On the second day, we play the No. 2 rated course in the world. We woke up on the morning of Wednesday, April 24, at the Royal Golf Hotel, in view of Royal Dornoch Golf Club, a few steps from the clubhouse. It was sunny, the wind whipping through the flags by the first tee. The…
On the fourth day, we battled Machrihanish Golf Club, and the elements. Our room in the wonderful Ugadale Hotel overlooked the iconic first tee at Machrihanish Golf Club, where the tee shot must clear a beach and where, depending on the tide, the golfer must decide, in the words of James W. Finegan, how much…
Interlude: We explore the Old Course and St. Andrews. Our exploration of St. Andrews occurred over two days, Friday evening, after the five-hour drive from Machrihanish, and Sunday morning, when we walked every hole of the Old Course, closed for golf every Sunday, and saw the ruins of the castle and the cathedral and the…
On the morning of the fifth day, an unexpected and wonderful surprise. On this day, Saturday, April 27, we had a 2:50 p.m. tee time at Cruden Bay, about a two-hour drive, and had played the demanding Machrihanish Golf Club the day before and driven about five hours after that. So, what did we do…
A gray, rainy afternoon on day 5 at spectacular Cruden Bay Amazing, how the weather can change, on the North Sea, over the space of a few hours, and just over 100 miles. In the morning we’d played Craighead Links near Crail in shirtsleeves. And in the afternoon, Cruden Bay Golf Club was shrouded in…
In advance of my 70th birthday, the gift of an April trip to the birthplace of golf I love golf, and have written about golf, and had opportunities to play some wonderful courses, but I am not a good golfer. My handicap has crawled up to 19, trending the wrong way, and my best has…
An original links course, regarded among the very best in the world Herbert Warren Wind called it “the most natural golf course in the world.” Tom Watson described it as the most fun he’d had playing golf. Donald Ross, the great American golf architect, learned his trade there. Golf Digest ranks it the No. 2…
Opened in 2009, it’s the only course we’ll play built after the 19th century Three years ago, a writing trip brought me to Machrihanish, at the bottom of the Mull of Kintyre, traveling the long and winding road about which Paul McCartney sang. In its isolation on the shore of the North Atlantic Ocean, Machrihanish…
Fell in love with this course three years ago, thrilled to return When Old Tom Morris laid out Machrihanish Golf Club in 1879 he traveled by train, steamboat and carriage to the little village of Machrihanish, on the tip of the Mull of Kintyre, on the shore of the North Atlantic Ocean. And when he…
What Old Tom Morris and Bram Stoker have in common …. I knew Cruden Bay Golf Club only by reputation, not that kind that comes out of a world ranking, though Golf Digest rates it No. 56 on that score, but from the recommendations of golf journalists like Blaine Newnham and Tom Cade, who have…
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