Day 1 – Nairn
2:10pm – Tee time at Nairn Golf Club
After arriving at the airport, there will be a private transport to take you the short drive to Nairn Golf Club for your first round of the trip. You could stay close to the today’s round at the Golf View Hotel, or head straight to Dornoch to stay at the Royal Golf Hotel.
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Nairn Golf Club
The Nairn Golf Club’s truly remarkable feature is that from every hole you can see the Moray Firth and the golden colouring and changing lights of the Black Isle. Even more extraordinary – only too easily you can strike the ball into the sea on every one of the first seven! In fact, despite having been a scratch player, Viscount Whitelaw, Margaret Thatcher’s Deputy Prime Minister, would readily admit to having done just that. Willie (as everyone referred to him) learned his golf here, and like Robert Finlay, had the capacity for making friends.
What delights the visitor and member alike is the Scottish-ness of the links. Other than in a strong westerly, it leads you in gently before demanding accurate driving and precision second shots. Gorse is a hazard. The par 4 holes tease and confound and all four short holes are cunningly angled, with the 4th a little gem and the 14th simply spectacular. As three of the par 5 holes are over 530 yards long, it is a test for all. Yet, even more challenging than the humps and hollows that lurk in the fairways, is the trickery of the greens. Eighty years ago, having played the Championship Course, James Braid commented on their quality – “The texture of the turf and the character of the greens is unrivalled”.
Yards: 6,774
Year Founded: 1887
Designer(s): Old Tom Morris & Archie Simpson
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Your Hotel:
Links House at Royal Dornoch
A classic Scottish manor home in the great country house tradition, Links at Royal Dornoch is one of the most exclusive small country house hotels in Scotland. Previously a classic two-storey late Georgian mansion the hotel has won multiple regional ‘hotel of the year’ awards.
This is a great spot for your group as it sits in a very privileged location: just a wedge distance from the 1st tee at Royal Dornoch Golf Club. We have stayed here and can attest to it being the best hotel in Dornoch, if not all of the Highlands.
You will be staying here two nights.
Day 2 – Royal Dornoch
10:10am – Tee time at Royal Dornoch Golf Club
After breakfast, meet your driver and head to Royal Dornoch. Located across the firth from Nairn, but travelling by road means an hour and a bit drive on Terra Firma. Upon arrival you’ll play this author’s favourite golf course in Scotland, Royal Dornoch Golf Club. Once again, a short walk back to the hotel after your round.
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Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Consistent ranked amongst the top courses in Scotland, and anywhere in he world, Royal Dornoch is worth the trip. The curving bay of the Dornoch Firth and its magnificent white broad beaches are backed by a narrow strip of softly contoured dune land rising in two distinctive levels, providing just enough room for parallel fairways. The ridges, hillocks, dunes and undulating links land have all the characters of the best of links courses, and most of the difficulties.
The first eight holes follow the ridge and the remaining ten holes played in the opposite direction are bounded, except the 17th and 18th on the left by the sandy beaches of the firth.
The par of 70 is evenly distributed over the two halves each having two par threes, a par five and six par fours. If the wind blows the course will demand more from the player especially the par four finishing hole where a par can be considered a birdie. Old Tom Morris was the architect responsible for extending the original 9 holes layout to 18 holes in 1886. He introduced the plateau greens which are the soul of the course, their uniqueness lies in their size and their inverted saucer shapes.
The course as it now stands is a final remodeling largely the work of George Duncan with influence from Robbie Grant the then Head Greenkeeper, the new holes are in keeping with and incorporate the features Old Tom Morris introduced to Dornoch. The holes form the present 6th to the 11th loop and were constructed in the late 1940’s after the 2nd world war.
Course Fast Facts:
Yards: 7,305
Year Founded: 1630
Designer(s): Old Tom Morris, John H Taylor, George Duncan
Day 3 – Brora & Dornoch, Rd. 2
8:00am – Tee time at Brora Golf Club
2:30pm – Tee time at Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Today, you’ll play the quirky and extremely Scottish Brora Golf Club. After the round, grab some lunch en route and be ready for your mid-afternoon second round at Royal Dornoch.
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Brora Golf Club
Gleneagles may be more glamorous, Carnoustie more prestigious. It is Brora which is the most northerly golf memorial to James Braid in his native Scotland.
