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 Where to play, where to stay, what to do all day |
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Where to play, where to stay, what to do all day |
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| Detailed Info on Independent Golf Travel in Scotland |
| Home The Basics Scottish Golf AFSD - how to determine the real length of a golf course Helpful Websites Platinum Page Upscale places, products & services Aberdeen & Grampian Highlands Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay... Ayrshire Royal Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick... Scotland's Golf Coast Edinburgh area, North Berwick, Muirfield, Gullane... Northern Highlands Royal Dornoch, Brora, Nairn... St. Andrews area Other golf courses Machrihanish, Pitlochry... LINKS LITE Great links golf for the not-so-great golfer 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 |
Visit Scotland -- the beautiful "home of golf"Golf Nook Scotland is dedicated to providing reliable information for the golfer who wants to travel independently in Scotland. Richard writes the golf course reviews, Mary-Alice writes about places to stay and things to do other than golfing. As you look through the website, you will discover suggestions for...
Why independent golfing in Scotland is such an advantageBeing an independent golfer in Scotland means you are 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 you can go to your B&B and take a nap. Some golfers who want 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 which allows them all day play. They schedule a morning round, drop in the clubhouse for a leisurely lunch and rest, then play an afternoon round. Others will play a round in the morning then eat lunch before driving (over some beautiful scenery) to another golf course for an afternoon round. This does not have to be rushed because in the summer the sun doesn't set until after 10:30 PM, so there's plenty of time to eat lunch and relax. When you are not tied to a tour, you get to decide everything.
When you're an independent traveler, you don't have to stay at the large impersonal tourist hotels that travel companies have contracts with. Rather you can stay at a clean, attractive and friendly B&B where you can meet other travelers at breakfast time 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 whiskey distillery and be given a "wee dram" to sample. Golfing with a local
In short, that expensive golf package tour will let 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 never schedule the smaller quaint B&Bs because they can't include a suitable mark-up on them. Bottom line is that when you travel with a packaged tour you probably travel a very long distance only to be deprived of an authentic Scottish golfing experience and never have the opportunity to get to know the real Scotland and the great Scottish people. A do-it-yourself golfing trip in Scotland is highly do-ableAs you read through these pages you will sense our enthusiasm for Scotland and the great Scottish links courses, and may soon feel your own enthusiasm building. The basic how-to is all laid out here for you. Go ahead and do it. You'll have one of the most memorable times of your life. And be prepared -- this trip may not be a "once-in-a-lifetime-golf-trip," it mayl be the beginning of many trips once you discover how easy and inexpensive it can be. In fact, making arrangements yourself will 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 was quoted a price of $5,220 each from a popular golf tour company for a one-week 6 golf course Scotland golf holiday in 2009. It included a 4 star hotel, all ground transportation (no airfares) and greens fees. Using 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 that includes a traditional Scottish breakfast (very hearty) every morning and two gourmet 3-course dinners, plus sightseeing. 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 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.
As an independent golf traveler you are not tied into an itinerary set in stone. If you play a golf course you enjoy and want to play it again, you can. If you want to sightsee rather than golf one day, you can. The independent traveler is always free to take spontaneous action during a golfing vacation. That's why it's a real vacation. An alternative to independent golf travel?If all the above sounds good but you feel an organized golfing package would suit you better than doing it independently, we recommend two fine solutions--Bonnie Wee Golf for traveling to any golf courses in Scotland and Ireland, and North Berwick Golf Lodge for concentrating on Scotland's Golf Coast. Both solutions are very personalized, so you'll still get a real taste of the country. Read about these unique opportunities on our Platinum Page.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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