Set Sail on a Golf Cruise
When my wife, Ewa, and I were offered the chance to fill in as co-hosts aboard an 11-day Crystal Cruise golf-themed journey around the British Isles (good friend and PGA Tour TV essayist Jim Huber couldn’t make the trip and graciously suggested us), we jumped at the chance. It’s easy to see why. At […]
Tain Golf Club, Scottish Highlands
In a secluded corner of the Scottish Highlands, on nearly the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska, lays a golf course of compelling beauty, fascinating history and beguiling challenge. This is Tain, the oldest royal burgh in Scotland and where the steeply winding streets and medieval walls echo a colorful and ancient past. This is where […]
Panmure Golf Club, Scotland
No plaque exists on either the 2nd or 17th fairways at Panmure Golf Club commemorating the time spent there by a golf legend more than 50 years ago. And that’s just the way Ben Hogan would want it—keeping the focus purely on golf at one of Scotland’s finest yet lesser-known courses. Panmure was already […]
North Berwick Golf Club, Scotland
The vast majority of golfers, even those natives of the game’s homeland who ought to know better, mention of East Lothian generally brings the knee-jerk response of “Muirfield, magnificent Muirfield.” Yet in historical terms, the present home of the ancient Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers is a Johnny-come-lately upstart on the peerless stretch of […]
Murcar Links Golf Club, Scotland
If you agree that a golf adventure doesn’t have to begin or end at the links themselves, the drive north along Scotland’s east coast to Murcar Links Golf Club will be part of the fun. True, you can fly into Aberdeen, Murcar’s home, but most American guests will be coming overland from St. Andrews, […]
Machrihanish Golf Club, Scotland
If you have heard of Machrihanish, you may know that it is situated close to the southern tip of Kintyre, a 40-mile-long peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic off the Ayrshire coast. Its backdrop is mountainous and the seascapes are shatteringly beautiful. You will doubtless know about its opening hole. The par 4 […]
Machrie Golf Links, Scotland
You’ve played the country’s Open courses—the Old Course, Carnoustie and Muirfield, Turnberry, Troon and Prestwick. You’ve journeyed to Royal Dornoch, stopping at Nairn en route. You’ve been thrilled at Cruden Bay, battered by Royal Aberdeen and charmed at North Berwick. You’ve ventured to Machrihanish and struck that wondrous opening tee shot across a sliver of […]
Dundonald Links, Scotland
With much of Scotland’s linksland already occupied by some of the greatest venues in golf, few new seaside courses have appeared on the game’s home turf since the early 20th century. That drought was broken in 2000 when the acclaimed Kingsbarns opened on the Fife coast, near St. Andrews. Then, with natives still abuzz […]
Brora Golf Club, Scotland
In 1995 Peter Thomson and his wife, Mary, made a four-and-a-half-hour drive from their home in St. Andrews to the Scottish Highlands. Intrigued by a glowing recommendation from a former caddie, the five-time British Open winner traveled to the seaside town of Brora to play the eponymous course. Without informing the club in advance […]
