Ginger Beer Golf Travel Blog, Golf Resources, Scotland blog, St Andrews Area
When you visit St Andrews you are surrounded by the finest collection of courses available for public play. St Andrews Links Trust, manager and custodian of 7 courses and 117 holes of golf, can boast of overseeing the largest public golf complex in Europe with its jewel in the...
St Andrews Old Course as a Single Golfer: how to boost your chances of play
April 29, 2020
Golf Resources, Scotland blog
Playing the Old Course as a Single Golfer & how to optimise your chances of a tee time. In an in depth analysis of 18,500 tee times I reveal the best months and days of week to try your luck as a 'walk-up'.
St Andrews Old Course Ballot : how to boost your chances of success
April 29, 2020
Golf Resources, Scotland blog
St Andrews Old Course Ballot - how to boost your chances of success. A unique in depth analysis of demand, supply & success data. I reveal the best month, day of week & group size based on 4000+ 'open ballot' tee times.
I compare 30 of the best courses in the St Andrews area, including St Andrews Old Course, Carnoustie & Kingsbarns. With tables and charts to show how tough they are to play and what a good (scratch) and average (bogey) golfer might expect to score on each course.
St Andrews golf courses for beginners, high handicaps & juniors
April 17, 2019
Scotland blog
Don't let the mighty "Big Boy" golf courses intimidate you into staying home or not enjoying some memorable Scottish links courses. A rewarding golfing experience awaits you, no matter what your handicap. In a series of 4 blogs, we focus on some of the major championship courses - the...
Find an Old Course ballot partner: Single Golfer BallotBuddy Service
February 14, 2019
Scotland blog
Are you a single golfer and want to play St Andrews Old Course? Register on our free BallotBuddy service and enter the dates you are coming to St Andrews. If there is a date match with another single player we will hook you up. As a 2 ball you...
The subject of golf buggies (or golf carts) comes up regularly in my discussions with clients when organising their golf trips to Scotland, in particular the use of a golf buggy at St Andrews, and of course, how to reserve a buggy on the Old Course, the hottest topic...
Sotogrande was the blueprint for the explosion of golf courses along Spain’s Mediterranean Coast and to this day retains its identity among so many imitations.
It was this feeling of Sotogrande as pathfinder for all that followed that lead Trevor Ledger to head south from his Scottish St Andrews...
The trick of Sotogrande lies in the narrow entrances to greens and the very subtle contours once you are on ‘the dance floor’.
When Robert Trent Jones Senior touched down in Spain with a couple of sacks of Bermuda Grass sprigs in the early 1960s, a golfing revolution was started.
Valderrama takes the best of Finca Cortesin, La Reserva and Sotogrande, shapes it beautifully and adds even greater use of the Alcornoques trees to complete the near perfect test of golf.
With Ryder Cup pedigree and many PGA Tour events, the fame of Valderrama precedes it everywhere. The actual playing...
2018 Old Course tee time allocations - changes afoot at St Andrews
March 16, 2017
Scotland blog
At the end of 2016 St Andrews Links Trust announced that the agreement with its commercial tee time partner Old Course Experience will cease at the end of 2017. It will assume responsibility for the distribution of all commercial Old Course tee times for the season commencing April 2018.Time...
This golf course genuinely fulfils the oft cited (mostly disingenuously) ‘challenge from every tee’.
In terms of quiet opulence and attention to detail, the golfing experience at Cabell Robinson’s Finca Cortesin cannot be bettered.
All of the courses we played in the Western Costa del Sol had fantastic greens but La Reserva probably shades it for difficulty.
A part of the Sotogrande club, La Reserva is another Cabell Robinson design – this time from 2003. Comparisons to Finca Cortesin finish there though, this is...
There is very much to like about the Old Course at San Roque – the wonderfully named (and bitchingly penal) Alcornoques (cork oaks) abound throughout the property.
Despite being a few decades younger that Sotogrande and Valderrama, it was part of the original ‘Golden Triangle’ of golf resorts in the...
The smaller greens and the reward offered for well struck pitch and run shots give San Roque New a variety that perhaps the other courses in the area do not.
In terms of infrastructure and positioning in the market, the San Roque New Course sits alongside the Old in terms...
Kingsbarns is now firmly ensconced as a ‘must play’ on any visit to Scotland – right up there with The Old Course, Carnoustie and Turnberry; in fact it is hard to imagine any other golf course being mentioned as much in the same sentence as ‘The Old Course’. Kingsbarns...
Never before have I played so badly yet enjoyed myself so much. The quality of our golf over the three days was patchy at times but the enjoyment was of the highest possible calibre. 4 good friends take a trip north and enjoy the best St Andrews golfing...
Insights into playing Scottish links golf – a different game
August 9, 2014
Scotland blog
It took me a number of years and visits to Scotland before I caught on that links golf was the traditional way to play the game and above all, that it was fun!
Insights into playing Scottish links golf courses, including speed of play, on-course protocol, gorse, bunkers, dogs(!), putting,...
Scottish links golf courses for beginners, kids and high handicaps - Crail and Carnoustie
September 9, 2013
Scotland blog
Don't let the mighty "Big Boy" golf courses intimidate you into staying home or not enjoying some memorable Scottish links courses. A rewarding golfing experience awaits you, no matter what your handicap. In a series of 4 blogs, we focus on some of the major championship courses - the...
Scottish links golf courses for beginners, kids and high handicaps - Gullane and North Berwick
September 8, 2013
Scotland blog
Don't let the mighty "Big Boy" golf courses intimidate you into staying home or not enjoying some memorable Scottish links courses. A rewarding golfing experience awaits you, no matter what your handicap. In a series of 4 blogs, we focus on some of the major championship courses - the...
Scottish links golf courses for beginners, kids and high handicaps - Aberdeen, North Highlands and South West Coast
September 7, 2013
Scotland blog
Don't let the mighty "Big Boy" golf courses intimidate you into staying home or not enjoying some memorable Scottish links courses. A rewarding golfing experience awaits you, no matter what your handicap. In a series of 4 blogs, we focus on some of the major championship courses - the...