2025 Scotland - first timer father/son trip report

hammergolf · July 1

56 minutes ago, McMunch said:

Thought the same about Carnoustie Championship. Difficult in spots but very playable overall. The last 4 holes are tricky especially if you're a little tired. Played it only once on a calm day and the caddies kept telling us stories about what happens when the wind is up.

For our trip next June it was one of the harder tee times to get. Pricy as well at $360 per golfer but its a bucket list course that we all want to play again so biting the bullet- again.

When the wind is up, the finish at Carnoustie is ridiculous. The first time I played it the weather was perfect with sunny skies and hardly any wind when I started the round. By the time I reached #8 it became overcast and the wind picked up. By the time I got to #14 it was blowing about 30 and just played brutal. #14, #15, #16 and #18 played dead into the wind. Hit a 2 iron approach into #15, 3wd into #16, on #17 hit my drive 40yds short of green (downwind) and on #18 had to bust a drive to get over the first burn, then hit 3wd 40yds short of the greenside burn. I’ve also played it perfectly calm and as It was very playable.

snickersdog · July 1

@Yoshifan151

What camera are you using for these pictures? At times it can be hard to have the pictures do justice to a course - but these look great

buckI · July 1

16 hours ago, jatrain said:

Thanks to you, @Messma, and @buckI for the replies. The biggest thing for me is that on trips like this I want to have fun and as a 8 wasn’t sure if I’d get beat up too much. The price difference does push me over my (arbitrary) budget, which isn’t really that big deal of as I planned to do it anyway if I got on the Old Course. The New does have a draw for me as I’ve heard good things how it is reminiscent of the Old Course and I didn’t get to play it on my trip last year (closed all week for a Club event).

I’ll probably just leave it up to the golf gods and if I can make it work try to get a last minute spot on Carnoustie as a nice consolation prize to the Old, if that doesn’t work go with the original plan of the New. Can’t go wrong anyways.

Any stand out food/drinks spots you found up in the Dornoch area?

Thanks!

As others have stated the wind is a huge factor on difficulty but the other item I would add is the tees you play. If really windy maybe play green which is still about 6200 unless you hit it fairly long. That can make a big deal on difficulty and how much you would enjoy it.

Yoshifan151 · July 1

47 minutes ago, snickersdog said:

@Yoshifan151

What camera are you using for these pictures? At times it can be hard to have the pictures do justice to a course - but these look great

Appreciate it! These are just pics from my phone. I do have a Canon R6 that I would've loved to take a ton of nice pics with but there's no chance I could do that and play at the same time while keeping pace lol. I just wanted to get some pics of how the hole looks while playing.

It does suck that quality gets butchered on here so it can be hard to see where pin placements are at times.

Edited July 1 by Yoshifan151

Yoshifan151 · July 2

Pretty soon I'm about to start flying back to the states, I want to thank those who gave me tips and advice for the trip and those who tuned in to the thread. Hopefully you got some enjoyment from reliving your own rounds at the courses I played, or I helped convince you to do your own trip!

hammergolf · July 2

1 hour ago, Yoshifan151 said:

Pretty soon I'm about to start flying back to the states, I want to thank those who gave me tips and advice for the trip and those who tuned in to the thread. Hopefully you got some enjoyment from reliving your own rounds at the courses I played, or I helped convince you to do your own trip!

Great trip! Enjoyed following along. Safe travels.

TBD203 · July 2

So after my first 5 rounds of golf (two at Muirfield) my rankings are:

Royal Dornoch

Muirfield

Castle Stuart

North Berwick

But they are all world class. Played great this morning at Castle Stuart and solid this afternoon at Dornoch. Made a birdie on 8 at Dornoch into the wind and rain. That one felt good!

italianstallion · July 3

11 hours ago, Yoshifan151 said:

Pretty soon I'm about to start flying back to the states, I want to thank those who gave me tips and advice for the trip and those who tuned in to the thread. Hopefully you got some enjoyment from reliving your own rounds at the courses I played, or I helped convince you to do your own trip!

I’m sad it’s over, I really enjoyed your updates. Safe travels!

Chanceman · July 3

On 7/1/2025 at 10:53 PM, hammergolf said:

They are both good choices, however I would give the edge to Carnoustie. It gets a bad rap as being brutally tough, but it’s actually very playable. Like any course there, they show their teeth when the wind picks up.

Yes I loved Carnoustie even though it was too tough for me. It’s a memorable course in many ways and is real Scottish golf. Certainly I have never forgotten my round there.

jatrain · July 3

On 7/2/2025 at 9:05 AM, Yoshifan151 said:

Pretty soon I'm about to start flying back to the states, I want to thank those who gave me tips and advice for the trip and those who tuned in to the thread. Hopefully you got some enjoyment from reliving your own rounds at the courses I played, or I helped convince you to do your own trip!

Thanks for posting and the advice, I loved following along.

MongoSmash · July 5

On 7/2/2025 at 3:30 PM, TBD203 said:

So after my first 5 rounds of golf (two at Muirfield) my rankings are:

Royal Dornoch

Muirfield

Castle Stuart

North Berwick

But they are all world class. Played great this morning at Castle Stuart and solid this afternoon at Dornoch. Made a birdie on 8 at Dornoch into the wind and rain. That one felt good!

That is a hell of a lineup! 👍👍