Category: Overview1

Asking the question of how much does a Scottish golf vacation cost? isn’t a bad place to begin any appraisal. You know the answer about a piece of string? Well it’s not dissimilar in truth. Although we’ve posed the question of how much does a Scottish golf vacation cost? we’re probably answering it a little bit more in the spirit of how much can a Scottish golf vacation cost? Faraway Fairways are more conscious than most perhaps that not everyone can adopt a ‘cost no object’ to their golf vacation planning. With this in mind, we have focused this article towards saving money and hopefully finding ways that delivers top-value Before we start exploring ways in which we can cut the price and costs of a Scottish golf vacation however, there is perhaps something we need to stress. The exercise needn’t always be about how cheap can I make it? If you stretch this question of how much does a Scottish golf vacation cost? to its enth degree for example, you can often achieve some remarkable savings by using extremely sub-optimal solutions, but you’ll suffer in the delivery for having done so. The question we need to try and keep to the forefront of our mind perhaps is more one of how far am I prepared to compromise quality in pursuit of price? In our own private travel it’s something we’ve occasionally done. It becomes very easy to sit at home and bask a little bit in the reflected glory of the savings you’ve made. This tends to wear off though once you arrive at a destination. The savings you made in the winter planning stages are easily forgotten as you’re having to mattle together some unwieldy options. It isn’t long before you find yourself saying “I wish I’d done” Context With people’s budgets potentially tightening in line with economic downturns, it’s perhaps natural that we begin to explore where we can make savings. It’s worth remembering that if your own domestic economy is in recession, then there is a strong likelihood that Scotland’s will be too (especially if you’re American). The cost of living in Scotland is lower than America. In recession sensitive areas like food and hotels, the chances are that the prices being asked for in Scotland are lower than if you’d stayed at home. Assuming that you eat and drink regardless of where you live! you needn’t be paying more for your essentials, and should be saving a bit The other significant context is the exchange rate. In 2016 sterling bought you $1.45. Today that is nearer to $1.25. On a £2,500 golf break, you’d be paying about $500 less on the exchange rate than you would have done only a couple of years ago Golf vacations tend to have three specific components. The golf, accommodation, and transport. Focusing on these three pillars pretty much frames the answer to how much does a Scottish golf vacation cost?There are of course other bits that circulate around this core which we’ll touch on too. The Golf Green fees tend to have the least amount of scope. A reasonably reliable escalator works where quality is reflected in the price although there are some notable exceptions. Places like Machriahnish, Cruden Bay and North Berwick for example, all hold world top-100 rankings and don’t have a reputation for being overly expensive. It’s also worth noting that the St Andrews Old Course should be considered comparatively affordable as well considering that they could easily double their green fees and still sell out. There are close to ten courses in Scotland that are typically asking for a higher fee than St Andrews. A lot of courses operate a shoulder season that typically runs from the start of April to the middle of the month, and from mid October to the end of the month. During this window you’ll normally be able to secure a green fee that is discounted by about 33%. Some courses such as Kingsbarns will extend their shoulder throughout April, whereas Royal Aberdeen and Turnberry can over run theirs into early May Once we hit the peak season however, the scope for ‘nicking’ a bargain on the green fee diminishes. It’s worth being aware however that some courses (notably those of the Highlands like Royal Dornoch and Brora) run twilight tee-times which can be about 33% cheaper. We wouldn’t be deterred by playing at this time of day. It’s often sublime. The only real downside is that you’re likely going to need to stay the night in the area so it needn’t be the easiest arrangement to finish and move onto your next destination from. It can disrupt a flow of morning golf, afternoon travel, if playing a point-to-point touring itinerary You might encounter ‘play and stay’ deals. These are usually good value relative to purchasing the golf and the accommodation independently of each other. They needn’t always be ‘savings’ though. The discount we can achieve on the green fee is usually more than wiped out by the cost of needing to stay in a more expensive hotel, as it’s invariably the five stars that offer these deals. A net cheaper price can usually be achieved by paying the non-residents green fee and then booking a less expensive accommodation. The net saving for doing this however, isn’t normally that significant and at Faraway Fairways, we can be persuaded that the value lies with the deal Another ‘trick’ of course is including a few ‘hidden gems’. These are normally considered high-quality courses with affordable green fees that tend to be overlooked in the proximity of more dominant names. Most regions have them. Candidates in the St Andrews area would include Lundin, Scotscraig, Elie and Leven. Carnoustie would see you perhaps turning to Montrose and Monifieth. The best options in Ayrshire probably lie off shore on the Isle of Arran. This involves using a ferry to get to Shiskine or Corrie. The Lothian courses east of Edinburgh would include Kilspindie, Dunbar and possibly Eyemouth which is a little bit further south on the English border. Aberdeenshire needn’t have so many obvious candidates. Murcar is a possibility but value seekers are likely to be more persuaded by Fraserburgh or Newburgh on Ythan. Finally the Highlands would see Boat of Garten, Tain, Golspie and Brora amongst its nominees If you can weave a couple of gems into your programme without seriously compromising quality you’ll be saving in the region of 10% on the overall price Accommodation Accommodation is the area with the greatest scope and there are two things worth exploring. Faraway Fairways offers a portfolio of what we call ‘affordable’ hotels. They’re more popularly referred to as ‘budget hotels’ of course, and this needn’t be an unfair description. It really depends what you want from your accommodation? These hotels are clean, modern, friendly and safe. They tend to have particularly comfortable beds, a feature of the chain in question. They’re often popular with families and business travellers. If this represents the nuts and bolts of all you really require, then they’re fine. What they lack a bit is luxury décor (you get a chair and a work desk etc) but you don’t sumptuous furnishings. They’re typically about the half the price of a higher-end 4 star hotel. The second angle is self-catering. Some of these options can be extremely good value. In a lot of cases the only downside is the loss of time spent in food preparation and the distraction this causes in your personal planning (shopping in any other language). Faraway Fairways would be of the view however that this can be quite easily ameliorated The chances are that your evening meal is going to be taken ‘eating out’ anyway. A self-catering option isn’t impacted by this decision. What we’re really talking about then is breakfast. A vast majority of golf clubs do a good breakfast at a fair price. If you don’t want to prepare your own, simply switch that which you would have paid in a hotel, and transfer it to the golf club. Both St Andrews and Edinburgh are likely to appear in most itineraries, and both are amongst the most expensive locations in Scotland. The old trick of staying in Carnoustie to save money on St Andrews is quite well established, and you will typically achieve something in the region of 50% like with like. Carnoustie isn’t as charismatic as St Andrews however, and you will face something like a 50 minute commute whenever you wish to go to St Andrews. Staying on the periphery of St Andrews or self-catering in a surrounding town or rural location might be a compromise Edinburgh throws us a slightly different challenge as the road network can help direct our approach. Central Edinburgh is more expensive than outer Edinburgh, and you’ll likely pick up a hidden parking charge too in the centre. If we’re able to find somewhere that has links to the outer ring-road (access to Fife and St Andrews to the north and the Lothian’s to east) we can begin to pinch some time back. In addition, we can also use a budget hotel that is convenient for the tram (100 yards walk away). Trams cost about £3, and take about 20 minutes to get from the west of the city to the centre. They run every 7-10 minutes. Let’s put it like this, if you want to visit central Edinburgh, or want to spend an evening out there without the responsibility of using a vehicle, then the tram solves this, and does so at a cost likely to be the region of three times cheaper than staying centrally. Your primary inconvenience is the 20-25 minute commute, and the lack of a charismatic district in which to stay, both of which can be traded off by a budget conscious traveller who is wrestling with the question of how much does a Scottish golf vacation cost? Transport It is nearly always cheaper to self drive. There are a couple of potential exceptions however. A particularly large group (20+) will probably need to look at a coaching arrangement, augmented with a series of local taxi journeys to fill in the gaps when your coach has completed its days work. This can also become rather messy when the St Andrews Old Course is part of a programme and played under the ballot as we only get the results for a draw 48 hours before play and can easily find successful applicants needing to go in one direction to St Andrews, whilst unsuccessful applicants keep on the main itinerary and go with the rest of the party in the other direction. The other exception might occur where you can set up a base location and stick to it. This means that there are enough courses surrounding you for you to walk to them, or near enough for you to use a local taxi. In other words, we’d make two ‘there and back’ transport hires at the start and end of a programme, and then use a series of in-situ arrangements in between. St Andrews can potentially support this kind of arrangement, as might Gleneagles if you were prepared to confine yourself to their three courses only. Carnoustie if its reinforced with Panmure and Monifieth might have some appeal too as a short break. Finally, if you based in Troon, it might be possible to weave Prestwick, Western Gailes, Glasgow Gailes and Dundonald into a local taxi arrangement as well On balance however, any savings you might be able to achieve by using local taxis are unlikely to be significant enough to justify the loss of flexibility and independence that a self-drive solution offers you. Faraway Fairways wouldn’t normally recommend that you do it, instead you might consider the vehicle type. Golfing parties normally generate more luggage than a normal visitor due to the fact that golf bags are large and awkward shapes. Golfers are frequently pushed into hiring out larger vehicles than their numbers would usually require. This means they’ll often have spare passenger seats. If you’re prepared to accept the clunky solution of laying golf bags out in the vehicle interior, then you can usually get by with a lower vehicle category Observing the mantra that net savings are the accumulation of small transactions, another small one can usually be made by dispensing with a meet and greet service at the airport on the vehicle handover, and not using an in vehicle sat-nav, relying instead perhaps on a phone app and an assigned navigator in your group Non Golf activity Many of Scotland’s premier golf courses are actually located in close proximity to genuine apex visitor attractions. Although Faraway Fairways encourage you to add some easy value to your experience by looking beyond the 18 holes, we can also accept that if cost is the principal driver in your decision making, then you could simply choose to omit them. So How Much then? The question you perhaps what an answer to is how much does a Scottish golf vacation cost?, give me a price Well the truth is, the time of year you visit, the date that you book, and the duration of your stay, all frame the price. That’s before we even think about courses played. In the spirit of trying to give you a clue we thought we’d model something that was priced up in September 2019 for play in and around the shoulder season of April 2020 The golf courses featured were, North Berwick, Gleneagles, Carnoustie, Scotscraig, Kingsbarns, Lundin and the St Andrews New Course. Please note that provision to play the St Andrews Old Course has been made in the draft itinerary, but the cost isn’t included since the plan involves using the ballot which means the green fee is paid by you to the Links Trust upon notification of a successful application (you’d need to add it). Assuming that the Old Course does become part of the portfolio however, you’d have four courses that are ranked in the world’s top-100, plus a recent Ryder Cup venue. The savings needn’t have been achieved by slashing back on the quality therefore We would expect to be able to offer a seven night stay on a fourball in early April for an approximate price of £1875 per person under these circumstances One thing that really is important however is the exchange rate. You can make no end of smart decisions in the assembly and have their benefits wiped out by a poor exchange rate. At the time of writing, (the autumn of 2019) Sterling is at levels that would be considered historically low, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on. Faraway Fairways can send out long dated invoices for you which gives you the flexibility to pay at any favourable moment should opportunity present. Here’s a link that monitors sterling CLICK FOR STERLING UPDATES AGAINST ALL MAJOR CURRENCIES