Brora is also the headquarters of the James Braid Golfing Society, and while its President, Peter Thomson, and fellow member Ronan Rafferty annually enthuse, the club golfer, the bedrock of the game, will derive equal pleasure and satisfaction from Brora’s 6211 yards.
Given 194 acres of Scottish links land to work on, what in 1923 was entitled “Braid’s Plan” is hardly altered. Here the visitor will enjoy the mixture of bent grass and beach sand, burn water and gorse in glorious yellow May bloom. There is even a railway which comes into play from the tenth tee.
With the exception of the short sixth, the outward nine holes follow the contour of Kintradwell Bay in the foreground, with a backdrop of the Sutherland foothills from Ben Bhraggie to the west, away to the Ord of Caithness in the north-east.
The inward nine holes follow the fence line of the bordering croft land, with out of bounds to concentrate the mind. Of the two short holes, the delightful 13th, Snake, winds back towards the sea, whilst the 18th contains all the concerns of protecting a score against a bunkered green a two hundred yard carry away and under the scrutiny of the clubhouse windows.
Course Fast Facts:
Yards: 6,211
Year Founded: 1891
Designer(s): James Braid
Day 4 – Castle Stuart & The Whiskey Trail
9:00am – Tee time at Castle Stuart Golf Links
7:30pm – Dinner at Chez Mal Brasserie
After breakfast, your private coach will take you to Castle Stuart. After golf, you will journey through Speyside aka the Whisky Trail which means a perfunctory stop, tour and tasting will occur before ultimately arriving in Aberdeen. It will be one of the legendary distilleries (we’re open to requests, if you have a preference) found along the way, including Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and The Macallan set within the splendour of the Spey Valley and the magnificent Cairngorms National Park.
Once you arrive in Aberdeen, you will check into the Malmaison Hotel, where you will be staying for the remainder of your trip. We have booked you a table at the restaurant at your hotel, the Chez Mal Brasserie.
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Castle Stuart
As Turnberry is to Ayrshire and Gleneagles is to Perthshire, Castle Stuart has been conceived to be for the Highlands – a beacon reaching out to golfers throughout the world. A centrepiece for this Scottish destination golf resort is Castle Stuart Golf Links, a championship links course overlooking the Moray Firth and well-known landmarks that are synonymous with Inverness and the Black Isle – Kessock Bridge and Chanonry Lighthouse perhaps the most notable.
The cornerstone links course enjoys a setting and topography that combine to make the golf experience visually memorable. The golf holes are 18 compositions that place the notable landmarks of the Moray Firth directly into the player’s perspective. For the holes immediately abutting the sea, the Kessock Bridge, Chanonry Lighthouse, Fort George (home of the Black Watch) and Castle Stuart itself are often seen directly through the shotmaking frame.
Surrounding the course is a rugged and natural landscape comprised of vast expanses of gorse, broom, heather, and sea marram. This mosaic often tightly frames the vistas beyond and combines an immediacy of natural surrounds with a grand sense of distant vistas. Wayward shots and thin wispy fescue and pockets of bare sand where balls are easily found and recoveries manageable. The bunkering is characterized more by open sandy areas with pockets of light vegetation than by formally revetted (stacked sod or turf) manicured bunkers.
All in all Castle Stuart can be described as a throwback to golf as it once was – a simple walk through pleasing natural surrounds with some companionable and competitive rules attached to it.
Course Fast Facts:
Yards: 6,553
Year Founded: 2009
Designer(s): Gil Hanse
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Your Hotel:
Malmaison Hotel
A London-quality hotel located in Scotland’s number three market. And while we wouldn’t call it formulaic, by any means, there are certain things you come to expect from a Malmaison hotel.
Dark and swanky is the look, for one. It’s a palette that’s often called “masculine,” though it feels less specifically gendered than that. It feels like a place where things happen; whether in the suites, with their chic mixture of classic décor and modern coloring, or in the public spaces, which can be counted on to maintain an atmosphere of decadence. The Brasserie is a Malmaison constant, and the Whisky Snug (a place, not a quality) is a concession to the north-of-the-border locale — both, like the hotel that contains them, are among Aberdeen’s most desirable places.
You will stay here the remaining five nights of your trip.
Day 5 – Trump
1:30pm – Tee time at Trump International Golf Links
7:00pm – Dinner at Cock & Bull
Today, you are going to play Trump. On our other trips you can use the words Doonbeg and Turnberry, but not here – it is Trump International.
