2-Day Golf Trip from Glasgow: Best Course Combinations for All Budgets

Glasgow is 45 minutes from the Ayrshire Open coast and 40 minutes from the CalMac ferry to Arran. That proximity gives a Glasgow-based golf trip access to three Open Championship venues, the world's oldest courses, and a remote island with three courses in a single landscape. Two days can be used well here.

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Option A: The Ayrshire Open Rota (2 days, £300–700)

The big-ticket option: two days on the courses that host or have hosted the Open Championship.

Day 1 — Prestwick (£225): Prestwick Golf Club is the birthplace of the Open Championship (1860, 24 subsequent Opens). The course is an antique: blind tee shots, a 50-yard Cardinal bunker on the 3rd, a bell-pull at the 17th (the Alps). Visitors Monday to Friday, limited Saturdays. Handicap required. Caddies strongly advised (£60 plus tip). Drive from Glasgow: 45 minutes south via M77.

Evening: Stay in Ayr (10 minutes from Prestwick). Wide range of hotels and B&Bs.

Day 2 — Royal Troon (£295): The Troon Old Course hosts the Open and has one of the most famous holes in world golf — the Postage Stamp, 8th hole, a par 3 of 123 yards to a green the size of a billiard table. Visitor rounds available on specific dates by advance application; check availability on the Troon website. Handicap required.

Total: £520 for two premium rounds. Add caddie costs (£120–140) for the full experience: ~£640–700.

Budget version of Day 2: Western Gailes (£120–150, a private links immediately north of Troon, frequently mentioned in the same breath as its famous neighbours) or Dundonald Links (£100–130, a more modern links that works as a day-1 or day-2 alternative).

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Option B: Ayrshire Budget Circuit (2 days, £165–225)

The same coastline without the Open Rota prices.

Day 1 — Prestwick St Nicholas (£90–130, or £90 after 4pm): Often confused with Prestwick Golf Club, but a separate club on the same stretch of coast — shorter, cheaper, and entirely visitor-friendly with no handicap requirement. 18 holes, par 69.

Afternoon: Troon Municipal (£20–28) — the public course adjacent to Royal Troon. Flat links, basic facilities, excellent value.

Day 2 — Belleisle Golf Course, Ayr (£35–45): South Ayrshire Council's parkland course, well-maintained and visitor-friendly. Morning round.

Afternoon: Drive north to Irvine — Irvine Golf Club or Ravenspark Golf Course (municipal, £18–20). Both are on the coast north of Troon.

Total green fees: ~£165–225 for four rounds across two days.

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Option C: Arran Island Golf (2 days, ferry included)

For those who want the island experience without the Islay or Kintyre commitment.

Day 1: Drive to Ardrossan (45 minutes from Glasgow). CalMac ferry to Brodick, Isle of Arran (55 minutes, from £35 return foot passenger). Walk to Brodick Golf Club (5 minutes from ferry terminal).

Play Brodick Golf Club in the afternoon (£35–40, 18 holes). Stay in Brodick — several hotels and B&Bs; Brodick Golf Club can recommend.

Day 2: Morning: Lamlash Golf Club (3 miles south of Brodick, bus connection). 18 holes, par 64, hillside above Holy Isle. £30–35.

Afternoon: Bus or taxi to Shiskine Golf & Tennis Club on the west coast (20 miles, taxi recommended, ~£25 each way). Shiskine is a 12-hole links of some renown — the only 12-hole course in Scotland and one of the most photographed in the world, with a clifftop par 3 and turf that only exists in this combination of soil and climate. £40–42 for the round.

Evening ferry: Brodick to Ardrossan (last ferry around 7:30–8pm in summer; check CalMac schedule). Return to Glasgow.

Total: Ferry return ~£35 + Brodick + Lamlash + taxi + Shiskine = £190–205. Add accommodation: Arran B&Bs from £60–90 per night.

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Option D: Machrihanish (2 days, long drive, unforgettable)

For visitors prepared to drive three hours south-west for the best remote links in Scotland.

Day 1: Drive from Glasgow via Loch Lomond, Inveraray, and the length of the Kintyre peninsula — genuinely beautiful, stops worth making. Arrive at Machrihanish village for a late afternoon/twilight round on Machrihanish Golf Club (£95–125, 18 holes). The first tee shot crosses the Atlantic Ocean.

Stay at the Ugadale Hotel or the Royal Hotel in Campbeltown (10 minutes east).

Day 2: Morning round: Machrihanish Dunes (£75–125) — the newer David McLay Kidd course a mile up the coast. A completely different design philosophy from the old course, same coastline.

Afternoon: drive home via the Gigha ferry crossing (for those who want the complete western island experience) or direct up the A83. Return to Glasgow by evening.

Total green fees: Two Machrihanish rounds £170–250. Plus hotel, meals, and the full-day drive.

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What about Loch Lomond Golf Club?

Loch Lomond Golf Club — the famous one — is a private members' club that does not admit visitors for individual rounds. Corporate events and formal invitations only. Don't plan around it.

The roads to and from Loch Lomond are excellent and the scenery is worth a drive in its own right. But the golf at the famous club isn't accessible to the visiting public.

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For the Ayrshire courses in detail: Ayrshire Golf Guide — Playing the Open Coast for Less. For Arran: Shiskine Golf and Tennis Club — A Complete Guide. For Machrihanish: Machrihanish Golf Club — the Old Mach.