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Image by Kevin Murray. To view some of Kevin’s work from around the world [CLICK] One of the key questions that any visitors face when choosing a Scottish golf vacation is the answer to the question of when? In other words, the choice of season or month, which means asking the question of what’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland? The answer (as you might expect) starts with the words “it depends on ….. “. But leaving that qualification aside, Faraway Fairways takes you on a quick spin through the seasons in the hope of helping this decision along What’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland? – the Spring season The spring begins in March and finishes at the end of May. This window will see you encounter a potential range of weather options. March can be quite a cold month still, but on the upside you aren’t likely to experience ‘getting on’ any of the courses you wish to play other than those which are closed to visitors (Royal Troon and Kingsbarns). Towards the end of the month the UK adopts British Summer Time, which means we get an extra hours daylight, with the sun setting at about 20.00 The first two weeks of April will see most courses offering ‘shoulder season’ green fees. These are typically 33% less expensive than the full peak season rate. Kingsbarns opens for play in April and Royal Troon begins to do so as well towards the end of the month. One little known fact about April is that it’s driest month of the year by rainfall in St Andrews May is a warmer version of April, but most courses are now on their full summer green fees. Royal Aberdeen and Turnberry can hang onto their shoulder season however until the middle month. May is something of a trappy month in places for Carnoustie which hosts a series of traditional fixtures, and the St Andrews Old Course also has some significant block-out (particularly in the first week of the month) What’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland? – the Summer season June is the start of meteorological summer but can sometimes be a little bit slow to kick into action. A day or so either side of the 20th is the years longest. This means the sun rises at approximately 04.00 and sets at 22.30 in the Highlands. You can work with seventeen hours worth of useable daylight throughout most of the month which permits you to play two rounds should you choose, or use the daylight to travel between venues in order to open the whole country up. If you’re able to break out of a nine to five mindset and take advantage of the extended daylights at this northerly latitudes, then you can add what amounts to about three days to a weeks golf package tour. Be aware that the last week of June is also university graduation week in St Andrews. This pitches golfers into competition with the university for accommodation. Returning students and the parents of students tend to work on a more advanced planning schedule than golfers. They usually get the first jump on the town’s hotels. We should note however that even though the town tends to prioritise the university during ‘grad week’ it’s normally a good playing window for the Old Course of golfers avoid the week. We’ve also seen evidence to indicate that success on the Old Course ballot increases by 10% during ‘grad week’ A final consideration you’ll need to give towards June concerns where the respective Open Championship is being held for the year you’re looking at, and for that matter the Scottish Open too which is normally played the week before. Any course hosting the Open (mid July) will normally be shut for at least six weeks before hand in preparation. The Scottish Open normally closes a course for about four weeks. July is the warmest month of the year in St Andrews. Play on the Old Course is busy. The middle of the month sees the school summer holidays begin which can start a ‘super peak’ season lasting into mid August. Anecdotally the St Andrews Links Trust have previously told us that they think the first week of August is their busiest of the year. Warming summer air however has begun to introduce moisture into the atmosphere. Rainfall in August is surprisingly higher than you feel it ought to be. August also means the Edinburgh Festival. If your proposed programme involves the courses of East Lothian (Muirfield, North Berwick, or Gullane) or the parkland courses of the capital, then you could have a problem with accommodation availability and price if you leave things too late. It’s certainly worth visiting Edinburgh during this period if you can, and if you’re able to secure accommodation at a price you can live with, then it’s a great time to stay there, but you need to weigh that against the cost of doing so. The Festival lasts for three weeks. What’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland? – the Fall season September is the wettest month of the year in St Andrews, as indeed the fall is the wettest season, but it’s also responsible for some of the most sublime playing conditions too characterised by a warming sun and crisp fresh air. These conditions can be particularly prevalent in the Highlands, where the more northerly latitude tends to move the changing seasons forward by about three or four weeks. The majesty of the autumn at places like Dornoch, Nairn, or Castle Stuart, is enhanced by nature beginning to weave a rich tapestry of browns, ocre, and russet into the green landscapes. The first two weeks of September in St Andrews are clear, but after that the Old Course closes to visitors until the first week of October. The members of the various St Andrews golf clubs know when the best time of year is, and the second half of September is theirs! The Dunhill Links Challenge (a European tour event that also closes down Carnoustie and Kingsbarns) takes place at the end of September which means that visiting golfers will need to wait until October before they can resume their battle The first two weeks of October still see summer season rates being applied, but by the middle of the month of a lot of courses will move onto their autumn shoulder season rates (similar to those of the spring). Royal Troon closes for visitor play in early October, and Kingsbarns follows them a few weeks later at the beginning of November. To some extent the allure of St Andrews in October owes a little bit to how the course interacts with the town. The Old Course leads away from the town and then calls you back in, as the streets of the town run alongside the closing holes to guide you home. The parallels with a ship on a sea and a lighthouse showing them the way start to become unmistakable as the lights of the hotels and bars begin to show the way. It can be an almost spiritual experience coming in after four hours of toil on the links knowing that a dram or two of the good stuff awaits. At the end of October the UK adopts Greenwich Meantime and we lose an hour of daylight as the winter starts to come calling What’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland? – the Winter season A surprisingly high number of courses stay open in the winter and the green fee is usually half the price by now, and the first half of November needn’t be dismissed from your calculations. Significant savings can also be found in the accommodation too. You will usually be required to use a fairway mat however, but your enemy to play is no longer availability on the tee-sheet, but rather weather. Surprisingly perhaps, February is one of the driest months of the year by rainfall as the cold air has sucked the moisture from the atmosphere but however we try and cut it, we need to acknowledge that there is a risk of being wiped out. Perhaps the best way of handling winter golf is if you’re flexible enough to respond at short notice. Even the St Andrews tee-sheet is rarely filled during December, January and February. If you spot a favourable forecast, and can respond to it, you can certainly get some perfectly idyllic conditions for at least half the price that you would pay a few months later. No appraisal of what’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland however without finally addressing the St Andrews Old Course. Allow us to run through the dynamics of this and see if we can assist What’s the best time of year to play golf in Scotland? – St Andrews For many visitors their first point of interest is the St Andrews Old Course. Indeed, it wouldn’t be unfair to describe this as a fixation at times. Golf tour operators see this sort of enquiry all the time. It’s the one which concentrates solely on the Old Course to the point where everything else almost seems incidental background scenery. The sort of golfer who is doing this very often seems to consult to the St Andrews ‘busy days’ schedule, and draws up their short list of dates by simply looking for blocks of seven clear days where the Old Course is available. This might seem logical of course. It also runs a risk. What happens if a thousand other golfers have come to same conclusion? Success on the Old Course ballot is a function of the ratio between supply and demand. That is to say 30 golfers chasing just 10 tee-times, are more likely to succeed than, 300 golfers chasing 30 tee-times. This poses both you and us as a tour operator a real problem. Allow us to illustrate using an example from August 2019 The general rule of thumb for August which Faraway Fairways have succeeded in extracting is “one in six, perhaps as high as one in seven in good weather”. Indeed, this daily strike rate estimate is backed up by some data that a hotel partner allowed us to have which put the figure at 13%. In 2019 however Faraway Fairways achieved a daily strike rate in August of 26%. What happened? Some of our clients were on inflexible dates. They had to play in what looked like poor playing windows. These were days that had ‘block out’ in them, or clear days that were surrounded by other dates that were heavily blocked out. We applied for these dates, and our success rate was 40%. As the block out dates passed through the calendar and we began to hit ‘clear dates’ our success rate fell. On the clear dates we dropped to 13% Overseas visitors in particular tend to plan long-term. It’s tempting to conclude that they simply harvested up the clear dates on the ballot and over-subscribed them to the point where the supply couldn’t meet the demand. It’s actually classic ‘game theory’. By all piling into the same windows, they collectively damaged each others chances. Dates which on-line appear as not being busy (no fixture commitments) became busy as a result of not being busy etc. A similar thing happened in the clear playing windows during May and June where daily strike rates collapsed. The clearest windows aren’t always be the best shot you can take. What they do offer us is the clearest conscience instead. Allow us to explain what we mean by that as a golf tour operator It’s very difficult to recommend that someone plays in week 1 if it contains some block-out, when perhaps the following week 2 is completely clear. Even if we have good grounds to believe that our prospects of success might actually be higher in week 1 as a result of competing golfers overlooking it and concentrating on week 2 instead, we still need to demonstrate we’ve done the right thing by the client. That’s a lot easier to do if we can point to a diary that has six clear days rather than three or four. Eventually we will fail of course making applications into sub-optimal windows. That’s the laws of averages, but when it happens we’re wide open to allegations of negligence. So what are we suggesting then?

