A Journal for the Thrifty Gowfer
How-to, logistics
Edinburgh's practice scene runs through one big name and two good outliers — Braid Hills' Trackman bays, Swanston's rare grass bays under the Pentlands, and the Melville centre out on the A7.
Five proper driving ranges within reach of Glasgow, every fact checked against the operator — the R&A's double-decker at Golf It!, the south side's Toptracer academy, and the Trackman range hiding in Uddingston.
The short answer is no — if you know where to look. Scotland has some of the most expensive golf on earth and some of the cheapest. The full breakdown by tier.
Most visitors don't need a separate golf-specific policy. Some of you absolutely do. The straight answer, from someone with no skin in selling you anything you don't need.
Aberdeen sits between Royal Aberdeen and Murcar, two of Scotland's finest links. But the city also has a municipal links at King's Links for under £25, and a cluster of parklands that visitors routinely miss.
Dundee sits 15 minutes from Carnoustie and 45 minutes from St Andrews. The city's own municipal courses have now closed — but the surrounding Angus coast has some of the best-value links in Scotland.
Inverness is the gateway to Highland golf — Castle Stuart is on the doorstep, Nairn is 15 minutes east, and Royal Dornoch is 45 minutes north. The city itself has affordable parkland for a warm-up round.
Some pro shops sell a per-round insurance product that promises to refund your green fee if the course closes mid-round. We have spent a depressing amount of time reading the policy wording. Here's whether it's worth a tenner.
A society of eight playing four rounds in Ayrshire is not the same insurance question as two friends on a long weekend. The manual for organisers — public liability, group cover, equipment limits, and the providers who actually do this.
Several of Scotland's most famous clubs have one thing in common: they don't take visitor bookings on weekends. This is not widely advertised. It is written into the booking terms. Here's which clubs restrict weekend access, which don't, and how to plan a trip that accounts for both.