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Affordable Golf that doesn't compromise. 8 nights.
At least three world top-50 ranked courses for circa £3,500
Cheap golf, doesn’t have to mean inferior. The Faraway Fairways budget bucket-list golf tour is designed to make a trip to Scotland and Ireland, including St Andrews, affordable. The time of year plays a big part in driving a price but there are other choices we can make, as well as few little tricks to help us manage a budget
One of the biggest savings we can often make is the trans-Atlantic flight. Arriving in Dublin instead of Edinburgh typically saves money. We’ve seen August flights £800 cheaper. The world top-100 ranked links at Portmarnock is only 20 mins from the airport, which we can combine with the Island Course or the European Club if we wanted to add a fringe visitor to the world top-100 list. We also pick-up a night in the Irish capital too in the pursuit of ‘experience’
We then transfer on a cheap connecting flight to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, where we can play what is probably the best value course in the world’s top-50 list at North Berwick in the afternoon.
We want to be in St Andrews for the most favourable ballot days of Thursday to Saturday, so on Wednesday perform a loop, leaving Edinburgh to play Gleneagles on the cheaper mid-afternoon times before landing in St Andrews for the evening.
The St Andrews New course and Jubilee course are relatively inexpensive options for us and easily re-arranged as the ballot impacts our running order. We needn’t be losing much if we choose to play Dumbarnie ahead of the more expensive Kingsbarns too.
With no play possible on the Old Course on Sunday’s we seek to finish at Carnoustie, and spend the final evening there given that accommodation costs are significantly less expensive than St Andrews, and especially since we’ll almost certainly be given an afternoon tee-time.
The final price will always vary dependent on the choice of accommodation and time of year, but should be in the region of £3,000 per person for an eight-day stay that includes at least three, and possibly up to six courses that rank on world top-100 lists dependent on whether we introduce the European Club, whether Dumbarnie joins the elite rank in the next couple of years, and how successful we are at adding the St Andrews Old Course
8 Nights
Ireland & Scotland
Transport
Self drive works best, but hired driver possible on Irish leg (involves connecting flights to Scotland)Logistics
Predominantly back-to-base model, three centred (Dublin, Edinburgh, St Andrews)Non-Golf Offer
Strong - Dublin, Edinburgh, Stirling & St AndrewsMileage
Medium - Approx 350 miles. Approx 11 hoursTravel Class
Designed for 'affordable' (could support luxury too)St Andrews Old Course
Play through the ballot. Good prospectsSunday - The Island Course
For good reason this course ranks # 78 in the top 100 ‘Architects Choice’. The Island Golf Club enjoys a unique setting bordered by sea on 3 sides. A classic links course set in a rugged terrain & nestled between the highest sand dunes along the east coast. ‘The Island’ was indeed an island once. It’s now attached to the mainland but it’s still an isolated peninsula-like spur of links land, sandwiched between the Irish Sea, the beach of Donabate and the Broadmeadow estuary. Few people know about The Island Golf Club, despite the fact that the course is over 100 years old and has featured in numerous ranking tables over the years.
Monday - Portmarnock
With a rich history closely aligned to the progression of golf in Ireland, Portmarnock has hosted numerous Irish Open Championships, the Walker Cup, Irish Amateur Championships and the British Amateur Championship. From Sam Snead to Seve Ballesteros, some of golf’s best-known names have tested their skills against this majestic narrow tongue of shallow dunes-land, just north of Dublin. Considered by many as one of the fairest links courses in the world it delivers an incredible challenge and true test of golf. Perhaps five-time Open Championship winner Tom Watson summed up the links best during his visits saying, “There are no tricks or nasty surprises, only an honest, albeit searching test of shot making skills.”
Tuesday - North Berwick
The links of North Berwick are a traditional out and back nine. Undulating fairways, blind shots, tricky burns and even stone walls make their presence felt in the landscape. The course really is a throw back to the experiences of the game’s pioneers. They had to interpret the landscape and weave the hazards nature handed them into their own personal tapestries. The courses were handcrafted, and North Berwick has an endearing old-fashioned feel. It also possesses the original ‘Redan’ hole, (15). Found the world over, ‘Redans’ are the most copied hole in golf. With an eerie similarity to Turnberry’s Ailsa Craig, Bass Rock rears out the ocean, and lends North Berwick further personality. It would be wrong to think that it’s a curiosity relic though. It’s a beguiling world top-50 ranked course on merit.