Don’t obsess on St Andrews, and don’t make the mistake of thinking that the ‘busy days’ diary is exclusively a supply-side report either. It equally predicts demand.

So are we seriously suggesting a counter-intuitive strategy of targeting windows with heavy block out instead? No. Definitely not. Heavily blocked out windows are also unproductive.

What we’re trying to find is a ‘Goldilocks’ window’ which isn’t too hot, and isn’t too cold. Spotting such a landing strip is one thing however, knowing how it’ll perform though is little more than informed hunch.

To some extent, you own reaction to the busy days schedule is potentially quite a useful insight. If your eyes light up on a clear window, the chances are everyone else’s have done too. The sorts of pattern we might look for then are days where there is only 60-80 minutes blocked out but the all important psychological impact of a block-out report might cause a negative response in the reader that causes them to seek an alternative instead. A lot of this really does come down to understanding our prospective golfers are going to react to the diary A couple of clear days mixed up with a few blocked out days can also be considered possible. Remember that we can always schedule expensive prestige courses such as Carnoustie or Kingsbarns against any blocked out day. This avoids any chance of the Old Course clashing with them, so the day lost to the block-out isn’t necessarily quite such of a loss after all if we’ve got a quality alternative in its place. Again, if people see two days out of six blocked out, they begin to retreat from that week in significant numbers, and especially if the preceding or following week is clear. Overseas visitors can play in weekly blocks too. We believe that we’ve detected that the first two clear days after a run of blocked out days is often under-subscribed as players who’ve made St Andrews the primary focus of their plans are deterred from overlapping, and prefer instead to start a fresh clear week. If for example Monday to Thursday is blocked out, then there’d be a decent chance that Friday and Saturday will be under-subscribed as players choose to begin their trip on a clean Sunday instead. In truth, there is a lot of good fortune involved with trying to second guess a ballot, and that’s before we factor good weather into the equation, which can of course bring the local golfer’s out to play. Perhaps the most important thing to do is not to become a slave to the St Andrews Old Course and to keep an open mind about the busy days. The dates which might look to offer us the best prospects don’t always end up doing so if they’ve been heavily over-subscribed.

