Portstewart Golf Club: the best front 9 in golf?
If there’s a better view from a 1st tee, it will have to go some to top The Strand at Portstewart Golf Club. A scorching summer’s day has meandered into a lazy afternoon and the beach which sits to the right of the opening hole at Portstewart, is still bustling with surfers, day trippers and families on holiday. The incredible Strand Beach comes into view as I snake along the road which takes me from the centre of this bustling harbour town out towards the towering dunes, which are home to its world famous golf course. As I walk towards the…
Oldest golf course in the world? Musselburgh Links a time machine
As you walk off the last green of what is, to some, the oldest golf course in the world, it’s impossible to shake the feeling that you’ve just been transported back in time to the origins of our game. Musselburgh Links, The Old Golf Course, is a living museum and its storied, almost mythical history is the stuff of golfing lore. It’s tempting to describe it as a relic, but it’s much more than that – a visit to Musselburgh is an invitation to experience golf as it was. There are those who’ll tell you golf has been played here…
The Dumbarnie Experience is Hard To Better
The beauty of Dumbarnie Links speaks for itself on a morning like this. There’s barely a breath of wind as we look out across Largo Bay and take in the majesty of this dramatic meeting of land and sea. It’s not yet 8am and a thin layer of wispy white cloud hangs over the golf course. Way out at the sea, the sky is a deep, endless blue as the fishing boats from along the coast begin to make their way back to harbour after another successful morning at sea. After a 20-minute journey from St Andrews, we turn through…
Hickory Golf Clubs: unique shop at the heart of hickory revival
I’m standing on the 1st tee at one of Scotland’s great courses and for the first time in my life I’m grasping a hickory golf club in my trembling hands preparing to embark on a life-changing round. We know golf is hard enough, but I’m on the wondrous West Links at North Berwick, holding a golf club that’s not only significantly older than I am, but has a tiny sweet-spot and I’m about to embark on a journey I’ve been looking forward to for months. With the 150th Open taking place across the water in St Andrews, it felt like…