My Scotland Golf Trip

[schapma1]

Yes (re: Muirfield). We paid for four and played as a three--an expensive golf round to say the least. In my conversations with the course, they noted that they would "look" for a fourth, but that seemed like a very empty promise. There was no indication on their site that there was an opening for a single and short of a walk-up that day (which I believe is generally forbidden), I'm not sure they did anything.

[tiderider]

i'm sure ya'll felt splitting a round between three of you at muirfield was worth it ... i've known about the foursome rule but assumed they simply wanted a legit foursome, but it's nice to know i can play, at the very least, for $1200, in case i ever have $1200 lying around ...

[6x6]

Yes (re: Muirfield). We paid for four and played as a three--an expensive golf round to say the least. In my conversations with the course, they noted that they would "look" for a fourth, but that seemed like a very empty promise. There was no indication on their site that there was an opening for a single and short of a walk-up that day (which I believe is generally forbidden), I'm not sure they did anything.

 

I was able to play Muirfield as a single, on the same day you were there, May 2nd. I called the Booking Secretary about 3 months in advance and it was no problem. I was placed in a 3 some from Japan, tee time was 0900. My wife and daughter had plans for later and being a single I didn't play in the afternoon. Plus, as I was over there for 19 days (Wales, Ireland and then Scotland, oh and England as I played Royal Birkdale) I didn't have room in my luggage for a jacket and tie anyway :)

 

I agree with your feelings about the place despite having heard and read about how stuffy it is, "they don't care if you're there or not" etc. I found everyone very welcoming and the whole experience was first class.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Stupid question for those that do not have a rental car and use Uber, taxi, etc.

 

What do you do about your golf shoes? Obviously with walking the rounds the lighter I can make my golf bag the better and having to carry around a pair of street shoes is not ideal. Do you just wear your softspikes out of the hotel to the course?

[duffer987]

Stupid question for those that do not have a rental car and use Uber, taxi, etc.

 

What do you do about your golf shoes? Obviously with walking the rounds the lighter I can make my golf bag the better and having to carry around a pair of street shoes is not ideal. Do you just wear your softspikes out of the hotel to the course?

 

Locker room at the club. Have a pound coin for those that have them and you can bring a change of clothes, otherwise, just change your shoes and put them under a bench (if there are no shoe cubbyholes).

[North Butte]

Stupid question for those that do not have a rental car and use Uber, taxi, etc.

 

What do you do about your golf shoes? Obviously with walking the rounds the lighter I can make my golf bag the better and having to carry around a pair of street shoes is not ideal. Do you just wear your softspikes out of the hotel to the course?

 

I've only done one UK trip entirely without a rental car for the entire week. I had one pair of street shoes that were waterproof and could double as golf shoes and one pair of golf shoes. I wore the street shoes and carried the golf shoes inside my golf bag on my way to and from the golf course. While I was playing my street shoes stayed in the locker room (along with the change of socks and underwear that I always carry to the course just in case).

 

I would not care to try and wear one pair of (potentially wet) golf shoes 24x7 for an entire trip if that's what you're asking.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Stupid question for those that do not have a rental car and use Uber, taxi, etc.

 

What do you do about your golf shoes? Obviously with walking the rounds the lighter I can make my golf bag the better and having to carry around a pair of street shoes is not ideal. Do you just wear your softspikes out of the hotel to the course?

 

Locker room at the club. Have a pound coin for those that have them and you can bring a change of clothes, otherwise, just change your shoes and put them under a bench (if there are no shoe cubbyholes).

 

Perfect, thank you

[imakaveli]

No disrespect to other people's preferences but for me listening to caddie-provided entertainment is the last thing I need or want when spending big-$$$ and huge amounts of my annual leave time to play golf overseas. I'm there to experience golf courses I will likely never see again. And to enjoy playing golf on those courses. I just can't do that with my ears of full of banter, no matter how much local color it may contain.

 

I'm good with a solo round, it really maximizes how in touch with the course I am as well as how well I will remember the details of various features and shots on offer. And I'm definitely good sharing a round with someone I'm playing a friendly game against, whether head to head or in a team arrangement of some kind. But give me a talkative caddie or worse yet put me in a foursome with multiple talkative caddies and honestly I'd just as soon be back home playing in my usual dogfight.