One of the most popular question Faraway Fairways are asked is “what’s the chances of winning the St Andrews Old Course ballot”. Although it’s tempting to retreat into answers about lengths of string etc we probably can improve on that in attempting to assist you. The least expensive and most flexible way to play the Old Course is through ‘the Ballot’. In 2020 for instance, the real green fee for St Andrew was actually £195 (not the £1,750 that a guaranteed time can typically weigh in around) and is paid by you to the St Andrews Links Trust after notification of a successful result. The ballot also frees you from needing to play the mandatory second St Andrews Links Trust course too, so works out cheaper there as well Although the prospects of winning a single ballot on any given day are usually odds against, we can build-up your chances by making a series of applications over a number of days. Basically we run the numbers game, so as to tip the balance in your favour by sheer weight of attempts The St Andrews Links Trust advertise their ‘busy days’ in advance (fixtures and tournaments) and we can operate strategically around these Every other tee-time on a Thursday afternoon, and all-day Saturday are normally reserved for balloted tee-times. Throughout the year (average), approximately a quarter of Thursday applications succeed, which rises to an estimated one third for Saturday, although this isn’t a uniform result as different months generate different results. Irrespective of this, these can represent some of our better prospects so as a consequence we try to keep these on-side (ballot times exist on other days too). The ballot is rarely as straight-forward as looking at empty diary dates though. A successful application to play is really a function of supply and demand ratios. To use an exaggerated example, 30 players chasing 10 times are more likely to succeed than 160 chasing 40, but there’s the problem. A golf tour operator can’t easily target low supply windows in good faith (Faraway Fairways don’t) but we equally need to be aware that simply adding to the traffic by targeting the emptiest slots needn’t always be the shrewdest play either. It’s actually as much a dilemma for a golf tour operator as it is for the golfer. Whereas an operator can pitch clients into clear windows in good faith and with a clean conscience, we wouldn’t always be convinced that doing so represents the best chances of winning the St Andrews Old Course ballot however What’s the bottom line? The question you really want to know the answer to however is What’s the chances of winning the St Andrews Old Course ballot? How good are the odds Well we’re afraid the Links Trust don’t publish daily strike-rates and are notoriously reluctant to offer an opinion as they have little incentive to do so. They know they can always sell their tee-times and in the past they’ve been the subject of litigation for offering opinions, that although well-intentioned, ultimately proved to be wrong. Whereas any such action always fails, we can understand that they’d rather not have the distraction of contesting it. Now in truth we do occasionally succeed in extracting off-the-record comment from the Links Trust. We’re also able to build up a picture of sorts through conversations we have with hoteliers, and golfers, and very occasionally a guarded chat with fellow tour operators when comparing notes. And of course, we also have our own observational experience to draw from based on our own experience. But this is only ever indicative at best and complicated further by the emergence of hot-spots within a month. It isn’t a complete picture. Part of the ‘read’ in understanding the chances of winning the St Andrews Old Course ballot involves appreciating the way visiting golfers (particularly overseas players) respond to the St Andrews ‘busy dates’ calendar that is published in the St Andrews Links Trust’s website. Seeking to get inside the psychology of how people react to this information might sound like we’re trying a bit too hard, but if you think about it, it actually makes sense We might estimate that about two thirds of enquiries we receive are fairly general in terms of the dates they specify. They normally have an idea of the month or season. Only about a third will specify exact dates (and they nearly always seem to coincide with healthy playing windows which would suggest that the busy dates diary has already been consulted). Allow us to use some hypothetical numbers In July we might expect something like 400 golfers to be in St Andrews during a given week seeking to play the Old Course from the ballot. This probably equates to about 133 applications/ parties a day on a spread of 2,3, and 4 balls. Someone who is considering July and only has the one week to play will look at the diary and see that the window from 13th to the 18th is clear, whereas the window from the 20th to the 24th has 2½ hours blocked out on the 21st. How many of these 133 applicants take the decision to pursue an interest in the first week instead of the second? The answer is we don’t know for certain, but there could very easily be a disproportionate decision made in this direction Let’s assume there’s 15 tee times available each day, multiplied by 5 days = 75, and on Tuesday 21st only 10 are available due to the block out (4 x 15 = 60 + 10 = 70) Now let’s assume that 66% of golfing parties who faced the choice of which week to target decided on the first week, and 33% decided on what looked like the marginally less favourable second week That would leave 87 applications chasing 75 tee times on week one And 46 golfers chasing 70 tee-times on week two. It’s worth noting of course that successful applicants can (and do) re-apply during a week, so the number of golfers can get inflated Now we’d have to concede that some of this is informed guesswork, (it is) but it also draws on our own experience. Like most golf tour operators, we have periodically been wiped out in a ballot. This has happened with greater frequency in completely clear weeks though than it has in weeks with little bits of block out dotted over it. What we’re perhaps seeking therefore are two things 1: Windows that are clear for the five days we want, but surrounded by block out either side to deter people on a seven day programme from targeting that week 2: Windows that might have enough block in them to deter competing golfers from targeting them on a full week but not enough to make them unplayable, and which also have clear playing opportunity built around them to encourage competing golfers to target those alternatives As we’ve already noted, the chances of winning the St Andrews Old Course ballot is a function of the ratio between supply and demand. Overseas visitors in particular tend to plan long-term and it’s tempting to conclude that they heavily consult the ‘busy dates’ diary and simply harvest up the clear windows on the ballot. In 2019 for example this seemed to result in some heavy over-subscribing of what at face value appeared to the be most favourable opportunities. It’s actually classic ‘game theory’. With everyone targeting the same favourable windows, applicants collectively damaged each other’s chances of winning the St Andrews Old Course ballot. Dates which on-line appeared as not being busy (no fixture commitments) became busy as a result of not being busy etc. The clearest windows aren’t always the best shot you can take. What they do offer us is the clearest conscience instead. Allow us to explain what we mean by that as a golf tour operator It’s very difficult to recommend that someone plays in week 1 if it contains some block-out, when perhaps the following week 2, is completely clear. Even if we have grounds to believe that our prospects of success might actually be higher in week 1 as a result of competing golfers overlooking it and concentrating on week 2 instead, we still need to demonstrate we’ve done the right thing by the client. That’s a lot easier to do if we can point to a diary that has six clear days rather than three or four. Eventually we will fail of course making applications into sub-optimal windows. That’s the laws of averages, and when it strikes, we’re wide open to allegations of negligence. So are we seriously suggesting a counter-intuitive strategy of targeting windows with heavy block out instead? No. Definitely not. Heavily blocked out windows are also unproductive. What we’re trying to find is a ‘Goldilocks’ window’ which isn’t too hot and isn’t too cold, but just right . Spotting such a landing strip is one thing however, knowing how it’ll perform is still little more than an informed hunch. We’ll use a real world example. In 2019 Faraway Fairways had sixteen golfers playing August in what looked like an unfavourable window. We achieved a daily strike rate of 40%. As we moved through the month and favourable windows began to appear our strike rate fell back to the 13% we’d expect. Ultimately we closed with 26% for the month (much higher than that which we achieved in May and June bidding into favourable windows). The sort of landing strip that will probably perform best is one which has some manageable block-out (enough to deter people but not enough to seriously damage our own ballot prospects) allied to a clear week either side of it (something to tempt competing golfers onto a close proximity alternative). 2019 Post-Script We alluded earlier to some hotel data earlier which we’ve blended with other proxy indicators to try and present an indicative guideline daily strike rate by month (albeit we need to remember that hot and cold spots exist within any given month).

• April = 57%
• May = 27%
• June = 29%
• July = 16%
• August = 13%
• September = 19%
• October = 26%

At the time of writing (late-September, 2019) only one Faraway Fairways client who wanted to play the Old Course in 2019 had failed to do so, although we’d acknowledge that some had to use sub-optimal methods such as the ‘walk up rule’ to do so. We should perhaps point out that the individual who failed did so because they weren’t prepared to use the walk up rule, other members of their party were and they succeeded In truth, there is a degree of good fortune involved with trying to second guess a ballot, and that’s before we factor good weather into the equation, which can of course bring the local golfer’s out to play. The ballot is quixotic. As a general rule though, if you’re determined, and if you’re ultimately prepared to endure a bit of inconvenience to play if necessary, you will usually succeed

A majority of golfers who enquire about a full Scottish golf trip begin with St Andrews. At least three quarters of all the enquiries we receive place the home of golf firmly at the centre of their interest. St Andrews normally involves three or four days and it’s reasonably formulaic. What happens after that though? Golfer’s typically go in one of two directions, albeit they overlap. They either look to the Open Championship venues as their next target, or they interrogate the world’s top-100 list. Needless to say the Open Championship venues yields familiar names, Muirfield (usually sold out by the time we receive an enquiry) Royal Troon, Turnberry and Carnoustie are much to the fore. The latter is usually played in conjunction with St Andrews anyway, so needn’t eat into your time, but those who’ve used the world’s top course list are confronted with a new name, and since it invariably holds a top-10 ranking, it immediately captures our attention. It isn’t long before they begin asking the question of how to include Royal Dornoch in a Scottish golf trip

The first thing we need to establish is Royal Dornoch is not only in the Highlands, it’s actually in the northern Highlands. There are no ‘easy’ ways to include Royal Dornoch in a Scottish golf trip, but there are things we can do which make it more manageable.

If you’re playing in the height of summer then you have a natural ally. At these northerly latitudes the sun sets anywhere between 10 and 11 o’clock in the evening and rises between 4 and 5 o’clock in the morning. If you possess a healthy attitude towards mileage, have a group that can share the driving burden, and are prepared to simply ‘saddle up and go’ you’ll probably have about eighteen hours of useable daylight.

Anyone who is trying to wrap up the Open Championship venues already faces an unavoidable west coast (Troon and Turnberry) east coast (St Andrews and Carnoustie) cross-country transit. Troon to St Andrews is about 2¾ hours (that’s a genuine estimate – not an underinflated tourist estimate). The Faraway Fairways ‘classic’ tour itinerary seeks to draw the sting from this by introducing Gleneagles as a mid-point. Gleneagles is the best jumping off point from which to launch from and include Royal Dornoch in a Scottish golf trip. It’s further north than most points and quickly connects to the main artery to the Highlands (the A9)

Now there’s no way of cutting the next bit.

It’s 170 miles from Gleneagles to Royal Dornoch and will take close to four hours (including a break). It’s then going to take about four hours to complete a round, and of course we need to build about an hour in for eating.

Even if we accept that a 06.00 start is demanding but manageable, we’re probably left with a finish time of about 4 o’clock in the afternoon if we work to the understanding that you’re not going to be leaping straight out of your vehicle and begin playing straight-away You will likely require at least 45 minutes to get prepared etc

At this point you might be struggling a little bit with the knowledge that you’re only halfway through the journey when you hole out at the eighteenth. You have two choices in reality.

You’d either continue with the spirit of the ‘big day’ and complete your push back south. Or you’d call it a day and seek accommodation in Dornoch, or one hour further south at Inverness.

If you’ve chosen the ‘one big day’ strategy, then perhaps the logical line of retreat would be to return to Carnoustie rather than Gleneagles. This is 190 miles and is going to take about 4½ hours, but it does reduce the next day burden and puts you into the Fife zone for St Andrews. You’d arrive in Carnoustie somewhere between 8 and 9 in the evening and simply regain the original plan. In effect you’ll have only used one extra day to include Royal Dornoch in a Scottish golf trip. Yes, it’s tiring, but it’s been done. You’ll sleep well!

Quite understandably however you might take the view that you’ve done enough and you’ll spend the night in the Highlands and pick things up again the next day. The Dornoch Castle hotel is an obvious accommodation. This is a genuine Scottish castle. It’s not a pastiche recreation that has adopted a ‘castle’ name to make it sound more attractive. It would allow you to tick the ‘Scottish castle’ off your bucket list.