Dinner after the round is at the great country inn, the Cock & Bull at 7:00pm.
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Trump International Golf Links
Trump International Golf Links is amongst the most recent high profile, American-inspired courses to open in Scotland in the part twenty years.
The course follows a classic pattern of two out-and-back loops of nine holes. All 18 holes thread their way engagingly through the dunes, rising here to find views of the sea and coastline, plunging there into secluded valleys, offering a sequence of superlative topographies, landscapes, alternating between spaciousness and enclosure, then panoramic view, and the whole time a rich texture of vegetation and wildlife habitats surrounding the golf holes.
Some view Trump as the best in the world, well check that, one guy with orange hair thinks it is the best in the world. While we would not agree, we would say it is an excellent golf course and well worth playing!
Course Fast Facts:
Yards: 7,428
Year Founded: 2012
Designer(s): Martin Hawtree
Day 6 – Cruden Bay
1:30pm – Tee time at Cruden Bay Golf Club
Today you’ll head 40-minutes up the coast to Cruden Bay for a round on an unique golf course, a World Top 100, that would never be built today.
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Cruden Bay
Cruden Bay Golf Club is situated on the east coast of Scotland 23 miles north of Aberdeen, 8 miles south of Peterhead and only a two hour drive from St Andrews. Wildly historic, as golf here dates back to the 18th century, the course offers an internationally famous golfing experience – old fashioned links golf at its best – on one of the best links courses in Scotland. Creating unique challenges demanding the skills of power, placement and fine judgement upon the discerning golfer.
Set against a backdrop of subtly contoured greens and magnificent panoramic views, the course winds in a figure eight. The courses dunes are amongst its most notable features – which, many have commented, reminds more of a course typically seen in Ireland.
A particularly unique feature of the course is how intimate it feels. With sandhills secluding many holes, you often have the feeling that you’re entirely alone as you walk your way through the course.
Course Fast Facts:
Yards: 6,599
Year Founded: 1899
Designer(s): Old Tom Morris, Archie Simpson, Tom Simpson, Herbert Fowler
Day 7 – Carnoustie
11:40am – Tee time at Carnoustie Golf Links
Today, you will travel about 60 miles south to play a round at Carnoustie. Car-Nasty, the home of the 2018 Open Championship. Hopefully you have found your game by the time you arrive at Canoustie’s first tee.
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Carnoustie
Carnoustie is a big natural seaside links and is widely considered to be one of the world’s most difficult golf courses. In fact, according to the results of a recent Top 100 survey, Carnoustie is the toughest golf course in Britain & Ireland.
The first record of golf being played across this links land dates back to 1527; a 10hole course was laid out in 1842. Fifteen years later, in 1857, an 18hole course was fashioned by Old Tom Morris. James Braid extended the course in 1926 and it has hardly changed since.
The initial challenge for the first time visitor to Carnoustie is locating the course. There are no signposts. You will have to negotiate a narrow railway tunnel and wind your way through dreary housing estates. But once you get on the first tee, you will begin to appreciate the scale of the challenge that faces you, and realize that finding the course was the easy bit!
Much has been written about Carnoustie over the years. The finishing holes are especially brutal at this seven-time Open Championship venue and many consider that it has one of the greatest back nines in championship golf. You have to cross the snaking burn no less than five times whilst playing the closing two holes.
Carnoustie isn’t the most scenic golf course – rarely do you catch glimpses of the sea – but it is incredibly tough, even from the forward tees. Bring your “A” game here, the don’t call it “Car-Nasty” for nothing.
Course Fast Facts:
Yards: 5,922
Year Founded: 1894
Designer(s): Old Tom Morris
Day 8 – Fly home
Time to head back home! This morning you will fly from the Aberdeen Airport back to Heathrow before boarding a flight home. We hope you had a great time playing some of Scotland’s best courses.
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What’s Included
- 7 nights single room accommodation
- 3 nights at Links House
- 4 nights at The Malmaison Hotel
- Breakfast each morning
- 8 rounds of golf
- Nairn
- Royal Dornoch (x2)
- Brora
- Castle Stuart
- Cruden Bay
- Carnoustie
- Trump International Golf
- All transfers with a luxury mini-coach with Scotland’s best driver.
- Services of Travel Impresarios Golf