 

But that's probably a minority opinion, although it's one shared by some of the guys I know who have traveled an awful lot more than me over the years. Great craic over beers after the round? Priceless. Non-stop storytelling and banter during a round? Pass.

 

100% agree!

[Pleasedwith3putts]

No disrespect to other people's preferences but for me listening to caddie-provided entertainment is the last thing I need or want when spending big-$$$ and huge amounts of my annual leave time to play golf overseas. I'm there to experience golf courses I will likely never see again. And to enjoy playing golf on those courses. I just can't do that with my ears of full of banter, no matter how much local color it may contain.

 

I'm good with a solo round, it really maximizes how in touch with the course I am as well as how well I will remember the details of various features and shots on offer. And I'm definitely good sharing a round with someone I'm playing a friendly game against, whether head to head or in a team arrangement of some kind. But give me a talkative caddie or worse yet put me in a foursome with multiple talkative caddies and honestly I'd just as soon be back home playing in my usual dogfight.

 

But that's probably a minority opinion, although it's one shared by some of the guys I know who have traveled an awful lot more than me over the years. Great craic over beers after the round? Priceless. Non-stop storytelling and banter during a round? Pass.

 

100% agree!

 

The only time I would prefer a caddie is if it is a course that has a lot of blind shots and you are playing there for the first time. Cruden Bay for instance would be a nightmare as a single and no knowledge as you stand on some of the tees simply having no idea where the fairway is let alone the green.

 

But I actually enjoy the challenge of plotting my own way around a course that has a decent planner and you can see most of the features ahead from the tee.

[babyfade]

No disrespect to other people's preferences but for me listening to caddie-provided entertainment is the last thing I need or want when spending big-$$$ and huge amounts of my annual leave time to play golf overseas. I'm there to experience golf courses I will likely never see again. And to enjoy playing golf on those courses. I just can't do that with my ears of full of banter, no matter how much local color it may contain.

 

I'm good with a solo round, it really maximizes how in touch with the course I am as well as how well I will remember the details of various features and shots on offer. And I'm definitely good sharing a round with someone I'm playing a friendly game against, whether head to head or in a team arrangement of some kind. But give me a talkative caddie or worse yet put me in a foursome with multiple talkative caddies and honestly I'd just as soon be back home playing in my usual dogfight.

 

But that's probably a minority opinion, although it's one shared by some of the guys I know who have traveled an awful lot more than me over the years. Great craic over beers after the round? Priceless. Non-stop storytelling and banter during a round? Pass.

 

100% agree!

 

Thats the reason why I do my Scotland trips by myself. It's such a pleasure being out on a links course alone. Only the course, the ocean, the golfball and me.

 

I couldn't be alone for a week in a resort in spain or italy. Thats where I want my friends to be with me on the course and at the evening. But Scotland I really enjoy most when I am alone.

[scott_Donald]

interesting this older thread got bumped up.

 

I am guessing OP you are from Montreal then if you have a reciprocal at Royal Aberdeen.

 

Love reading opinions on the course. since you were early in the year you got the colder north wind, interesting what you guys hit on the 3rd then. The toilets were very expensively re done last winter so the clubhouse has been getting some good updates, the new Gm or whatever he is called started this moth so will be interesting to see what changes come.

 

On Cruden Bay with a member too right, the third hole you mentioned there was downwind last month when I played and it was just a 4 iron to the green(par 4), the next the hard par three you mentioned both my dad and myself hit the ball pin high and we were both shocked with a 30 mph cold wind from the right. I find it bizarre when Cruden Bay was higher on your list than Royal Aberdeen but everyone likes different things.

 

What didn't you like about Trump?

[imakaveli]

No disrespect to other people's preferences but for me listening to caddie-provided entertainment is the last thing I need or want when spending big-$$$ and huge amounts of my annual leave time to play golf overseas. I'm there to experience golf courses I will likely never see again. And to enjoy playing golf on those courses. I just can't do that with my ears of full of banter, no matter how much local color it may contain.