Alternatively if you were prepared to take an hour out of the following day and draw stumps at about five o’clock, you could go south to Inverness and even add a sunset cruise on Loch Ness to your haul

Either option does of course transfer the driving burden to the following day. Under the circumstances it might be worth adding the world top-100 ranked course of Castle Stuart to your itinerary now. Castle Stuart is a mere 15 minutes east of Inverness. It’s easy to include. Unlike Dornoch which involved playing golf after a long drive, Castle Stuart allows you to play first and then undertake the long drive to St Andrews. This adds two extra days in effect however and consequently we’re beginning to push at what might be possible to fit in given that most visitors need to work on a seven or eight night stay.

So are there any other ways to include Royal Dornoch in a Scottish golf trip that doesn’t involve a demanding round road trip whilst also wrapping up the rump of the other courses on your list? Not easily, is the answer, but we might be able to dilute things a bit. There are direct flights between Inverness – Dublin and London (or were – it remains to be seen what a post-pandemic timetable looks like).

In theory anyway, we could put Royal Dornoch on the start of an itinerary. You’d pick a vehicle up from Inverness airport and from there it’s only 60 minutes onto Dornoch. You’d still have to undertake the drive south the following day (probably to St Andrews/ Carnoustie described earlier).

In order to ‘pinch your day back’, we might even decide to omit Gleneagles and accept the east coast/ west coast transit between St Andrews and Troon as a 2¾ hour price worth paying. Perhaps the most logical routing then would be to fly to Dublin where you’d have the opportunity to play the world top-100 ranked links of Portmarnock and then fly onto Inverness the following day. Portmarnock is only 25 minutes from Dublin airport. This is an easy transfer. Obviously you’d need to route back through Dublin for cost savings, but this can be performed as a single ‘hop’ from Glasgow or Edinburgh

Trying to put Royal Dornoch on the end of a golf tour is more problematic. The flow isn’t as good and it’s more disrupted.

The final question you might find yourself asking then if considering how to include Royal Dornoch in a Scottish golf trip is, whether it’s worth it? Well, yes, it probably is.

Royal Dornoch doesn’t get ranked over and over again in the world’s top-10 by accident. It might be too far north to host Major championships, and the Highlands might lack the infrastructure etc to do so, but these aren’t considerations for the travelling golfer on a private vacation

To the visitor at least, the country’s capital would probably be regarded as Scotland’s most charismatic city in terms of its aesthetics and character. The attractions it offers are genuine rather than manufactured.

Edinburgh has a distinct vision between the ‘old town’ and the ‘new town’. The old town is set on the hills and includes the area around the castle. This part of Edinburgh is characterised by its narrower streets and gothic architecture and would be considered to perhaps have a little bit of a sub-culture about it. The new town is to the north Prince’s Street and is distinctly more Georgian in its period. It’s more open and leafy with wider streets and altogether more airy

Prince’s Street and the ‘old towns’ Royal mile, stretch from the Royal Palace of Holyrood to the castle, although the traditional line has been broken up a bit with new additions. In any event, the Royal Mile is likely to be where you’ll spend most of your time taking in the eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, pubs, and other popular Edinburgh visitor attractions.

Edinburgh is perhaps optimistically called ‘the Athens of the North’ which owes something to its own national monument on Calton Hill and other stylised Greek influences. The explanation is more straight-forward. Edinburgh had started to build its New Town in the 1770s, but there were few grand public buildings, and as the confidence of the city grew, so did calls for suitable monuments to showcase its achievements. It’s natural topography invited travellers to draw comparisons with the Acropolis and Parthenon of Athens. Where as Glasgow drew on its indigenous Arts and Crafts movement, Edinburgh adopted classical Greek designs. This is a vibrant and charismatic city of colour and personality and very, very, rarely do you hear a dissenting word uttered.

During the month of August Edinburgh hosts its world famous arts festival. For the visitor, it’s a great time to be here. The city is alive, it’s colourful and its hums. ‘Vibrancy’ is a word much over-used in the travel lexicon, but when describing Edinburgh in August, its a fair application. We do have to admit however that accommodation becomes harder to find, and Edinburgh hoteliers long ago realised that demand exceeded supply! One of the most sought after tickets for the festival is the ‘military tattoo’ held at the castle every evening. If your taste is little bit more contemporary and avant-garde then there are no shortage of options on ‘the Fringe’ which attracts many break through acts, and has a reputation for innovation.

Immortalised in a 1961 Disney film, another one of Edinburgh’s visitor attractions is ‘Greyfriars Bobby’. Greyfriars is a cemetery, and ‘Bobby’ a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself in 1872. Finally, if you only have time to visit one Scottish palace, Edinburgh’s Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace has served as the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the 16th century. The current Queen Elizabeth spends one week in residence at Holyrood Palace at the beginning of each summer. The 16th century apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots and the State Apartments, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public throughout the year, except when members of the Royal Family are in residence.

Scotland is a country of strange myths and legends, and none has proven more enduring than that told about sightings of mysterious cash payments made by the Highlands and Islands Tourist Board to anyone able to capture on celluloid, a grainy image of semi-submerged car tyres, floating in formation on Loch Ness.

Whereas eco-tourism has experienced something of a global boom in recent decades as people flock from all over the world to see rare creatures in the wild, the Scots might have taken this a step further though and created an interest point where one doesn’t exist! (or does it?).

Sadly the evidence against a Plesiosaur lurking in the depths of Loch Ness is becoming quite compelling, but there is still a mystery as to what it is that is frequently seen in the Loch? For years the strongest evidence rested with the so-called surgeons photograph. This became the iconic face of ‘Nessie’. The surgeon in question was Kenneth Wilson, a respected man of impeccable standing. Sadly he was also a friend of ‘big-game hunter’ Marmaduke Wetherell, who had been engaged by a British newspaper at the height of Nessie hysteria in 1934 to hunt down the illusive monster. After five fruitless days Wetherell produced an animal track. The excitable newspaper duly made a cast and sent it off to the British museum who wasted little time in identifying ‘exhibit A’ as belonging to a Hippopotamus. Not exactly native to the Highlands of Scotland. The newspaper sensing they’d ‘been had’ set about Wetherell, who protested that all he was doing was giving them the story that they and their readers craved, regardless of facts (something that might ring an ironic bell, given that the newspaper concerned was the Daily Mail). In order to extract a revenge of sorts, Wetherell persuaded the altogether more plausible Wilson to stage the now infamous photograph using a small mock head and neck submerged on a minor floatation device. It was only from beyond the grave that Wilson owned up to his deception. Indeed, the original monster’s head and neck were recovered from their concealed place of hiding. The surgeon had left a confession to be made public upon his demise.

The Loch can still provide a good return provided you aren’t seduced into setting siege to it from a lay-by on the A82 with a pair of binoculars, thermos flask, and supply of inadequate sandwiches. The answer is to get out on the water.

There are two options. The first involves a sedate cruise on a custom built observation boat that comes equipped with all the latest sonar and even a heated saloon. The second involves the fastest boat on the Loch; the RIB. With its low draft and top-speed of about 40 knots, this is the most exhilarating way to see the Loch as you skim over its dark water at speed.

A three-hour trip usually visits, Boleskine House which used to be owned by Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin fame) who claimed it was haunted by a severed head (there’s easy line here somewhere!). Cory’s Cave, an extremely well-hidden cave named after a local man who became a fugitive after he shot at the Duke of Cumberland’s Redcoats during the ’45 rebellion. The site where John Cobb tried to break the world water speed record in his jet speedboat Crusader in 1952. He died during the attempt whilst travelling at a speed in excess of 200mph.

Towards the northern end of the Loch is Urquhart Castle. The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, albeit there is evidence of a wooden fort dating to the 6th century. Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century and was subsequently held as a royalist castle. It was raided on several occasions by the MacDonald’s of Ross. The castle was granted to the Clan Grant in 1509. Despite a series of further raids the castle was strengthened, only to be largely abandoned by the middle of the 17th century. Urquhart was partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces, and subsequently decayed.

Culloden

Culloden in 1746 was the last major battle fought on British soil. The battle itself is a story, and begins at Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel where the ‘young pretender’, (Bonnie Prince Charlie), was rowed ashore from exile to lay (legitimate) claim to the English throne in 1745.

The clans rose and came into Glenfinnan. With his numbers swelling the young pretender headed south with his ‘Jacobite’ army. Along the way they fought and won a succession of minor battles as northern English cities fell. In this pre-social media day the Jacobites wouldn’t have been aware that reinforcements were being assembled for them in France to threaten London from the south. Neither would they have known that the Welsh were heading east to meet up with them. By now the position of the English throne was looking tenuous.

