A caddie’s perspective on Scottish golf vacations
Nick stands on the Swilcan Bridge, on the 18th hole of the Old Course, in his caddie bib.
The first week that Haley and I were in Scotland, I wandered into the Links Pavilion to ask for a job caddying for the St Andrews Links Trust. Long story short, I spent our first 10 weeks in the country looping for tourists on the Old Course, the New Course, and the Castle Course. The experience opened my eyes to how people typically plan a trip to Scotland and what they (unfortunately) get wrong.
Here are 3 of my biggest learnings, that we take inspiration from in every golf experience we book.
Lesson #1: Nobody knows why they’re spending what they’re spending
Of the 30+ rounds I caddied, the vast majority were on the Castle Course. The Castle is a 2009 addition to the St Andrews Links Trust, designed by David McLay Kidd—the architect best known for his work on Bandon Dunes.
McLay Kidd’s design is the 7th addition to the local links trust, most famous for the Old Course and the New Course.
I spent so much time at the Castle because the veteran caddies avoided it for two reasons:
1. It was a challenging walk.
Compared to the nuanced but relatively flat terrain of the Links Trust courses right in the town of St Andrews, the Castle is built into the surrounding hillside just east of town. As a result, it features dramatic undulation and very extreme greens. We’re talking major 3-putt (or 4-putt) territory, for even the best players I caddied for.
2. It plays slooooow.
Largely as a result of the dramatic course design, but supported by the stunning aerial photo opps of St Andrews in the distance, a round on the Castle Course is at least 4.5 hours, with some stretching to 5+. This is a significant difference from the closely marshaled 4 hour limits on the Old.
All this to say: The Castle Course is beautiful, but it really isn’t for everyone.
And yet, 90% of tourists who showed up on the first tee didn’t know this. They were booked onto the Castle because it has tons of availability, pre-booking flexibility, and is often grouped into packages with the more traditional courses in town.
Time and time again these tourists, who were paying $500USD + for the day, kicked things off by asking me when the course was built, and whether it was another Old Tom Morris design.
I quickly learned that nobody knew where tour companies were sending them—or why.
Haley walks from Elie’s 17th green to make a reservation at the Nineteenth Hole pub that borders the golf course.
Lesson #2: People are missing half the magic
When I asked players about their trips, nearly everyone listed 5 of the same 6 golf courses. I quickly saw that these tour groups were being shipped onto identical cookie-cutter itineraries, without any consideration of what actually made the most sense for their game, their group, or their budget.
The St Andrews area alone has incredible depth. Sure there are the prolific tier 1 courses—the ones these folks were naming on repeat—like the Old, the New, Kingsbarns, and Carnoustie. But what we love most about Scotland is how many great courses exist beyond the blockbuster hits.
Unlike Ireland, where golf courses were largely built around occupying British army bases, limiting the density and increasing the distance between each great layout, Scotland has over 600 golf courses—many of them close by one another and most of them worth a visit.
When people wind up on the same cut & pasted trip plan, they miss out on the charm of Elie, the style of Dunbar, and some of the inland treasures like Blairgowrie.
Lesson #3: Golfers think Scotland has to be expensive
As a result of these same 6 courses showing up on every tourist’s itinerary, people start believing that it’s the only way to do a great golf vacation to Scotland.
But that means that so many golfers hear about the price tag for this blockbuster itinerary, and immediately count themselves out of a trip to Scotland—wrongly assuming it has to be a $7–10k trip—or save up until they can afford that, whether or not it’s the right trip for them.
The truth is that mixing in some of the country’s lesser known gems not only gives you a unique experience, but it can dramatically decrease the bill. A 10k+ trip to Scotland will typically be pretty fun. But a 4k trip can be too—depending on what you’re looking for out of the experience.
Nick’s group putts on the the 18th green at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland,
My takeaways as a caddie
I kept waiting to be proven wrong, but I never was. Time and again folks showed up for their round at the Castle Course without a clue about what it was or why they were there, when they could have been spending a fraction of the price (and having way more fun) playing something traditional but tucked away down the road.
Regardless of which course it was on, getting to help people have a bucket list day never got old. But these learnings did inspire us to start planning Scotland golf vacations that are actually customized to the group. Our promise is to get you on the golf courses that make sense, give you some unique experiences, and help you fall in love with the magic of links golf.
