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Scotland plays host a large number of golf courses, several of which are so renowned that they form part of the golf course rotation for the British Open championship; one of the game’s four major championships. This year golfing breaks are an ideal way to get away from the stress of modern living. You don’t have to spend a whole week playing golf, so why not take a golf holiday just one of the opportunities for weekend breaks in Scotland

From its inception in 1860 the British Open was organised by and played at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland but from 1872 the tournament was played according to a rotating course schedule. Initially, the schedule featured three courses - Prestwick, St. Andrews and Musselburgh which were all situated in Scotland. However, in 1893, two additional golf courses were added to the list - both in England. These courses were Royal St. George’s and Royal Liverpool Golf Club, also known as Hoylake. Both these courses feature on the current rotation along with St. Andrews, although Prestwick and Musselburgh are no longer part of the schedule.

Since 1893, other golf courses have been added to the rotation while others have been dropped. In all there are nine golf courses which make up the current list of venues; 5 in Scotland and 4 in England.

In Scotland, the courses which form the Open rotation are the Old Course, St. Andrews; Carnoustie Golf Links; Muirfield; Turnberry Ailsa and Royal Troon. Golfers looking to tackle these and other courses in their immediate area can do so by booking a Scottish golf break which offers the chance for handicap golfers to walk in the footsteps of some of the games most illustrious players, such as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Hogan, James Braid, Sandy Lyle and Tiger Woods.

Each of the golf courses on the Scottish rotation are easily accessible from Scotland’s major airports and golf breaks in Scotland normally include travel costs, accommodation and green fees for the course so all you need once you arrive is your golf clubs and afterwards, your wallet in order to slake your thirst at the 19th hole.

Carnoustie is situated in the Angus region of Scotland, and represents a tough test for even the best golfer. It last held the Open in 2007, which was won by Ireland’s Padraig Harrington. Like all courses on the Open list, Carnoustie is a links golf course, and is very difficult when the wind blows!

For St. Andrews, book a golf break in Fife. The Old Course is known as the ‘home of golf’ and is perhaps the most famous golf course in the world and hosts the Open every fifth year and is due to return in 2010. Beware of the infamous ‘Roadhole bunker’!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 12:07 pm and is filed under The Travelers Trail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.