The Jacobite advance got as far south as the city of Derby, and then turned around. An English double-agent in the Jacobite camp had persuaded the prince that a large army barred their way and strategic retreat was the most prudent course of action to avoid an action. The English army didn’t exist, but it brought the crown precious time. The Jacobites arrived back in Glasgow on Christmas day, dishevelled and poorly provisioned. By now the English had assembled an army and started to come north. They met on April 16th, 1746, on an open windswept moor outside of Inverness; Culloden, and “upon this field was Scotland lost”.

At Prestonpans a year earlier the ‘clan charge’ had routed an English army. Up close hand-to-hand the Highland Scot was formidable. With a crashing claymore, and deadly dirk (dagger – that in truth looks like a mini sword) and a shield to deflect bayonet lunches, they could make light work of an English red-coat. At Culloden however the clan charge broke down. Hidden in the middle of the field was a bog. It caused the Jacobite centre swerve and a traffic jam to develop on the right flank. The English could pour fire into this concentration of men. In addition, the English had also been able to give fire from a perimeter wall to the flank behind a stonewall that was small enough to cover, and tall enough to prevent any easy hand-to-hand action. They used it to devastating effect as the Jacobite were cut down by fire from the front and flanks

One of the most interesting things about the field is that the order of battle is known. You can walk around most of it armed with a good knowledge that is surprisingly easy to pick-up from the excellent visitors centre. You can stand in the positions from which people fought and died, and actually know who was there all those centuries before you. The story is well told, and if we were honest, we think it makes Culloden the most spooky and atmospheric place in Scotland. As we often say, If you get Culloden, you’ll have gone a long way towards getting Scotland.

The story isn’t over however. After the defeat came the pursuit of Bonnie Prince Charlie across the Highlands as immortalised in the children’s lullaby ‘Speed Bonnie Boat’. Eventually his escape was narrowly affected by Scotland’s original heroine, Flora MacDonald, who rowed the cornered prince ‘Over the Sea to Skye’. The third verse tells you what subsequently happened

Many’s the lad fought on that day,

Well the Claymore could wield,

When the night came, silently lay

Dead in Culloden’s field.

Burned are their homes, exile and death

Scatter the loyal men;

Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath

Charlie will come again

Defeat heralded the start of the ‘Highland clearances’. Jacobites, and those believed to be sympathetic, were systematically exiled to the ‘New World’ which is how places like Nova Scotia came into being etc

Dunrobin Castle

There is one castle in Scotland that looks completely out of place, and that is Dunrobin. Indeed, were you to present a photograph of Dunrobin to an informed traveller and ask them to nominate where in the world they thought it was, most would be confident in answering “France”. Some might even be so sharp as to hone in on the “Loire Valley”. They’d be wrong. Dunrobin Castle overlooks the Moray Firth, just north of the villages of Golspie and Dornoch and is the most northerly of Scotland’s great houses, the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms.

Dunrobin hasn’t quite got the bloody history of most Scottish castles, but it isn’t without it’s colour either. Robert the Bruce planted ‘the Gordons’ into Huntly in Aberdeenshire as they supported his claim to the crown. They were subsequently created Earls of Huntly in 1445. The Earldom passed to the Gordon family in the 16th century when the 8th Earl of Sutherland gave his daughter Elizabeth in marriage to Adam Gordon.

After the 8th Earl died in 1508, Elizabeth’s elder brother was declared heir to the title, but a brieve (writ) of idiocy brought against him and his younger brother by the Gordons meant that the possession of the estate went to Adam Gordon in 1512.

In 1518, in the absence of Adam Gordon, the castle was captured by Alexander Sutherland, the legitimate heir to the Earldom of Sutherland. The Gordons quickly retook the castle, captured Alexander and placed his head on a spear on top of the castle tower. Alexander’s son John made an attempt on the castle in 1550, but was killed in the gardens.

During the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the Jacobites stormed Dunrobin Castle without warning, because the Clan Sutherland supported the crown. The 17th Earl of Sutherland, who had changed his surname from Gordon to Sutherland, narrowly escaped them, exiting through a back door. He sailed for Aberdeen where he joined the Duke of Cumberland’s army.

Stirling is one of Scotland’s most historic cities. The ancient stronghold of is famed for its castle that sits atop a steep crag overlooking the valley below. The castle, home of the once mighty Stuart dynasty, is probably Scotland’s most significant citadel. Most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few structures of the fourteenth century remain, while the outer defences fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century.

Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, most notably during the Wars of Scottish Independence, when the castle changed hands several times and was fought over most famously. The last was as recent as 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take Stirling on his route south to claim the English crown.

Today the castle functions predominantly as a visitor attraction. Efforts to restore the buildings to their original state are ongoing, the centrepiece being the Great Hall.

The Royal Lodgings have now been returned to something approaching their former glory. Since January 2002, the Tapestry Studio at West Dean College have been working on a recreation of ‘The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries’, four of which are now hanging in the restored Queen’s Presence Chamber in the Royal Palace.

From its strategic look-out point, Stirling castle casts a shadow over the battlefield site of Stirling Bridge in the ‘Forth valley’ below. It was here in 1297 that an out-numbered, and poorly equipped rebel army led jointly by Andrew Moray and William Wallace, (Braveheart), defeated the English. The Scots allowed a critical mass of English cavalry and archers to cross the bridge before attacking. This had the effect of splitting the superior English numbers in half. Hemmed in by a bridge, the advantage of numbers and manoeuvrability of cavalry was lost.

Moray was mortally wounded and died shortly after. In terms of rank, Wallace was his subordinate but with Moray’s demise, he inherited. Wallace was of lower noble stock however, and this would always make him vulnerable to betrayal should things start going wrong The Hollywood portrayal of this battle, and Wallace himself, has so many historical inaccuracies it would be difficult to know just where to begin. In reality There were no charges of tartan clad Australians shouting “freedom” we’re afraid. Come to think of it, there wouldn’t have been any tartan either.

The Wallace Monument sits on its own crag today and dominates the skyline equally. You can visit and view what is alleged to be Wallace’s giant sword (there is a train of thought that it might be three swords welded together), make your own mind up, but it would sure have taken some mighty wielding, but it certainly helped cement the legend anyway.

Wallace’s triumph was short-lived. The English took their revenge at Falkirk within a year, and Wallace was quickly handed over and brutally executed. The four parts of his body were sent back to Scotland for public display to act as a deterrent.

Somewhat remarkably however, Stirling Bridge isn’t the most famous battle fought here. That accolade lies a mile further south and goes by the name of Bannockburn, (1314).

Edward I (‘the hammer of the Scots’) had died, and the English throne passed to Edward II. The new king wasn’t a particularly effective military leader though. Well, he wasn’t a particularly effective anything in truth, (Google him) let’s be polite to his memory though, and simply settle for describing him as ‘colourful’!

Under the leadership of Robert Bruce (‘the Bruce’) another outnumbered Scottish army defeated the English. Before the main battle took place however, a celebrated one-on-one encounter occurred. Henry de Bohun, the nephew of the Earl of Hereford, spotted Robert Bruce ahead of his men and launched a one-man charge. A decisive blow could end the battle there and then. Bruce spotted the oncoming knight and broke off to engage. As the two passed side by side, Bruce split de Bohun’s head with his axe. The Scots then rushed upon the English under the Earl’s of Gloucester and Hereford who struggled back over the Bannockburn.

The Bannockburn visitors centre had a major overhaul in 2014, but the ‘supposed’ battlefield is an open access site and you can wander around at will after hours, so we would advise prioritising the castle. We should say, ‘supposed battlefield’ isn’t Faraway Fairways being flippant. No one knows for certain exactly where the battle was fought, as it went on for two days, with some inter-connected skirmishes.

A lot of the debris from the battlefield was removed (metal = money). The woods that some contemporary accounts had referenced had long been chopped down. The course of the burn itself has changed over the centuries too. So far at least, the site where the main fighting took place has defied battlefield detectives

The victory is celebrated in popular verse today through the lyrics of ‘Flower O’ Scotland’, Scotland’s adopted national anthem.

St Andrews is the home of golf (how many appraisals of the place can have started with this sentence?). Anyone taking a golfing break knows this!. What is perhaps less well appreciated is that St Andrews is a legitimate visitor attraction in its own right.

