairing of Machrihanish and Machrihanish Dunes. I invoked this same strategy last year, as well, and my lovely spouse is now planning her next summer vacation with the girls for this August.
This way, everybody is happy except your bank manager. But that’s what paying the piper means.
If you’re a golfer who hasn’t yet made it to Scotland, you should go. If you have, you should go back. Use my principles and you’ll have a great time. And so will your wife.
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