The Bucket List

The BUCKeT LISTDream Golf in the lanDswhere the Game beGanSCOTLAND - IReLAND - eNGLAND

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© Brian Morgan

The Bucket List


here can’t be a golfer on earth who hasn’t at some point dreamed of

playing golf in the lands where the game began. Boasting 85% of the world’s links courses - many of which have hosted the world’s oldest Major, the Open Championship – the game in Scotland, england & Ireland is steeped in the unique challenge of coastal golf.

Names like St Andrews &

Carnoustie, Birkdale & Lytham, Portrush & Ballybunion all roll off the tongue so easily, and although the prospect of arranging a trip to play these venerable layouts can be intimidating, with just a little bit of advance planning you can play every single course on the Open Championship rota. And that’s where we come in.

Formed in 1998, we are europe’s specialist golf travel company and run our business

on the simple principles of delivering the best choice, value and service. In 2013 we arranged golf days, breaks and holidays for more than 500,000 golfers – with the majority playing in the UK and Ireland. We also opened up our first US office in Charleston, South Carolina enabling us to offer our services to US golfers.

In short, we know our golf and are all passionate about the game – so when it comes to

booking that dream trip, you’re in safe hands. Playing links golf in Britain and Ireland is a golfing experience like no other. And it is an experience you are never going to forget.

Daniel GraveCEO Golfbreaks.com USA

WelcoMeThis is your first step to a golfing experience unlike any other

T

Drink it inTrump International in Scotland

The Bucket List


Scotland

Golf Courses

1. Brora

2. Carnoustie

3. Castle Stuart

4. Crail

5. Cruden Bay

6. Dundonald Links

7. Gailes Links

8. Gleneagles

9. Gullane No.1

10. Kingsbarns

11. Loch Lomond

12. Lundin Links

13. Machrihanish

14. Muirfield

15. Murcar Links

16. Nairn

17. North Berwick

18. Prestwick

19. Renaissance

20. Royal Aberdeen

21. Royal Dornoch

22. Royal Troon

23. St Andrews

24. Trump International

25. Turnberry

26. Western Gailes

1

2

3

4

6 7

8

9

10

12

16

17

20

21

18

22

23

24

25

26

edinburgh

Inverness

Glasgow

Dundee

Aberdeen

15

5

11

13

1419

400 Miles

Key

St AndrewS & eASt LothiAn

weSt CoASt LinkS

GLeneAGLeS & eASt CoASt

hiGhLAndS & Aberdeen


F you are heading to Scotland then the only place to start your trip is in

St Andrews.As well as the endless

history, double greens and hidden pot bunkers of the peerless Old Course, you can use the charming, ancient university town as your base to explore Kingsbarns, Crail and Lundin Links, all of which are within a 15-minute drive and offer near-constant sea views.

Lundin is a favourite of Brad Faxon, who once qualified here for a St Andrews Open Championship and fell in love with it.

One of the many joys about Scotland is that you are never far away from where you need to be next. Within two hours of leaving St Andrews you will be in East Lothian.

This may just be the part of the country most densely populated with great golf – travelling east away from the capital, Edinburgh, you can drive for an hour and never be more than a mile away from the nearest course.

One of the very best is North Berwick. This is perhaps the most charming seaside course in the country – which is saying something. There are holes here that you will never forget – including one where the green’s chief protection is a stone wall.

A few miles away is the golf-obsessed village of Gullane, which contains five courses.

Gullane No 1 is a joy – with the view from the elevated 7th tee one of the best in golf. This is a quintessential links experience.

St AndrewS & eASt lothiAn

The cradle of the game and home to countless great links

i

historicSt Andrewsneeds no introduction

“North Berwick is Scotland’s most charming links”

st AnDrews & eAst lothIAn tour

Play at: The Old Course, Kingsbarns, North Berwick West Links, Gullane No.1, Lundin Links, Crail

Stay at:2 Nights - North Berwick 3*, 6 Nights - St Andrews 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - Edinburgh International.Ask us about booking your flights

8 Nights’ B&B, 6 Rounds and all airport and golf transfers

from $3,595pp

Scotland | St Andrews and East Lothian

Aberdeen


yrShire can proudly present three Open Championship host

courses: Prestwick, royal Troon and Turnberry.

Turnberry is undoubtedly the most spectacular and familiar of the trio – with the stunning backdrop of the lighthouse and that rock of ages, Ailsa Craig.