The town is an ancient seat of learning, with all the associated pleasing aesthetics that lend such places their unique character. The university now boasts Prince William and Kate amongst it’s most recent alumni. Outside of Oxford and Cambridge it is the third oldest university in the English speaking world. Half the population are students, and the other half seem to be involved with golf.

The ruins of St Andrews Castle are situated on a cliff-top to the north of the town. The castle was first erected around 1200 as the residence, prison, and fortress of the bishops of the diocese. Several reconstructions occurred in subsequent centuries, most notably due to damage incurred in the Wars of Scottish Independence. The castle was occupied, besieged and stormed during The Rough Wooing and was severely damaged in the process. The majority of the castle seen today dates to between 1549 and 1571, but fell into disrepair over the centuries until such time as it became the atmospheric ruin.

The ruin of greater historical significance lies to the east of the town centre, St Andrew’s Cathedral. This was at one time Scotland’s largest building. St Rule’s Church, to the south-east of the medieval cathedral is said to date from around 1120 and 1150, being the predecessor of the cathedral. The tall square tower, part of the church, was built to hold the relics of St Andrew (Scotland’s patron saint). After the death of Bishop Robert Kennedy (not that one!), a new cathedral began to be built in 1160 by Bishop Arnold (his successor) on a site adjacent to St Rule’s Church. Work on the cathedral was finally completed and consecrated in 1318 by Bishop William de Lamberton with Robert ‘the Bruce’ present at the ceremony.

The beach is also worth spending some solitary time walking along as the waves roar into the bay. This isn’t a sun-kissed beach, it’s wild and untamed, and on a windy day gets you little bit closer to the raw energy of the sea. It also features in the opening title sequence to the Oscar winning film ‘Chariots of Fire’ should you feel compelled to run along it in slow-motion with the bars of Vangelis whirring round your head.

Above all else, if we were looking for a single word to encapsulate St Andrews, than it would be ‘charm’, closely followed by ‘golf’, of course.

Whereas St Andrews punches well above its weight, if you’re planning for a little bit of an extended stay (and most golfer’s are) then it isn’t long before the non-golfer begins to turn their attention inland and explore the hinterland of the kingdom of Fife

Falkland Palace was originally built as a hunting lodge in the 12th century. This lodge was expanded in the 13th century and became a castle which was owned by the Earls of Fife – the famous Clan MacDuff. In 1371 Falkland Castle was destroyed by an invading English army. By 1402 it had been rebuilt and became the centre of a power snatch scandal when Robert, Duke of Albany imprisoned his nephew and rival David, Duke of Rothesay, the eldest son of King Robert, in the Well Tower at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died there from neglect and starvation. Albany was exonerated from blame by Parliament, but suspicions of foul play never left Rothesay’s younger brother the future King James, and which would eventually lead to the downfall of the Albany Stewarts.

Between 1501 and 1541 Kings James IV and James V transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: with Stirling Castle it was one of two Renaissance palaces in Scotland. Falkland evolved and became a popular retreat with the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry here and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and hunting deer. Mary Queen of Scots became especially fond of Falkland. In the centuries that followed Falkland continued to develop as a royal retreat, with ornamental gardens being added and enhanced. After the Union of the Crowns (1606), Kings James VI, Charles I, and Charles II all visited Falkland. A fire partially destroyed the palace during the English Civil War and with occupation of Cromwell’s troops, it quickly fell into ruin. In the early 1950s, John, 5th Marquis of Bute decided to appoint the National Trust for Scotland to take care of the Palace in a classic trade off of maintenance in return for access.

You’re never far away from golf on the East Neuk of Fife, and Crail possesses it’s own charismatic links, the seventh oldest in the world. It’s the village and it’s charming harbour however that we’re interested in. This coastline is dotted with fishing communities of the North Sea. Crail is one of Scotland’s most picturesque little harbours, and an ideal spot for something to eat (we recommend the catch of the day).

Crail needn’t be the only fishing village along the coastline of the East Neuk of Fife. Anstruther is another of note, especially for its legendry fish ‘n’ chips restaurant. The east Neuk villages aren’t places where you tick off landmarks. It’s not like there’s anything notable ‘to see’. Instead they tend to be places that you gently wander around and soak up

One final curio is Scotland’s secret bunker. A legacy of the Cold War which has now been opened-up for tours. It’s conveniently located just outside Crail. We know this is a secret establishment because it appears on Google maps! We prefer to think that it’s actually a testimony to the cunning of British intelligence though. Think about it? If you had to camouflage a secret bunker then what better place to conceal one then the golf courses of Crail and Kingsbarns? Those Russians would never had stood a chance against this quality of cunning and guile!

Anyone not wishing to undertake the rigours of a trip into the highlands might taste the flavour by skirting its southern fringes. The Perthshire countryside has long been recognised for its lochs, glens, and straths. There’s a rich variety of landscape and history in a string of Perthshire pearls along the ‘A9’, the main artery linking the highlands with central Scotland. It’s a combination of variety and accessibility which makes these gems attractive to golfers staying at Gleneagles or Carnoustie. In a south to north order they flow as follows.

Scone Palace (pronounced Skoon) is just outside the city of Perth. The ivy clad, pink stoned, Scone Palace is the one time seat of the ancient kings. The palace itself is half castle, half stately home, but is famed for the emblematic ‘stone of destiny’. The stone was the coronation of stone of ancient Scottish kings. It was seized by the English to underline Scotland’s subjugation and placed under the ‘speakers chair’ at Westminster. It subsequently became a focus for Scottish nationalism for centuries.

The stone survived a bombing when it was caught in the blast of a device placed by suffragettes campaigning for women to be given the vote. It was also recovered after a student kidnap plot momentarily succeeded in returning it to Scotland despite a nationwide hunt. This of course assumes that it was the real stone along. For centuries it was claimed the stone that the English seized was a copy made by monks designed to deceive. Today the stone has been returned to Scotland when they were granted a national assembly.

Aside from the stone of destiny, Scone also has many ornate state rooms and beautifully maintained gardens for which it is equally renowned, and of course, it also has a savoury snack which bears the palaces name.

After Scone, it would be a short 20 miles north to one of Scotland’s most iconic vistas, ‘the Queens View’. It is known that Queen Victoria was taken by this elevated Perthshire beauty spot that stretches the length of Loch Tummel to the mountains of Lochaber and Glencoe beyond in 1866, but the likelihood is that the Queen in question is Isabella, Robert the Bruce’s Queen. She was alleged to rest here when journeying back into the Highlands

If it’s Scotland, then there must be a battlefield just round the corner, and sure enough the pass of Killiecrankie obliges. It’s only a 10 min swing to the east from the Queens View

In 1689 an army of Jacobites (James’s men) routed a quasi-English force composed largely of lowland Scots and royalists. The precise composition of belligerent armies in Scottish history is often complicated, but like so many, this one divides along catholic and protestant lines.

The hastily assembled Scottish/ Jacobite army was knowingly under strength but moved swiftly non-the-less to occupy the higher ground at the top of the pass, even if they were out-numbered. Rather than attempt an uphill surge, the English adopted attrition, and began firing muskets all afternoon. This they did to little affect, but with a bright sun in their eyes, the Jacobites waited until about seven o’clock before unleashing ‘the clan charge’.

At close quarters the Cameron highlanders in particular were savage. The downhill charge was so swift many in the English ranks didn’t have time to even fix bayonets. Man for man, the Highlander was a fierce opponent and they quickly cut the English to pieces within minutes.

Although Killiekrankie had been a decisive victory, it didn’t affect the outcome of the rising. It would be necessary to take Edinburgh to continue the rebellion. The Jacobite leader, Viscount Dundee, had been mortally wounded at Killiekrankie. Even so, the expectation was that Edinburgh would still fall, but a small band of Cameronian rifles under the leadership of George Munro succeeded in halting the advance at the battle of Dunkeld (name checked in the film Ghostbusters!). As they spent ammunition, and started to lose men, the Jacobite’s started to fracture and withdrew, having failed to advance. Returning MacDonald’s, and men of Glengarry pillaged the Campbell lands which forced the beleaguered Campbells to take commissions in the English army. Ultimately the consequence of chain of events would resurface a few years later in 1692 with the infamous Glencoe massacre

Today’s battlefield has a visitors centre but the pass of Killiekrankie is equally famous for its deep gorge in which the River Garry flows. The battle itself is probably most famed for the ‘soldiers leap’. During the battle, a Donald MacBean, is said to have jumped 18ft across the River Garry to safety. Clear testimony one suspects to what the prospect of being cut to ribbons by claymores can summon up in someone.

