Top 100 Golf Courses in Scotland
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<strong>Top</strong> <strong>100</strong> scoTland 2015<br />
Braemar.<br />
stroma.<br />
Kyles of Bute.<br />
alford.<br />
661 and count<strong>in</strong>g<br />
German countesses, american artists and lethal beer – while play<strong>in</strong>g every course <strong>in</strong> scotland.<br />
alan Mcpherson is play<strong>in</strong>g every course<br />
(<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g ones most don’t know about!) <strong>in</strong><br />
scotland <strong>in</strong> an attempt to raise £10,000 for<br />
cancer Research UK. The 10-handicapper was<br />
already a keen travell<strong>in</strong>g golfer when he<br />
retired <strong>in</strong> 2009, hav<strong>in</strong>g played 200 courses.<br />
Keen to complete the list that he’s researched,<br />
he jo<strong>in</strong>ed eforts with colleague craig Watson,<br />
who had started the same challenge with a<br />
friend, stuart Flem<strong>in</strong>g. little did Mcpherson<br />
know his first round at alexandra park while a<br />
student would add to over 660 more...<br />
“I don’t <strong>in</strong>tend to stop travell<strong>in</strong>g to play golf <strong>in</strong><br />
obscure places even once I’ve played every<br />
course we know about. I’ve never become<br />
apathetic about the challenge, but am usually<br />
first to bed when tour<strong>in</strong>g with the guys!<br />
“scotland has some of the world’s most<br />
famous courses so naturally I was keen to play<br />
them however while travell<strong>in</strong>g throughout<br />
scotland for work I always seemed to be<br />
pass<strong>in</strong>g little courses of the beaten track, so<br />
I was also look<strong>in</strong>g forward to play<strong>in</strong>g them.<br />
one th<strong>in</strong>g I wasn’t expect<strong>in</strong>g was that even at<br />
The courses Ugadale that don’t Hotel, attract with the many visitors, there<br />
l<strong>in</strong>ks could of be Machrihanish a simply outstand<strong>in</strong>g beyond. hole. Equally,<br />
golf is about people and it is great to enjoy the<br />
locals’ <strong>in</strong>sights over a beer or three.<br />
“Three favourite experiences? <strong>Top</strong> of the<br />
list is our trip to play the six-hole lighthouse<br />
Keeper’s course on Fair Isle, the most remote<br />
course <strong>in</strong> scotland. It is managed by Tommy<br />
Hyndman, an american artist who brought his<br />
family over a few years ago, so we stayed with<br />
him and his family. Just gett<strong>in</strong>g there is a<br />
challenge but it was a great experience, not<br />
least the late-night walk to see the pufns on<br />
the clifs after ‘refreshments’ had been taken.<br />
“next, skibo castle, a high-end course is<br />
usually private for hotel guests. We loved the<br />
course, and the hot bacon rolls brought to us<br />
on the back n<strong>in</strong>e – a small detail, but the k<strong>in</strong>d<br />
of th<strong>in</strong>g that sticks <strong>in</strong> the m<strong>in</strong>d long after<br />
memories of the actual golf have faded.<br />
“F<strong>in</strong>ally, a trip I made to Iona, a t<strong>in</strong>y west<br />
coast island with a religious history. There’s a<br />
l<strong>in</strong>ks laid out on wild graz<strong>in</strong>g land (next stop<br />
‘The six-hole Lighthouse<br />
Keeper’s Course is the<br />
most remote <strong>in</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>’<br />
canada) and each august it plays host to a<br />
quirky golf tournament that attracts golfers<br />
from distant parts. I played <strong>in</strong> relentless ra<strong>in</strong><br />
and mist with an american professor and a<br />
German countess. There’s 18 holes but only 11<br />
are used as there’s a natural amphitheatre of<br />
rocks beh<strong>in</strong>d the 11th, where the barbecue and<br />
the bar are located. Most folk just go back the<br />
next day to retrieve their clubs. This was golf<br />
at its most natural, with plastic net floats for<br />
flags – the only th<strong>in</strong>g the sheep won’t eat,<br />
apparently! I had to catch a ferry and it was a<br />
long walk until some locals took pity on me.<br />
“I’ve kept a card for each course s<strong>in</strong>ce 2010;<br />
some make pretty sad read<strong>in</strong>g. Gett<strong>in</strong>g lost is<br />
rare, although at Barra it was so foggy we<br />
couldn’t f<strong>in</strong>d the course, despite my sat nav<br />
tell<strong>in</strong>g us we’d arrived! We asked a schoolgirl...<br />
and it turned out we were parked on the l<strong>in</strong>ks!<br />
“Best p<strong>in</strong>t and bar meal? skullsplitter, a<br />
local beer on orkney, is aptly named!<br />
dunvegan Hotel <strong>in</strong> st andrews takes some<br />
beat<strong>in</strong>g, as does a hotel on Westray that had<br />
great seafood. a place by scrabster harbour,<br />
and a pub <strong>in</strong> Ullapool also spr<strong>in</strong>g to m<strong>in</strong>d.”<br />
n justgiv<strong>in</strong>g.com/golf<strong>in</strong>gcoasttocoast<br />
n scottishgolfcourses-allofthem.blogspot.com<br />
14<br />
<strong>Golf</strong> World <strong>Top</strong> <strong>100</strong> scoTland 2015