But if it comes to number of championships hosted, then there really is no contest.

Beginning in 1860, Prestwick hosted the first 11 Opens and 24 in total, with the most recent being in 1925. Famous champions here include Old and young Tom Morris, Willie Park Senior, harry Vardon and James Braid.

Troon’s Open-hosting history dates back to 1923 with the ninth and latest instalment set to take place in 2016. Turnberry, meanwhile, is a relative newcomer with the 1977 Duel in the Sun a spectacular debut.

The three courses offer wildly contrasting golfing experiences. Prestwick is the most outrageous – beginning with a unique opening hole that might only require a 7 iron and a wedge yet strikes terror into every golfer’s heart thanks to the Glasgow railway line that is separated from the tee, fairway and green by the width of a modest stone wall.

Within a couple of miles are the two famous Gailes courses – Western Gailes and Glasgow Links. Both are top-class seaside courses.

A Kyle Phillips design, Dundonald – the sister course of Loch Lomond – completes your incredible west coast odyssey.

west coast linksStarring Turnberry, Royal Troon and Prestwick

A

true romanceall who visit fall in love with turnberry

“Beginning in 1860, Prestwick hosted the first 11 Opens”

West Coast Links tour

Play at: Royal Troon, Prestwick, Western Gailes, Gailes Links, Dundonald Links, Turnberry Ailsa & Kintyre

Stay at:5 Nights - Troon 4*, 3 Nights - Trump Turnberry Resort 5*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - Glasgow International.Ask us about booking your flights


from $3,695pp

Scotland | West Coast


LAyiNG a ryder Cup venue is a special thrill – and you can visit

Gleneagles to experience for yourself this world-famous and world-class country resort in the Perthshire hills.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary is the ryder Cup host course but the James Braid-designed King’s and Queen’s layouts certainly do not pale by comparison.

The views are amazing, the turf crisp, and the greens true at two of the finest inland courses anywhere in Britain.

you can also stay in incredible style at a hotel that has hosted world leaders at a G8 summit.

From there, head east to mighty Carnoustie, universally recognised as the ultimate test of a golfer’s skills.

At the course where Tom Watson won the first of his five Claret Jugs in 1975, every par must be earned.

An hour to the south in Fife, on the clifftops, are Kingsbarns and Crail.

What a contrast they provide: the former is little more than 10 years old and the work by Kyle Phillips – it is a stunning modern take on links golf. it co-hosts the Dunhill Links each year with St Andrews and Carnoustie, an event that attracts the cream of the european Tour as well as celebrities like Samuel L Jackson and Bill Murray.

Crail, on the other hand, dates back to the late 19th century and was designed by Old Tom Morris. you will love them both – but for completely different reasons.

gleneagles& east coast

The Ryder Cup venue, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie

P

Real thingkingsbarns: a modern classic

“Carnoustie is the ultimate test of a golfer’s skills”

GLeneaGLes & east Coast Links tour

Play at: Gleneagles - PGA (Ryder Cup Course) Kings & Queens Courses, Kingsbarns, Carnoustie, Crail

Stay at:2 Nights - Gleneagles Hotel 5*, 5 Nights - St Andrews 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - Edinburgh International.Ask us about booking your flights

7 Nights’ B&B 6 Rounds and all airport and golf transfers

from $3,190pp

Scotland | Gleneagles & East Coast


Scotland | Highlands & Aberdeen

F you are prepared to travel halfway around the globe to play golf then

an extra 100 miles really should not put you off. The world’s most northerly championship links is waiting for you at Royal Dornoch.

Much admired by Tom Watson, this is a course – and town – that you will fall in love with. It offers all that is alluring and pure about links golf: almost constant sea views, charming and occasionally eccentric holes, brilliant green complexes that will leave you scratching your head – and more often than not reaching for the putter rather than a wedge – tight, sandy turf to strike your irons from and a genuinely warm welcome.

Just to the north of Dornoch is Brora, a special and evocative James Braid design where sheep roam the fairways.

To the south are Scottish Open host Castle Stuart and Nairn, Curtis Cup venue in 2012. Both are stunning and in the heart of Scotland’s whisky trail.

Pretty much equidistant from St Andrews and Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, is Aberdeen.

Here can be found Trump International, modestly described by the man himself as the greatest course in the world. It’s certainly special, with gigantic dune complexes making for some sensational elevated vistas.