 

I'm good with a solo round, it really maximizes how in touch with the course I am as well as how well I will remember the details of various features and shots on offer. And I'm definitely good sharing a round with someone I'm playing a friendly game against, whether head to head or in a team arrangement of some kind. But give me a talkative caddie or worse yet put me in a foursome with multiple talkative caddies and honestly I'd just as soon be back home playing in my usual dogfight.

 

But that's probably a minority opinion, although it's one shared by some of the guys I know who have traveled an awful lot more than me over the years. Great craic over beers after the round? Priceless. Non-stop storytelling and banter during a round? Pass.

 

100% agree!

 

Thats the reason why I do my Scotland trips by myself. It's such a pleasure being out on a links course alone. Only the course, the ocean, the golfball and me.

 

I couldn't be alone for a week in a resort in spain or italy. Thats where I want my friends to be with me on the course and at the evening. But Scotland I really enjoy most when I am alone.

 

The only course when i thought "wow, I really need a caddie here" was Royal St. Georges, with all the others I just needed a course map and maybe a Bushnell laser. Of course you have to it it straight because if you pull a Mickelson you will need a caddie just to look for balls. Imho way better than caddie is to play with locals, they give you the same advice and you don't have the feeling they are there to earn as much as they can out of you.

Also, I played Cruden Bay in 2016 with my friends and I didn't have problems with blind shots, of course you have to trust your swin though... but that's for all blind shots in links golf, not just Cruden Bay.

[Pleasedwith3putts]

What didn't you like about Trump?

 

His review was as follows;

 

 

Trump International Golf Links (Scotland)

 

This is just a downright poor golf course. First, the green fee is way too high at £185. Second, the course is way too hard for its clientele. We watched as the twosome in front of us played the course in five hours. Neither were particularly bad golfers, but the forced carries and wind simply made any ten handicap a complete hack. Most holes are bordered by fifty foot dunes on each side with foot-high fescue. If you miss the fairway you're likely in these dunes and fescue, and if you're in the fescue your ball is likely lost. The course, however, plays all of this wash as lateral hazard which strips the recovery shot from the round and makes for odd playing. There are five or six tees, which is odd by Scottish standards. The course does have spectacular views, but it literally cut among farmland and the smell of manure is never far. There are similarities to some of the other Trump courses, Ferry Links comes to mind for the undeniably manufactured feel to the golf course.

 

Just shows how personal golf courses are. I played Trump and Cruden this August.

 

Trump was in the top 5 best courses I have ever played, hard but fair and with 5 or six tees to shoot from.

 

In contrast I'm glad I played Cruden but Trump was in a completely different class for me.

[scott_Donald]

What didn't you like about Trump?

 

His review was as follows;

 

 

Trump International Golf Links (Scotland)

 

This is just a downright poor golf course. First, the green fee is way too high at £185. Second, the course is way too hard for its clientele. We watched as the twosome in front of us played the course in five hours. Neither were particularly bad golfers, but the forced carries and wind simply made any ten handicap a complete hack. Most holes are bordered by fifty foot dunes on each side with foot-high fescue. If you miss the fairway you're likely in these dunes and fescue, and if you're in the fescue your ball is likely lost. The course, however, plays all of this wash as lateral hazard which strips the recovery shot from the round and makes for odd playing. There are five or six tees, which is odd by Scottish standards. The course does have spectacular views, but it literally cut among farmland and the smell of manure is never far. There are similarities to some of the other Trump courses, Ferry Links comes to mind for the undeniably manufactured feel to the golf course.

 

Just shows how personal golf courses are. I played Trump and Cruden this August.

 

Trump was in the top 5 best courses I have ever played, hard but fair and with 5 or six tees to shoot from.

 

In contrast I'm glad I played Cruden but Trump was in a completely different class for me.

 

trump fairways are massively wide so there is a lot of room for error.

 

I played it in 30mph westerly wind and shot 10 over and was very happy. struggled the front nine as it was all crosswinds.

 

condition wise it was poor, used to much better.