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Visitors to Scotland (especially from North America) will find a few things
different. Here are some tips I've gleaned from a couple of golfing trips to
Scotland.
First, Scottish golf clubs are almost always
semi-private, which means they have staunch membership rosters, but also do
their best to make visitors welcome on non member days. In many clubs, only
members are allowed to play on the weekends, and it is almost always more
expensive on Saturday and Sunday.
To ease the member / non-member gap, some courses have
affiliate memberships that provide non-residents a limited range of
privileges. These arrangements are often not advertised, so you have to go
looking for them. Some clubs seem to make these arrangements up on the fly,
but it's more likely the policy was set a few years ago, and more or less
forgotten about.
St. Andrews is obviously the prime destination for most North American
golfers. Playing the Old Course is considered a privilege, and tee times are
often booked many months in advance, or by lottery. To get a leg up you might
try joining the Heritage Golfing Society. This is an actual St. Andrews golf
club for non-residents. Membership lets you develop and maintain an
international handicap, use certain clubhouse facilities right at St. Andrews,
gives you access to affiliated clubs around the world, as well as advice and
assistance in booking tee times at St. Andrews, and the ability to "network"
with other St. Andrews members. The "home" course for the Heritage Society is
the Jubilee course. The 2003 cost was a pretty reasonable $65US.
If you want to get away from the crowds and try some of the hidden gems in the
Scottish Highlands, check out the website of the Highland Golf Club
(www.golfhighland.com). Joining the club will cost you 250GBP (pounds), but
this allows you to play any of about 20 courses at no charge (only one member
per twosome). Club membership also gives you access to extensive information
on the 46 or so courses in the Highlands — yes, there are only 46 courses in
the Highlands — the ability to obtain an international handicap, and the
opportunity to meet and correspond with some fellow golfers in Scotland. Other
discount packages are also available.
The International Golfers Club is based in England and offers similar
membership benefits: information on member and "friendly" courses, discount
offers, handicap monitoring, advice on where to play and where to stay, etc.
Membership in 2003 was 75GBP.
A number of courses offer Country Memberships, especially for out-of-country
visitors. For instance, the Tain Golf Club offers a country membership for
150GBP. This allows you to play as often as you want for an entire year, and
lets you bring a limited number of guests at a reduced rate. At Nairn Dunbar a
country membership costs 275GBP to join plus 160GBP per year. At Inverness
such a membership costs 294GBP. At Cruden Bay it is 180GBP (men), and 170
(women).
In future articles in this series I'll cover some of
the lesser known courses. Scotland golf is more than St. Andrews.
If any of my Scottish golfing friends out there have any
helpful information, I would be very pleased to let our readers know. Just
contact me HERE. |
