by Tom Coyne
5
Dundonald Links
7,100
72
75
Isle of Barra Golf Course
2,462
34
37
Askernish Golf Club
6,259
72
79
Askernish Golf Club
6,259
72
74
Askernish Golf Club
6,259
72
76
Askernish Golf Club
6,259
72
77
Bruntsfield Links (Open Qualifier)
6,437
70
80
The Original Bruntsfield Links
500
27
27
* Denotes nine-hole course played twice or with two balls.
Total Yards: 657,450
Total Rounds: 111
Total Days: 57
Holes per day: 33.4
Total Holes: 1,908
Total Score: 7,858 (542 over par)
The Lists
My Top-of-the-Pops, I’d-Change-My-Flight-to-Play-It-Tomorrow Courses
1. Askernish
2. Cruden Bay
3. St. Enodoc
4. Shiskine
5. Machrihanish Old
6. Machrihanish Dunes
7. Old Course
8. Brora
9. Murcar
10. Nairn
My Top Open Rota Experiences
1. Old Course
2. Prestwick
3. Royal Birkdale
4. Royal St. George’s
5. Carnoustie
6. Royal Cinque Ports
7. Muirfield
8. Troon
9. Turnberry
10. Prince’s
My I’m-Only-Doing-Scotland-Once Courses
1. Old Course
2. North Berwick
3. Royal Dornoch
4. Kingsbarns
5. Cruden Bay
6. Machrihanish Old
7. Carnoustie
8. Prestwick
9. Castle Stuart
10. Royal Aberdeen
My But-I-Already-Played-Those-Courses Courses
1. Brora
2. Glen
3. Dunbar
4. Lundin
5. Crail Balcomie
6. Elie
7. Fraserburgh
8. Gullane
9. Castle Course, St. Andrews
10. Western Gailes
My True-Wanderer Tracks
1. Askernish
2. Shiskine
3. Durness
4. Dunaverty
5. Reay
6. Wick
7. Whalsay
8. Tain
9. Isle of Barra
10. Skeabost
My Best Wee Ones (Short Walks and Nine-Holers)
1. Shiskine
2. Anstruther
3. Cullen
4. Covesea
5. Traigh
6. Carradale
7. Isle of Skye
8. Tobermory
9. Tarbat
10. Rosehearty
My Top Courses of England and Wales
1. St. Enodoc
2. Wallasey
3. Royal Birkdale
4. Royal St. George’s
5. Perranporth
6. Conwy
7. Bull Bay
8. Royal Cinque Ports
9. Holyhead
10. Trevose
My Loves-That-Didn’t-Make-a-List
1. Kilspindie
2. Burntisland
3. Stonehaven
4. Newburgh on Ythan
5. Kinghorn
6. Golspie
7. Spey Bay
8. Dundonald
9. Barassie
10. Kingarrock
My Top Nineteenth Holes
1. Muirfield
2. St. Andrews (the Dunvegan)
3. Machrihanish Dunes
4. Castle Stuart
5. North Berwick
6. Skibo
7. Kingsbarns
8. Trevose (England)
9. Bull Bay (Wales)
10. Rosehearty (the Mason Arms)
My Top Golf Accommodations
1. The Ugadale Hotel, Machrihanish
2. The Royal Hotel, Campbeltown
3. The Sandown House, Nairn
4. Renaissance Club, Clubhouse, North Berwick
5. Milleur House, North Berwick
6. Golf View Guest House, Prestwick
7. Meldrum House, Aberdeen
8. Kilmarnock Arms, Cruden Bay
9. Number One B&B, Deal, England
10. Number Fifteen B&B, Hoylake, England
My Top Scotland Itineraries
1. The Golf Coast—Play: North Berwick, Glen, Dunbar, Muirfield, Gullane, Kilspindie, Craigielaw, Luffness, Archerfield, Renaissance. Stay: Milleur House, Renaissance Clubhouse, Craigielaw Clubhouse, Marine Hotel, or rent a home from NorthBerwickHolidayHomes.co.uk.
2. East Fife—Play: St. Andrews (Old, New, Castle, Jubilee), Crail, Kingsbarns, Anstruther, Elie, Lundin, Leven, Burntisland, Panmure, Carnoustie. Stay: Rusacks Hotel, or rent in St. Andrews from FifeCottages.co.uk or East Fife Letting Company.
3. Aberdeen—Play: Cruden Bay, Royal Aberdeen, Murcar, Fraserburgh, Stonehaven, Newburgh on Ythan. Stay: Meldrum House.
4. Inverness and the Highlands—Play: Nairn, Cullen, Covesea, Castle Stuart, Fortrose & Rosemarkie, Moray, Tain, Royal Dornoch, Golspie, Brora. Stay: Sandown House in Nairn, or Links House in Dornoch.
