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Golf into the Wilderness:
Escape to Tranquility amongst the Highlands & Islands
In recent years the golf world has started to witness a subtle shift to ever more remote locations as we push the frontiers of the possible. Bandon Dunes, Cabot Links, and Barnbougle Dunes are just three stunning examples. Scotland is no exception and at Faraway Fairways we’re calling this ‘Wilderness Golf’. Despite not having the area of Canada or Australia, Scotland does have the landscape and sense of remoteness. In this case being smaller actually makes it manageable.
The Western-Isles of Scotland are our Shangri-La. They’re isolated, with wild Atlantic facing landscapes of rugged bleak and inspiring beauty. Cruising the Western Isles is the ultimate ‘chill out’ experience for the golfer who wants to travel off the beaten track in a quest for solace and sanctuary. It’s a spiritual calling to the purists who treasure not ticking off bucket lists, but the ethereal game itself. The Western Isles, Machrihanish and Askernish golf vacation is a pure collision of landscape, course, and player.
“Someday I hope to bring my grandchildren here to Scotland – not to show them what golf is but what golf isn’t – that it isn’t $200 million resorts and $200,000 membership fees, that it isn’t six hour rounds and three day member-guests, that it isn’t motorized buggies, Cuban cigars, and cashmere headcovers. It’s a game you play simply and honourably, without delay or complaint – where you respect your companions, respect the rules, and respect the ground you walk on. Where on the 18th green you remove your cap and shake hands, maybe just a little humbler and a little wiser than when you began.”
The outer reaches very much conform with this ethos. Here you’ll encounter strange alien concepts like pay and play, or honesty boxes if there is no one around to collect your green fee. So explore the spirit of Scotland in a rich tapestry of history and culture, and seek out the true enduring soul of golf in these remote and largely untouched communities on the periphery of the game’s spiritual homeland.
14 nights
Scotland
Transport
Self-drive works best. Up to six ferries involved. Can become complexLogistics
‘Point-to-point’ touring structureNon-Golf Offer
Strong - Skye, Glencoe, Culloden, Loch Ness, Arran, Islay & Wester RossMileage
Very high - Approx 1,500 miles Approximately 48 hrs (see footnote) 'mileage explained'Travel Class
PremierTHURSDAY - PRESTWICK
Prestwick is the home of the first ever Open Championship of Golf, and therefore the genesis of all such modern variants played since. This is your chance to tackle the original ‘Open’ undulations, the narrowest fairway in Europe, and the continents ‘biggest bunker’. Today’s course remains surprisingly faithful. Unreasonable fairway ricochets, and a plethora of ‘blind shots’ abound. Six of the original greens played from 1860 are still in use. A number of holes, including the famous par 5, ‘Cardinal’ have only received the absolute minimal alteration over the decades. The opening ‘Railway hole’ is another timeless links classic. Prestwick’s quirky and charismatic. To play here, really is to step back in time. No where is quite like it, nor can it be.
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FRIDAY - Shiskine
Shiskine is a 12 hole gem on the Isle of Arran, long known about but rarely played due to its inaccessibility. It possesses some of the most spectacular holes in all of Scotland and is wondrous testimony to the harmonious blend of golf and landscape. It’s very much an old school course with plenty of blind shots and elevated tees playing into plunging coves below. The word that keeps coming back time and time again about Shiskine is “fun”. There are a plethora of par 3’s (which let’s be honest, everyone loves) played in an inspiring post volcanic landscape.
SATURDAY - Macrihanish Dunes
In terms of finding a course that most faithfully observes the games foundations we might turn to something surprisingly modern. If you want to experience a links challenge similar to that which the games pioneers faced, then ‘Mach Dunes’ is it. This is the perfect symbiosis of natural landscape and hazard in harmony. The pioneers who took to the links land didn’t have mechanical earth moving machinery. They looked into the landscape, worked with it, and went about conceiving their own challenges. In time consensus emerged which gave way to the adoption of ‘routes’ which duly became courses. Of its 270 acres only 7 have been subject to earth working. The rough is managed by two flocks of roaming sheep with grazing rights, and bunkers are developments of burrowing animals! This is authentic links, and actually genuine.
SUNDAY - Macrihanish
Perched on the western most tip of the Kintyre Peninsula, Machrihanish is wild, remote, windswept and very, beautiful. As you might expect being just 12 miles from North Ireland, the coast shares some Irish traits, notably dramatic high dune systems, whereas the subtle undulations in the fairways are more Scottish. This is pure links theatre. Golf Digest rate Machrihanish the 57th best course in the world. It’s top drawer. It also possesses what many regard as the finest opening tee shot on the planet, played over the beach onto the fairway beyond, and daring you to carve off more and more until you perish. It sets the tone for an exhilarating round.