A push just 10 miles north will bring you to Blair Castle, Scotland’s very own ‘white house’. Blair is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray and set in the majestic grounds against a fabulous Perthshire back-drop of mountains and glens. It’s 35 state rooms are some of the best maintained in Scotland, and curiously has one of Europe’s last remaining private armies guarding it, albeit this is completely ceremonial.

The only thing you might think you’ve missed is a distillery. Well Perthshire has that angle covered too at Blair Athol.

The Blair Athol distillery is best known for Bells whisky. It lays-on organised tours, tastings, and has its own visitors centre.

The final pearl in the string is the ‘House of Bruar’. This is a highland retail village and whereas Faraway Fairways don’t make a habit of trying to steer clients into visitor shopping traps, we make something of an exception for this one. The House of Bruar stocks the very best in quality Scottish produce including knitwear, fine foods, plus sportswear and equipment.

“It’s out there somewhere” So said Robert Shaw’s salty old-sea-dog character, Quintz, from the film Jaws, as he surveyed the expanse of ocean in the knowledge that somewhere, lurking hidden beneath the waves, was the shark. It’s a sentiment many a golfer might relate to as they stand on a Scottish tee knowing that the fairway is patrolled by a ‘Burn’. So what is a burn? Well put simply, it’s a Scottish word for a stream. Well at face value it’s no big deal then? but as any golfer will tell you, Scottish golf course burns are much more subtle. A burn is narrow and comparatively camouflaged in the contours. It isn’t as visible as a glistening lake. You peer down a fairway looking for a subtle hint in the topography. A broken shadow, or undulation perhaps. You survey the terrain for clues as to just where it lurks. You know it’s out there, and waiting to strike, but where? It’s like flirting with a cobra. One snap, and it’s all over We’d argue that the burn is even more cunning for being so narrow though. It introduces an added element of risk and reward. You can always play aggressively towards one. A lucky bounce on a firm fairway and you can still ‘fly it’. You can’t do that to a lake. A rolling ball however becomes vulnerable, and you have that final few seconds of agony to watch. Will you fall victim, or will you hang on for a narrow escape and stop just short? The burn has long been a natural hazard that the early pioneers who took to the links land recognised the value of as they plotted their own courses out and started to compare notes as to what particular challenges they’d weaved into their personal tapestries. The early courses were individual creations, but without the assistance of mechanical diggers they observed a golden rule. They were built round the landscape, not the landscape round the course. This is how golf evolved and this is why the burn became an integral part of it. They might not have the mass of a lake but they present every bit the same barrier. Land in one and the result is the same. Perhaps above all else though, a burn has character, a lake after all, is a lake, or even worse, a “water hazard”. The burn by contrast comes in different shapes and can take on numerous different personalities dependent on the path it charts to the ocean beyond. The most famous of all is St Andrews’s, Swilcan Burn. In truth it’s more of a challenge on the first hole than it is the last, but the 18th does require that you cross the most famous bridge in golf. If the burn isn’t really in play on ‘Tom Morris’ it has at least given us memorable photographs. We aren’t so sure ourselves that the bridge at Cruden Bay isn’t the more aesthetically, and their burn keeps cropping up all over the course

The absence of a burn on a links course is like an orchestra without a woodwind section. So imagine their delight when excavating Kingsbarns to have unearthed an underground burn. Understandably they wasted no time incorporating their discovery into the design. It now sits behind the 6th green waiting to snare anyone who over-hits. The more traditional use of a burn is of course at the front of a green. Since re-profiling the 16th, Turnberry’s ‘Wilson Burn’ is very much more in play than it had previously been, and fits the description of a forward sentinel. Having said that, this particular little monster sits in a mini ravine and anyone visiting it is already in serious trouble. Perhaps the best example of this type of ‘green’ defence comes on Carnoustie’s second course; ‘the Burnside’, and the Highland course of Tain. A natural meander in the watery weave permits the fifth green to sit almost as a quasi island. The 17th at Sawgrass often gets acclaimed thus, but let’s be honest, it’s about as authentic as ‘moon cheese’.

All Scottish burns flow out to sea eventually. On a links course this invariably means they cut fairways at ninety degrees given the traditional out-and-back lay-out. These are probably the burns we fear most. It’s the positioning of the tee that sends us into convulsions of paranoia however. Some ensure that the burn plays on the long side. These are the lurkers that seduce you into length and trying to bite off those precious extra yards, knowing that everyone one you can buy from the tee, is one less you need to pay back on your second shot. How far, dare you push it though? Hitting too hard can have an unavoidable inevitability about it. You might think of them as operating a bit like the ‘trap-door spider’. Get in too close and that’s it. Bounce, bounce, bounce, splash. A burn only needs to be 6ft wide, but if it’s on a devious yardage it’s formidable. Then there is the burn that is set on the shorter side. This one really does play havoc with the mental side of your game. You know your own yardage, and you know that if you hit a clean drive you can carry it by 20yds say. This is the key though. Only if you strike it clean, will you prevail. Anything under hit will bounce down the fairway and be gratefully accepted. Now what do you do? Lundin’s burn is something of an archetypal fairway residing creature that looks pretty innocuous at first glance. Cunningly positioned on a diagonal, the length of this one varies depending on the angle you choose to adopt. Not all burns operate on a horizontal plain to the fairway or green though. Scotland has some lateral opponents for you to grapple with too. These aren’t the sort that have you nervously scouring the terrain for clues to their location however. These are much less subtle. These are the burns that sit on your shoulder, omni-present in the corner of your eye, whispering “you had better keep it straight, keep it straight I tell you. If you don’t, then I’ll have ye”. Prestwick’s ‘Pow Burn’ at the notorious third is an example. Dundonald also has a lateral burn on their third that crosses the fairway. It starts on your right, and finishes on your left. Carnoustie’s famous sixth hole, Hogan’s Alley, is already made difficult enough by an out-of-bounds fence down the left. A lateral burn, ‘Jocky’s’, runs down the right just for sadistic symmetry. The Trump International makes full use of the Blairton Burn. Not only does it perform the role of lateral menace on the fourth, there is a touch of genius about the way it’s deployed on the third. Here it bursts through the sand dunes, washes out onto the beach, and empties into the North Sea beyond. Martin Hawtree ensured that the green was built ‘on the swirl’ and you’re presented not only with a great target at this seminal par 3, but also the surreal site of watching grass turn to sand

We’ve reserved our nomination for the ‘mother of all burns’ to last however. The ‘Barry Burn’ at Carnoustie is a serpent that snakes its way through the fairway (ask Jean van de Velde). The twists and turns is what make it such an unpredictable and formidable nemesis. The aerial view shows the burn at its vicious best. It looks more like a first-world-war trench system. You can drive short of it and still end up in the drink as it reaches out to collect your shot. Similarly, you can hit a perfectly good drive that would clear most of it, and yet still be gathered up if encountering it at one of its longer reaches

So what are we saying? well perhaps with a hint of mischief, but having given it full consideration now, we’d like to suggest that the authentic Scottish burn is the superior water hazard to any man made lake. Is the job of a water hazard to look pretty, or to challenge your golf? If you believe its the latter, then surely you too would come down on the side of the burn? Finally, we resolved to try and write this without using a picture of Jean van de Velde even if we had to reference him earlier. It was said that someone rather cruelly used a picture of the hapless Frenchman paddling about in the burn and mailed it to him a week later with nothing more than the words “that’s him” by way of explanation. Just for the record (contrary to popular myth) Van de Velde didn’t actually try playing out of the Barry Burn in 1999. He might very well have gone paddling, but he did elect to take the drop having had time to consider his options. What he did say however, (a lesser appreciated bit of insight) is that the ball had originally come to rest on some water shrub type of thing, or piece of debris. It was half in, and half out the water, and in his view sitting up slightly. As he weighed up his options however, the weight of the ball started to take its toll on the plant and it slowly began to sink. By the time he was ready to wade in having treated the world to a theatrical socks and shoes routine, too much of the ball had become submerged. This is where Van de Velde was wrong however. The Barry Burn is tidal. The ball didn’t sink. The tide was coming in. Had he seized his chance there and then, and leapt in? Well he was on the 18th, surely wet shoes and socks was a price he could pay? Who knows, he might have been back in the clubhouse as Open Champion within 5 minutes if he had One final thought. Should you stick a golf ball into a burn, don’t be too down yourself. Some of the best players in the games history have done likewise. That’s what the burn was incorporated into the course for after all