The Machrie and Ardfin, two of Scotland’s great island golf experiences, have joined forces to offer travellers a unique opportunity to experience a luxury wilderness golf adventure like no other. The partnership will offer golfers the chance to combine two world-class courses over three nights on Islay and neighbouring Jura, two of Scotland’s…
CLICK FOR MORE
It was 3 in the morning and I was running towards the 1st tee of the Old Course, St Andrews. My alarm had gone off 15 minutes earlier, which seemed reasonable – not too early, but early enough. I boiled a kettle, made some tea, stuffed a snack into my pocket and set…
CLICK FOR MORE
It was the music, that damn music that saunters into the living room each April, coercing me into four days of couch-surfing. Golfers around the world know the tune and I can vividly recall the first time I heard it, thinking it was the most ridiculous and pretentious piece of music, perfectly suited…
CLICK FOR MORE
Scotland will always be golf’s spiritual home but when you travel around Ireland, golf clubs on your back, it’s hard to shake the feeling that somehow you’ve come home. Full disclosure: I’m a proud Scot, one who has travelled the world in search enriching experiences in golf. I have been fortunate to explore…
CLICK FOR MORE
It’s early on a crisp spring morning and my eyes are sweeping across Mount Juliet golf course taking it all in – it’s hard to imagine a more tranquil, elegant place to spend time. From the moment you drive through the gates of this sprawling country estate in County Kilkenny, Ireland, there is…
CLICK FOR MORE
In 2023, Italy will host its first Ryder Cup. The Marco Simone Golf Club, just outside Rome, is staging the biennial contest between Europe and the United States, and while most fans will base themselves in the Eternal City for the contest, those looking to lengthen their trip would do well to consider…
CLICK FOR MORE
Hidden away on the County Wicklow coast, just south of Brittas Bay, you’ll The European Club – a links like no other. It’s a true one-off, a place where the rules of how to design and run a golf club haven’t applied since Pat Ruddy, the effervescent owner and designer, circled over this…
CLICK FOR MORE
Rosslare Golf Club is bathed in sunshine as we walk up the final hole of a round that will live long in the memory. It was Walt Whitman who wrote, ‘keep your face always toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you.’ That was certainly how our day on this charming,…
CLICK FOR MORE
Sigmund Freud once claimed all human behaviour is governed by our desire to move towards pleasure and away from pain and now the guys at deWiz believe that principle can improve your golf swing. When I was told I should try the deWiz golf watch, which delivers electric pulses or – whisper it…
CLICK FOR MORE
The view from our balcony at the sumptuous Links House Dornoch is one you could never grow tired of. A few yards to our left is the 1st tee of one of the world’s greatest golf courses, abuzz with greenkeepers, golfers and walkers. To our right is the conservation village of Dornoch with…
CLICK FOR MORE
For golfers the world over, Royal Dornoch Golf Club represents a unique call to adventure. It’s a pilgrimage which requires commitment, dedication and patience. After all this golfing outpost, tucked away in a stunning corner of the Scottish Highlands, sits 50 miles north of Loch Ness and just eight degrees below in the Arctic…
CLICK FOR MORE
Fyfe Golf unashamedly celebrate Scotland’s rich and storied manufacturing heritage. Their beautiful, handmade products and accessories already grace golf bags and golfers far and wide and each of them come proudly having been ‘Made in Scotland.’ All fabrics are sourced from the finest Scottish mills and weavers and their mission is to reconnect…
CLICK FOR MORE
In my head the atmospheric Old Course was going to be lit up by autumnal sunshine, showing off the home of golf in all its picture postcard perfection. In reality, the stoating rain that had threatened to derail my morning round at the Crail Golfing Society, had followed us up the Fife coast.…
CLICK FOR MORE
It’s no surprise to find the Scots have more than 100 words for rain – several sprang immediately to mind as I arrived at Crail Golfing Society, the seventh oldest club on the planet. It was a dreich morning, the darkest and dankest of starts to an autumnal day at the easternmost point…
CLICK FOR MORE
As I stand on the first tee at Western Gailes Golf Club, it suddenly dawns on me how lucky I am. Not just lucky in the sense that I’m about to play one of Scotland’s finest links courses, but lucky because there’s barely a breath of wind on the Ayrshire coast, this late…
CLICK FOR MORE
Tradition and romance are synonymous with Prestwick. This is, after all, the birthplace of The Open Championship itself. It may have hosted the last of its 24 Opens in 1925, but the significance of this club to our game, and the aura which surrounds it, endures to this very day.…
CLICK FOR MORE
Tom Coyne has chased a golf ball around the globe for much of his adult life, embodying the essence of a true wandering golfer. In doing so, he has carved out a niche as a golf travel writer with a connection to the soul of our game and to the people who bring…
CLICK FOR MORE
It would be understandable if Dundonald Links felt just a little threatened by Ayrshire’s embarrassment of golfing riches. After all it sits within minutes of storied Open venues such as Royal Troon and Prestwick Golf Club. Another, Turnberry, is 30 minutes down the coast. Wonderful Western Gailes is within a wedge. Barassie, Glasgow…
CLICK FOR MORE
A day or two at The Machrie Hotel is all it takes to understand why so many who visit Islay leave a piece of their heart behind. The idyllic isolation from the everyday would, on its own, be the perfect tonic to the bustle of modern life. But when you combine that with…
CLICK FOR MORE
There’s a rare sense of stillness and tranquillity as you walk Woodhall Spa’s iconic Hotchkin Course. This secluded, unassuming corner of Lincolnshire may be home to one of the best inland golf courses on the planet but there’s no fuss or fanfare here. The contrary is true, in fact. From the moment you…
CLICK FOR MORE
