by Andre Sanchez

If you and your buddies are looking for somewhere different to vacation this year or next, how about one of the many golf vacations in Scotland that you must have seen advertised.   Scotland is generally regarded as the home of golf, and though the Dutch and the Chinese both claim that they invented golf, this takes a bit of believing.  Come on!  Neither the Dutch nor the Chinese are known for their golfing history in the same way that the Scots are, so in spite of all the evidence they claim to evince we will stick to the Scots who have the better known pedigree.

There are practically unlimited opportunities to combine a vacation in Scotland with innumerable golfing options, or even to spend your complete vacation golfing and playing all the great Scottish golf courses.  Your travel agent can help you to choose one of the many holiday packages available in Scotland or you can decide exactly what you want, where you want to stay and what courses you want to play, and have your vacation designed to your specifications.

In such a case, you are advised to arrange your vacation early, since many of these courses are booked well in advanced, and some tee times have to be kept open for the locals.  The St. Andrews courses for example, including the Old Course that is one of the venues for the British Open and one of the most famous courses in the world, is a municipal course, owned publicly, and the public have more right to book a round than Tiger Woods!

The way St. Andrews operates is that around 50% of the tee times are pre-bookable and the other 50% are drawn by ballot the day before.  If you are on vacation alone, you can turn up on the day at St. Andrews and be placed with the first available two or threesome.  That is the ay that individual players are given tee times, and the other players cannot refuse. This is because the golf courses in St. Andrews are owned by the town, not by private individuals or clubs.

However, that is beside the point.  If you book a vacation then your tee times will one of those 50% allowed to book ahead. Not only can you golf on the Old Course, but also on one of the other five courses at St. Andrews.  If you do the tour, you will also visit the British Open Golf Championship courses of Carnoustie, Turnberry, Muirfield (Jack Nicklaus’ favourite) and Troon.  You can also play Prestwick, the venue of the Open from 1860 – 1870, and also Musselburgh, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, which was also an Open venue at one time.

Vacations taking in the British Open courses in Scotland are very popular for people visiting the country, but there are also the inland courses.  British Open courses are all links courses, which means that they are by the sea and open to the elements, and with the natural hazards of deep bunkers and coarse grass in the rough.  However, Scotland also has some very beautiful inland courses, such as Gleneagles where the Scottish Open is played and all of the courses in the capital city, Edinburgh. 

There are over 55 golf courses within a 45-minute drive of Edinburgh, and 20 within the city itself. No golfer would regret spending a few weeks in Edinburgh combining the beauty of this wonderful city and its marvellous shopping and food with the golf and traditional Scottish hospitality and entertainment. 

No matter where you vacation in Scotland, you will find a golf course close to you.  Scottish golfing vacations can be booked on the internet or with your travel agent. What you are advised to do if you want to visit the ‘home of golf’ is to set yourself a budget.  Work out how much you want to spend on the vacation, and how much for spending money. Make up a list of what you must have on your vacation, and a second list of ‘nice to haves’.

Then phone round and check out what is on offer and what the prices are for vacations that provide you with all your ‘must haves’ and as many of your ‘nice to haves’ as you can get. Haggle the prices and ask what discounts they can give you.  Many agents are allowed to offer discounts if pressed so press them and squeeze every concession you can get, but make sure that you keep within your budget.

No vacation ever runs to budget, so keeping within yours for as long as you can is important.  Most overspending occurs when you get there!  It’s all very well setting an expenditure budget, but when you are faced with that wonderful Scottish food, and all that Edinburgh and Glasgow have to offer to tourists, you are guaranteed to spend over your budget. So set a budget, then budget for 50% more!

You have a marvellous choice of golf vacations in Scotland, so if you are keen on golf take the plunge and book up a vacation in the country where it all started: at least on golf courses as we now know them!

Golf Vacations in Scotland was originally published at http://www.golfplayernow.com