The 2011 Walker Cup and Scottish Open venue Royal Aberdeen is close by – as are special Cruden Bay and Murcar Links.

highlands & aberdeenExperience remote Royal Dornoch and Trump International

I

Wow factordramatic Trump international

“Much loved by Tom Watson, you will fall for Dornoch”

HigHlands & aberdeen Tour

Play at: Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Nairn, Brora, Royal Aberdeen, Trump International

Stay at:4 Nights - Inverness 4*, 3 Nights - Aberdeen 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - Glasgow or Edinburgh International.Ask us about booking your flights


from $3,395pp


F you could cherry-pick your dream Scottish itinerary then the

Old Course at St Andrews and Turnbery’s achingly romantic Ailsa would be at the very top of the list.

Add Carnoustie and you have the beast to Turnberry’s beauty.

Factor in quirky Prestwick for the birthplace of the Open Championship, golf’s oldest and most august Major.

All four are, of course, Open venues and between them they offer something for everyone.

Purely as a golf course, if you can separate history and surroundings from the holes themselves, Carnoustie is in a class of its own. The professionals recognise that it is supremely fair and you will not find tighter seaside turf or truer greens anywhere.

Complete your experience with a game on either the New or Jubilee courses that run alongside the Old at St Andrews and you pretty much have the ultimate experience.

This sensational trip does all of the above, taking you across Scotland to show you exactly what makes the game so special in its historical birthplace.

With three nights at each of Fairmont St Andrews and the Trump Turnberry Resort, you will stay in almost as much style as you will find on the golf courses.

The biggest surprise may come when you play the New or Jubilee courses. The turf is every bit as crisp as on the Old Course and the locals say they are a better test of your game.

Championship TourPlay six of Scotland’s most desirable courses in one trip

I

deep blueenjoy sea views at Turnberry

“Add Carnoustie for the beast to Turnberry’s beauty”

CHampionsHip Tour

Play at: The Old Course, Turnberry Ailsa, Royal Troon, Prestwick, Carnoustie, New or Jubilee

Stay at: 3 Nights - Trump Turnberry Resort 5*,3 Nights - Fairmont St Andrews 5*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - Glasgow or Edinburgh International.Ask us about booking your flights


from $6,495pp

Scotland | Championship Tour


Ireland

Golf Courses

1. Adare Manor

2. Ballybunion

3. Ballyliffin

4. Carne

5. Carton House

6. Connemara

7. Co Sligo (Rosses Point)

8. Donegal

9. Dooks

10. Doonbeg

11. Druids Glen

12. Enniscrone

13. European, The

14. Island, The

15. K Club, The

16. Lahinch

17. Lough Erne

18. Mount Juliet

19. Old Head Links

20. Portmarnock Old

21. Portstewart

22. Rosapenna

23. Royal County Down

24. Royal Dublin

25. Royal Portrush

26. Tralee

27. Waterville

shannon

2

3

4

10

7

13

14

16

19

20

21 25

23

26

27

Kerry

Dublin

Cork

Belfast

Galway

1

56

8

9

11

12

15

17

18

22

24

700 Miles

Key

North West IrelaNd

south West IrelaNd

NortherN IrelaNd & dublIN


OLf in Ireland is, above all, fun. And if it’s wild, high-octane thrills you

are after then the west coast of the Emerald Isle is the only place to be.

With dune formations created by Mother Nature, the result of Atlantic Ocean waves thudding into the Irish coastline for centuries, there are holes on the likes of Carne and Enniscrone, in Mayo and Sligo respectively, that simply have to be seen to be believed.

Every hole is a new adventure, and you will find yourself confronted with carries over chasms, blind tee shots and greens in sunken hollows.

At Ballyliffin, further north in mountainous Donegal, which is also home to many of the best and secluded beaches in Ireland, there are two links courses – Pat Ruddy’s Glashedy, on a grand scale, and the Old Course, subject to a recent renovation at the hands of Sir Nick faldo.

Also in Donegal, which in typically Irish fashion is the northernmost point in the country yet part of Southern Ireland, is Rosapenna. Here also are two fine courses – the Old Tom Morris and the Sandy Hills. The latter is the jewel in the crown and was designed by Ruddy, opening for play in 2003. The dune systems are extraordinary and the holes must be seen to be believed.

The craic is legendary in these parts, which means you can enjoy some traditional Irish hospitality – something they happen to be exeptionally good at.