5. Western Getaway—Ferry to play Shiskine, then ferry to play Machrihanish Old, Machrihanish Dunes, Dunaverty, Carradale. Stay: The Ugadale Hotel.
6. Ayrshire—Play: Prestwick, Prestwick St. Nicholas, Troon, Turnberry, Western Gailes, Glasgow Gailes, Dundonald, Barassie. Stay: Golf View Guest House, Prestwick.
My Top Reasons to Go
1. Golf
2. Sea
3. Links
4. Scotland
5. From where you’re sitting right now, you can get only some of the above, and none of it touches the feeling of following your ball across the dunes at twilight.
Acknowledgments
My gratitude for this adventure begins with Jofie Ferrari-Adler at Simon & Schuster, a sage editor and trusted ally, and a damn fine golfer. Jofie provided me space to wander and unwavering support; he gave me far more than the chance to write this book. And aside from my family, nobody has stood by me more than my agent, Dan Mandel, a friend who changed my life the day I met him.
The arrangement of this trip took a confluence of good fortune and good people, and some of the best include: At Visit Scotland, Malcolm Roughead, Alan Grant, Euan Munsie, Adam Couper, and especially David Connor, who helped piece together an itinerary I’m sure they hope is never again attempted. At Golf Tourism England, Andrew Cooke was of great insight and support, and at Visit Wales, Claire Sanders was a valuable advocate. And many thanks to the members of Belleair Country Club in Florida and the McCall and Meadowlands clubs in Philadelphia for your generous tee sheets, and for waving this single through.
Much credit goes to the books that augmented my links education: True Links by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell and The Story of Golf by George Peper; Paul Daley’s Links Golf; Gary Sutherland’s Golf on the Rocks; and everything by the late Jim Finegan, an irreplaceable gentleman of the game. Many thanks to Neil Laird and his ScottishGolfHistory.org, an utterly addictive website that reads with the depth and intrigue of a good novel.
Old friends at Mizuno and Titleist/FootJoy were again there for me when I came calling for gear: Bill Price at Mizuno fit me with clubs better than I deserved, and Bill Lacy, Joe Games, Chris Garrett, and June Medeiros kept my feet well and dry and my ball supply healthy. And new friends at Seamus Golf, Criquet Shirts, and Jones Golf had me outfitted as the player I aspired to become.
Man
y thanks to Thomas Young at Ballpark Blueprints for painstaking work on the poster I gifted around the UK, and to Kevin Kirk at Recounter Photography for images I only half believe are me. Julianna Haubner and Benjamin Holmes at Simon & Schuster made this a much better book, and to Jonathan Karp, Jerry Quinlan, Tom Casey, Jim Slattery, Mike Dynda, Dr. Jim Suttie, John Boyne, Gordon Murray, Scott Pauli, Mike Doyle, Claire Bruce, Graham Lane, Sarah Turner, Laurie Watson, Kevin Friend, Bob Schroeder, Cristin Luck, Ru Macdonald, Lee Wybranski, Billy Collins, Ralph Thompson, Anna Bedney, Joshua Evenson, and Archie Baird: your wisdom and talents all added a great deal to a trip I will relive as long as memory allows.
To the friends who joined me and became a part of these pages: I cannot adequately thank you for your friendship, your insights, and your genuine selves. And to Allyson and my girls, my search for a miracle need never have left home.
About the Author
© KEVIN KIRK, RECOUNTER PHOTOGRAPHY
TOM COYNE is the author of the New York Times bestseller A Course Called Ireland, Paper Tiger, and the novel A Gentleman’s Game, named one of the best twenty-five sports books of all time by the Philadelphia Daily News and adapted into a motion picture starring Gary Sinise. He has written for Golf Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Golfer’s Journal, and numerous other publications. He earned an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Notre Dame, where he won the William Mitchell Award for distinguished achievement. He lives outside Philadelphia with his wife and two daughters, and he is an associate professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University.
@CoyneWriter
www.TomCoyne.com
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ALSO BY TOM COYNE
Fiction
A Gentleman’s Game
Nonfiction
Paper Tiger
A Course Called Ireland
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Copyright © 2018 by Tom Coyne
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
PHOTO INSERT CREDITS:
Insert p. 1—top photo (Open Dreaming); p. 6—bottom two photos (Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC and Castle Stuart); and p. 8—top photo (Highlands): Courtesy of Kevin Kirk/Recounter.
Insert p. 4—bottom photo (chute): Courtesy of Kevin Markham.
All other photos are courtesy of Tom Coyne.
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition July 2018
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Interior design by Ruth Lee-Mui
Maps on chapter openers by Jeffrey L. Ward
Jacket Design and Front Cover Photograph by Robert Schroeder
Back Cover Photograph Courtesy of Kevin Markham
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-4767-5428-4
ISBN 978-1-4767-5430-7 (ebook)