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MONDAY - Machrie
‘The Machrie’ is one of the few examples anywhere in the world of a great traditional links course which has been preserved for 120 years in its purest form. The links turf on which Machrie was built is among the finest in Scotland, and the setting has few equals. Machrie enjoys a reputation for throwing out a different challenge and most notably in the green complexes, which makes it something of a high quality plotters paradise for the strategic golfer. The course is a mix of raw dunes and romance, a work of nature and a legacy of golf’s golden age that invites you to step back and sample it for a fleeting afternoon of nostalgia.
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TUESDAY - MACHRIE (2nd Round?)
The ferry times are normally such that we might choose to spend a second day on Islay or even cross ‘the sound’ to visit the Isle of Jura too.
You could decide to play a second round at Machrie or go exploring instead and treat the Tuesday as a rest and recuperation day
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TUESDAY - ISLAY AND JURA
Islay is known as the ‘Queen of the Hebrides’ and most famous for its distinctive whiskies including Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Caol Ila. A connoisseur has a full day on these alone.
If it’s true tranquillity and escapism you seek however, why not ‘cross the sound’ to visit the Isle of Jura and disappear into the real wilderness. George Orwell knew, he took himself off to the northern tip of Jura to write ‘1984’
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WEDNESDAY - Glencruitten, Oban
The Glencruitten Estate is one James Braid’s genuine hidden gems on the outskirts of Oban. At less than 4500 yds, and playing to a par of just 62, it is always going to fall short, but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in fun and spectacle. Flora and fauna abound the course and in the spring and early summer it’s a splash of colour with the pale-blue iridescence of the harebells and the violent patches of yellow of the whins. Mature native Scots pines overlook the layout as part of the ancient Caledonian Forest. With a bit of imagination you might even see echoes of lush forested Caribbean courses about Glencruitten.
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WEDNESDAY - Traigh
Traigh Golf Course is the most Westerly golf course on the UK mainland. A series of sandy beaches run alongside the course, with stunning views to the Hebridean islands of Eigg, Rum, and the Cuillins of Skye. It is set in one of the most beautiful parts of the Western Highlands of Scotland. It is a nine hole course, (par 68), based on a line of grassy hills, with the springy turf. Traigh is a subtle golf course that rewards accurate shot-making. One of the biggest challenges you might face is loss of concentration brought about by scenery and serenity!
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THURSDAY - Askernish
In an era when millionaires plough millions into luxury resorts, Askernish is evidence that the spirit of golf is alive and living on South Uist, a barren windswept island 50 miles off the Scottish Atlantic coast. The original course was designed by Old Tom Morris in 1891, but was lost to neglect. On discovering this, a band of local volunteers formed. They possessed minimal finance or course management expertise, but resolved to restore the links to its original layout using good old amateur endeavour and desire. Against all expectations they not only succeeded, but also built a hugely impressive links. The seventh has started to feature in these composite ‘best 18 holes in Scotland’ lists. This is one of golf’s more warming stories. The purist surely wants to be a part of it and play.
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THURSDAY - Isle of Harris
The Isle of Harris golf course at Scarista has justifiably been described “as one of the most picturesque 9-hole courses in the world”. Bordered on one side by the Sound of Taransay, leading onto the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst all down the west side of the course stretch the pristine white sands washed by an aquamarine sea, typical of this part of the Hebrides. It’s not an idle boast. Although only a nine hole course many are very demanding with more than a few natural hazards. Among the many famous golfers who have played the course are Nick Faldo. The signed five pound note he deposited into the ‘honesty box’ for his green fee is played for today as a club trophy!
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FRIDAY - Askernish
The ferry for the mainland leaves in the late afternoon from Lochmaddy to Uig on the Isle of Skye. It tees up another opportunity to play Askernish for a second time
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SATURDAY -ISLE OF SKYE GC
The nine-hole layout on the Isle of Skye golf course looks out seawards towards the Isle of Raasay and inland towards the Red Cuillin mountains. It’s a fun layout played in a beguiling landscape.
You’d also been forgiven for introducing a second rest day if you chose to however, and dedicating it to exploring this most magical of Scotland’s western isles
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SATURDAY -ISLE OF SKYE TOURING
With its post-volcanic landscape the Isle of Skye has some of Scotland’s very best scenery. The Quinraing is a corkscrew drive through basalt outcrops. The ‘Old Man of Storr is a monolithic rock of needles formation whilst the Mealt Falls plunge over a cliff into the Atlantic below. You can call in at small communities dotted around the isle, the brightly coloured houses of Portree being the pick perhaps. Despite its beguiling beauty Skye hasn’t escaped with a bloodless history though (this is Scotland!). Visit Trumpan church to learn of its macabre past, or Dunvegan Castle. Skye has developed a world class food offer too as top chef’s have migrated there
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SUNDAY - Gairloch
Gairloch Golf Club occupies a fabulous location by a beautiful sandy beach with the Minch and the islands of Skye, Harris and Lewis to the west, the mountains of Torridon to the south, and the wilderness of Letterewe to the east. To the north lies Ullapool, the gateway to the Western Isles. The 9-hole course set amongst rolling dunes provides an excellent challenge to golfers of all abilities with a testing par for low handicappers but a forgiving nature for the more casual player. In many respects Gairloch embodies the very spirit of wilderness golf. A course lovingly maintained and developed by an enthusiastic local community that just keeps improving.