North west irelaNd

Wild dunes and lush green fairways

G

wild roverenniscrone has the wow factor

“Dune formations here are the work of Mother Nature”

North West IrelaND tour

Play at: Ballyliffin, Carne, Enniscrone, Sligo (Rosses Point), Rosepanna, Connemara

Stay at:7 Nights - Mount Falcon 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - Shannon or Galway.Ask us about booking your flights


from $2,695pp

Ireland | North West


f this is your first trip to Ireland then look no further. A visit to the

Emerald Isle’s great south-west seaside courses will provide the golfing holiday you have always dreamed of. The Irish are natural and warm hosts. Take the trouble to visit their land and they will make it a personal mission to ensure it will not be the last time you set foot here.

flying into Shannon, it could not be easier. You will be clear of the airport in no time and straight into rural Ireland.

Let’s work from north to south and begin with a course touched by two of the greatest names in golf architecture, Old Tom Morris and Dr Alister Mackenzie. Lahinch, in Co Clare, is a theme park of a course, outrageous in some parts and just plain brilliant in others. There is a par 3 here played to a sliver of a green situated between two sandhills.

You can’t see it from the tee and the pin position of the day is indicated by a stone on a pulley that moves from side to side.

Just down the coast is another of Donald Trump’s recent acquisitions, Doonbeg. The course here was designed by Greg Norman and the two-time Open champion knows a thing or two about links golf.

Moving south across the Shannon, your next stop is Ballybunion. Tom Watson played a part in bringing this spectacular links to global attention. The stretch that begins towards the end of the front nine and runs parallel to the ocean stands comparison with anything in world golf.

The best hole is the 11th, with incredible Atlantic views and a fairway that descends in steps to the green.

Now we are in famous Co Kerry, and a little further south is Arnold Palmer’s Tralee. It is hard to credit, but the back nine here is even more dramatic than Ballybunion. Don’t worry about your score here – just enjoy the experience and savour the

once-in-a-lifetime challenge.On the scenic Ring of Kerry

is Waterville, recently renovated by Tom fazio, where a statue of the late Payne Stewart stands. He was a frequent and much-loved visitor here, while Tiger Woods is another to have warmed up for the Open on what is probably the finest links in the South of Ireland.

finally, and more dramatic

than any that have gone before is the Old Head of Kinsale, which clings on to the southern tip of Ireland by little more than a strand of turf.

A clifftop course entirely at the mercy of the elements, you frequently play from a cliff edge across the ocean to a distant fairway. If this is the final act of your trip, what a way to conclude your Irish adventure.

I

Double takeIncredible Old Head in Co Cork

“Lahinch is in parts outrageous, and brilliant in others”

Ireland | South West


sOutH west IrelanDSimply sensational seaside courses and golf on a grand scale

“The Old Head of Kinsale clings on to the southern tip of Ireland by little more than a strand of turf”

South WeSt Ireland tour

Play at:Old Head Links, Waterville, Tralee, Doonbeg, Lahinch, Ballybunion

Stay at:1 Night - Kinsale 4*, 2 Nights - Doonbeg 4*, 4 Nights - Killarney 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - ShannonAsk us about booking your flights


from $2,990pp

Ireland | South West


rgUe all you like about course rankings lists, not too many

good judges will claim that royal County Down and royal Portrush are anything other than the best in Ireland.

In fact, the former is probably the pick anywhere in the British Isles, a quite remarkable combination of the spectacular and the strategic.

expect blind shots aplenty – all you have to go at are small whitewashed stones to use as targets – and fearsome trademark bunkers with hairy ‘eyebrows’.

The real challenge here though is on and around the greens, which are raised, firm and incredibly rapid. even good players can chip up from one side and either see the ball come back to their feet or roll off the other side of the green.

The views are incredible – especially on the front nine when you are adjacent to the beach. When you turn back towards the clubhouse, savour one of the great vistas in golf – the Mountains of Mourne that sweep into the sea.

As for spectacular Portrush, on the north Antrim coast, the Irish Opens held here recently were such a success that it will host the Open Championship again before the end of the decade.

This is the home club of graeme McDowell, while Darren Clarke has a house in town overlooking the links.

It is more of a driver’s course, with the greens flatter and less fearsome than at royal County Down.

Watch out for the infamous par 3 on the back nine, Calamity, where your tee shot must carry 150 yards over a sandy chasm to reach the green beyond.

