best time to golf in ireland and scotland

Andrews is not only the best golfing town on the planet, with great courses and an atmospheric nightlife, but it is also an ideal base to sample many of the other great attractions that continue to draw tens of thousands of golfers from across the globe each year. These can all be considered among the best courses in the country, if not the World.

Andrews, are the likes of Gleneagles in Perthshire, whose stunning King’s Course is one of the best inland tracks in Scotland, and the delights of East Lothian, which features the iconic links of Muirfield, Gullane and North Berwick within a short stretch of beautiful coastline. Visit the Giants in Lothians and Perthshireįurther afield, and all within just two hours of St. On a clear afternoon, you can often see across the North Sea to the small town of Carnoustie and its fearsome and tantalizingly challenging Championship Course that has tested the game’s best players for decades. Opened for play in 2000 and part of the annual Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour, this modern layout is visually spectacular and tremendously fun to play, making it a must-visit for anyone in the area. Andrews is also ideally positioned as a base for playing other courses, not least nearby Kingsbarns, which is only eight miles away. Take on the Young Pretender and Old Master While the most recently added Castle Course, which is situated just outside the town, boasts some imaginative and thrilling holes. The same can be said for the Jubilee and Eden Courses, both of which have their own understated charm. This is a more conventional course than the Old, but it remains a classic links challenge in the iconic surroundings of the Home of Golf, and is a perfect companion piece to its more famous neighbor. Andrews Links umbrella – with the next best of them being the New, which is literally sat adjacent to its older sister. You’re spoilt for choice at the Auld Grey Toon Toasting your round afterward in the Jigger Inn or Dunvegan Hotel is the perfect conclusion to a day on one of the game’s truly bucket-list courses. With palpable levels of history and numerous iconic images around you, playing the Old Lady can be overwhelming for some, but it is an unforgettable experience for anyone with an appreciation of the game’s past and its purest form.

Host of 29 Open Championships, all of the greats have played here the likes of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Bobby Jones have all claimed the Claret Jug on the timeless layout. Naturally, playing the legendary Old Course is a must for anyone visiting the Auld Grey Toon.

Throw in an unmatched level of vibrancy (for a small place) that comes from the number of tourists and students at the historic University, more pubs per square-feet than anywhere else in the UK, its location amidst the spectacular surroundings of beaches and medieval architecture, and you have something approaching perfection for your average, fun-loving golfer. The town is completely synonymous with the game, as its spiritual home, and features some of Scotland’s finest links courses on its doorstep. It would be difficult to find a more fulfilling golfing destination than St. We set them the task to describe their best ever seven day, seven round golf vacation and to tell the world why we should all jump on a plane to experience it.įirst up, Kieran describes his love of… you guessed it, St Andrews… And in the Green Corner, we have Kevin Markham, author of ‘Driving The Green’, and a man who has played every course in Ireland! To this end, in the Blue Corner, representing Scotland, we have Kieran Clark, Scottish golf journalist and self. When asked that question, we sat on the fence and instead turned to our local experts and asked them why their country should be crowned with the “Best Trip” title.

The first thing to note is that as golf destinations they are worthy of those labels (…the golf really is that good), and the second thing is that these countries are easy to travel to, so trips here should not be considered as, “once in a lifetime”.īut when it comes to which is best… that’s open to debate. Scotland and Ireland are often mentioned when it comes to bucket-list golf and ultimate golf vacations.

Best time to golf in ireland and scotland