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Wednesday - Gleneagles
Set in majestic Perthshire countryside the moorland courses of Gleneagles are amongst the finest of their type in the world. The Kings course is often regarded as James Braid’s masterpiece, whilst the Queens course is the shortest and most aesthetic of the trio. With its hosting of the 2014 Ryder Cup and 2019 Solheim Cup, it’s the Centenary course however which is probably the one which we’ve grown most familiar with. The decision as to which to play is yours however. The three courses are the same price and their needn’t be any firm hierarchy as to which is best
Thursday - St Andrews Jubilee Course
The Jubilee in question was that of Queen Victoria. This course dates to 1897. It’s a quite typical links for the area, threading its way through low dunes, and without any double greens. The raised tees afford the golfer stunning views across St Andrews Bay and the town beyond. It was only in 1988 that the Jubilee course came of age when Donald Steel was asked to upgrade it, adding length, interest, and challenge to the layout. Slowly it started to build up a reputation and loyalty. Today most judges agree the Jubilee is St Andrews’s most underrated course. Some go even further and regard it has the toughest links in the family now.
Friday - Dumbarnie
Dumbarnie is Scotland’s newest world class golf links, (2020) and is expected to rank in the world’s top-100 when the next lists are published. It’s located on an escarpment, 80 ft above sea-level at its peak, the design has made good use of the natural contouring to introduce views of the sea on two loops of nine. The terrain has been worked into a series of hillocks, knobs and knolls. A number of elevated tees have been used to provide the drama of hitting drives out to the ocean. Unusually for a links, water has also been introduced, albeit mainly confined to burns rather than lakes. The fairways are wide and forgiving with driveable risk and reward par 4’s a particular feature of the lay-out
SATURDAY - St Andrews Old Course
St Andrews, the home of golf, needs little introduction nor hype from us. The first surviving record of the game being played here dates to 1522. The town oozes atmosphere and the course is soaked in heritage. The view from the iconic Swilcan Bridge looking back up the final fairway to the magnificent R&A headquarters and red bricked Hamilton Hall is one of the most instantly recognisable in world sport, never mind golf. ‘The Road Hole’, the 17th, is the signature assignment. No hole yields more bogeys in the Open than this one. Another unique feature are the massive double greens. The secret? don’t be over-awed. Keep out the 112 bunkers, especially so ‘Hell Bunker’ at the 14th. Then attack the course! St Andrews is actually one of the more obliging links, so don’t leave wondering what might have been. It can be tamed!
Saturday - St Andrews New Course
“New” in the context of St Andrews means 1895! The course is often said to be the town’s favourite. It’s a tighter and more defined course than its regal neighbour, and aided by yellow gorse bushes, it tends to be more aesthetic too. The ‘New’ runs adjacent to the Old course and as a consequence has similar characteristics. The fairways are undulating but not as dipped as the Old course, leading to fewer hanging lies. A traditional out and back nine, only the 3rd and 15th share a green. The burn wends its way through a low dune system and features some particularly charismatic holes. The 464yd tenth is often cited as the pick. Think about it logically. It’s likely that the newer course that was designed for purpose, would be the better golf course than the ancient artefact. The good folk of St Andrews know!
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Sunday - Carnoustie
American media commentators wasted no time dubbing the Tayside course ‘Car-Nasty’. Few would deny the claims of Carnoustie to the crown of toughest Open venue of them all. Carnoustie is long and menacing. It has a number of challenging holes, particularly the par fives. The Spectacles’ (14) and ‘Hogan’s Alley’ (6) are the two toughest assignments on the stroke index. The par 3 sixteenth is another shocker. It’s the enduring image from the 1999 Open of Jean van de Velde paddling in the Barry Burn however, that cemented Carnoustie’s legend. Sports Illustrated described the course as “a nasty old antique brought down from the attic by the R&A after 24 years” as scoring soared. Carnoustie revels in such notoriety. If the wind gets up you’re unlikely to ever play a tougher assignment.
It needs to be stressed that these are indicative averages only. Different parts of a month will behave differently dependent on any end of factors. The ballot is quixotic and unpredictable, Extended runs of good or bad luck can, and do, happen. They are provided in good faith, but can of course fail, and can't therefore be used as a basis for compensation
Multiply by the number of days you are available to give you a guideline
Ballot Strike-Rates
MONTH OF THE YEAR
| APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT |
| 59% | 21% | 20% | 16% | 14% | 17% | 19% |
DAY OF THE WEEK
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| 20% | 21% | 16% | 23% | 15% | 30% | n/a |
Handicap requirements
St Andrews Old Course - "a current official handicap card (Golf Club affiliated to a Golf Union/Association) record or certificate must be presented to the starter prior to play. Maximum handicaps – 36 Men, 36 Ladies. St Andrews will not accept letters of introduction from a local Club Professional”.
Carnoustie - operates a handicap threshold of 28 for gentlemen, and 36 for ladies respectively.
Some known issues to consider
St Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns jointly host the Dunhill Links challenge in the first week of October
The university's graduation week takes place in mid June. This causes a price spike in hotels and sold-outs about 9 months before. It does however improve your prospects of playing through the ballot by about 5% each day as there are less golfers in St Andrews
The Edinburgh Festival takes place in August and can cause both a price spike in accommodation and availability issues in the capital city for the three-week duration that it lasts
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