Next door to Portrush is Portstewart, where the front nine is jaw-droppingly spectacular. You will know that from the moment you stand up on the 1st tee and survey the fairway

snaking away below you. The dunes here are on an epic scale and it makes for some unforgettable holes.

Belfast, the Northern Irish capital, to Dublin, the republic’s equivalent, is a drive of just a couple of hours, and in the latter you can tackle classy Portmarnock, and The Island, old and traditional in style.

Portmarnock hosted the

Walker Cup in 1995, which Phil Mickelson and David Duval played in, as well as being where Arnold Palmer first encountered links golf in the early 1960s.

An hour south is a newer links, The european. Created and owned by Pat ruddy, it has 20 holes and a green that is almost 130 yards long. You can’t fail to have fun here.

A

Links heaven Magnificent Royal County Down

“Portrush, home of Graeme McDowell, is a driver’s course”

Ireland | Northern Ireland & Dublin


NoRtheRN iReLaND & DubLiNRoyal County Down and Portrush are the best in Ireland

North East & DubliN liNks tour

Play at:Portstewart, Royal Portrush, Royal County Down, The Island, The European, Portmarnock Old

Stay at:3 Nights - Portrush 4*, Bushmills Inn 4*, 4 Nights - Dublin 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - DublinAsk us about booking your flights


from $3,450pp

“Royal County Down is widely accepted as being the best course in the British Isles”

Ireland | Northern Ireland & Dublin


etween them, the three esteemed Royals of england’s Golf

Coast – Birkdale, Liverpool and Lytham & St Annes – have hosted the Open Championship 32 times.

the great news for the travelling golfer is that they are little more than a stone’s throw apart from one another – and there are some amazing, if lesser known, links courses, that you can play along the way should time permit.

england is very much under-appreciated by travelling golfers, overshadowed by Scotland and Ireland. that’s understandable, but it has so much to offer.

Let’s begin with Royal Liverpool, known to the locals as Hoylake, which returned to the Open rota in 2006, when tiger woods eased to his third and most recent Claret Jug here over a burned and baked links, after a near 40-year absence. now it is very much part of the championship again – especially after Rory McIlroy’s famous victory.

It is worth visiting just to spend time in the clubhouse – a museum in its own right.

to the north is the golfing mecca of Southport, where the principal attraction is Royal Birkdale, commonly regarded as the best course in england.

this is a supremely fair links with flat fairways that run through corridors between the dunes and lead to greens that are relatively benign.

Standing behind the 18th green is the famous Art Deco clubhouse, designed to

resemble a great ocean liner ploughing through the waves – or dune systems in this case.

the furthest north of the Open venues is Lytham, where ernie els added his fourth Major title in 2012 following Adam Scott’s late collapse.

Lytham is rich in character and unusually surrounded by red-brick housing and a railway line. the pros love

the challenge it sets because Lytham is bunkered like no other golf course you have seen in terms of both sheer quantity and the punishment they mete out. It poses a rare strategic challenge.

the supporting cast is exceptional. Formby was the Curtis Cup host venue in 2004 when Michelle wie and Paula Creamer were in the American

team. It is a classy blend of pine-clad and links holes.

Hillside is adjacent to Birkdale and has a back nine once described by Greg norman as the “best in Britain”. High praise indeed.

Finally, after all that links golf and pot bunkers, you might be pleased to retreat to the softer, greener surrounds of Formby Hall to round off your trip.

B

Old masterThe fine clubhouse at Hoylake

“The courses on England’s Golf Coast just keep coming”

England | England’s Golf Coast


england’s gOlf cOasTA trinity of Open Championship venues is waiting to be discovered

Englands golf Coast tour

Play at:Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St Annes,Royal Liverpool, Formby Hall, Formby, Hillside,

Stay at:7 Nights Formby Hall Resort 4*

Flight Information:Recommended Arrival/Departure Airport - ManchesterAsk us about booking your flights


from $3,267

golf CoursEs

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7

11

4

8

12

England | England’s Golf Coast

Manchesterliverpool

london

Birmingham

1. Caldy2. Fairhaven3. Formby4. Formby Hall 5. Hesketh6. Hillside7. Royal Birkdale8. Royal Liverpool9. Royal Lytham & St Annes10. Southport & Ainsdale11. wallasey12. west Lancs

gatwick

Heathrow

1

5

9

2

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US free phone 1-855-699-5853Email [email protected]

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