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SUNDAY - Ullapool
Having only opened as recently as 1998, Ullapool is a relative new-comer to the nine-hole academy of Highland gems, but is already surely one of the most picturesque courses you will find. The course is set on the shores of Loch Broom, directly on the North Coast 500, and offers spectacular views from every hole. The second has established itself as signature hole of the course, with the Ullapool River breaking into the fairway, creating a lateral water hazard on the left. The tee shot needs to clear a bank of gorse bushes which create a drop of 30 feet to the fairway. A rise of 6 feet leads to a green that slopes from back to front, guarded by bunkers on either side at the front.
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MONDAY - Brora
Raw, bleak, yet tranquil with an intoxicating solitude. In the summer Arctic terns swoop acrobatically over the beach holes. They’re adopted on the club crest. This is a traditional out and back nine hugging the north sea. You will enjoy the mixture of bent grass and beach sand, burn water and gorse in glorious yellow bloom. Brora is a scenic course but the absence of dunes means that it’s perhaps the relationship with the sea and the wind that you’ll enjoy most! (or ‘remember’ shall we say). We’ve scratched around for a single word to describe Brora and we think it’s ‘spiritual’. Few courses get quite so close as Brora.
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MONDAY - Durness
Durness sits on the northern tip of Scotland. A savagely exposed coastline famed for its steep cliffs facing out towards the biting Arctic. If wilderness golf is the next frontier, than this outpost qualifies. It’s entirely possible to complete this two hour journey without seeing another car, with just the menacing black waters of Loch Shin and Loch More for company. You are indeed, a speck in this truly wild landscape. The golf course is only a nine holes (for now) but Durness was rated Scotland’s second best nine hole course. It’s also worth bearing in mind that in the summer months, at this latitude, it’s possible to play until 11 o’clock. Anyone who makes the journey to Durness is appreciated and guaranteed a warm welcome.
TUESDAY - Royal Dornoch
Golf Digest rated Royal Dornoch the highest of Scotland’s many worthy candidates. The Championship course represented a paradigm in design that endures today. The ‘bump-and-run‘ was the traditional shot to mitigate a links wind. Elevated plinth greens were introduced and ringed with fiendish pot-bunkers to guard them from any such commando approach. Without completely taking the traditional ‘stock shot’ out of the equation, a degree of risk was added. Dornoch therefore challenges you to go the aerial route, and ride the wind. Iron play is the key to the course. The rationale is simple: hit a good approach shot and you should be rewarded. Hit a bad one, and you pay the penalty. Tom Watson said of Dornoch “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course”.
Handicap requirements
Prestwick applies a handicap threshold of 24 for gentlemen, and 28 for ladies respectively.
Some known issues to consider
Despite its remote location, Royal Dornoch does sell-out and is amongst the first courses to come under pressure. We advise that you think in terms of a planning horizon of July for play the following year
The biggest source of potential disruption however is posed by the requirement to thread together six different ferry sailings. It's never gone wrong yet, but one day it will (law of averages etc). Weather, technical/ mechanical issues, or client failing to make a timing point can all cause a failure to sail. Faraway Fairways have 'plan B' contingencies scoped out, but these will only normally protect you for about 24 hours of disruption. The objective is to try and 'get back on track' as quickly as we can, even if this means 'skipping' a night somewhere.
The wilderness tour does travel into remote and inaccessible locations. That's the appeal after all. In doing so though, it runs a bit of a risk. It's probably best suited to a more experienced traveller, or someone who has the ability to ride the waves and go with what's thrown at them. In the event of severe disruption your assistance in being able to make in-situ decisions will be expected. Faraway Fairways will only be able to mitigate so much before we're over-run
Mileage Explained
This is the longest trip we run at approximately 1,500 miles, and 48 hours of journey time. It's worth giving this some context however. Over 14 days this is an average of 107 miles and three and half hours a day. It's not as daunting as it first sounds
It's also worth remembering that a majority of the driving takes place on remote uncongested, and scenic roads. The actual driving itself is often considered to be a legitimate part of the exploration and experience. It helps of course if you enjoy driving? If you do, you won't find this an ordeal
Our 'road time' estimate of 48 hours is a misleading as it includes car ferries when you won't actually be behind the wheel but rather on a boat. A little over 13 hours in total are spent on water, leaving us 35 hours on tarmac
Even this 35 hours can be reduced though. Arriving is Glasgow instead of Edinburgh saves an hour. We've modelled a return to Edinburgh but you might decide to return your vehicle in Inverness and then fly to London. This would save another 3 hours. The actual road time is likely to be nearer to 30 hours in total, or a little over 2 hours a day
Finally, it's worth remembering that a few weeks either side of late June 22nd (ish) you get about 18 hours of useable daylight at these northern latitudes. You can go deep into an evening
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