Gullane No 1 Course is one of the best links courses in the world

Feature from SIGTOA member Peter Craigon, Managing Director, Morton Golf Holidays. – 17th Feb 2017

Gullane No 1 Course on Scotland's East Coast is one of the best links courses in the world and yesterday I was delighted to play it as a guest of long time member and champion Lindsay Gordon.

Lindsay was partnered by another member of over 10 years standing, Alastair Taylor whilst my partner was my life-long golfing buddy and friend Iain (Giddy) Simpson who is the Managing Secretary at Crieff Golf Club.

Now Giddy and I did not play too badly but we were very soundly beaten by an onslaught of birdies especially from Lindsay who in the words of his partner “somebody should remind Lindsay what age he is.

In fact, he is actually 66 years old and in his round yesterday he beat his age scoring a sensational 65 ( 6 under par ) – and we were off the medal tees so the course was playing just under 6600 yards with an SSS of 72.

All I can say is that it was a privilege to witness such a fantastic round at such close quarters – having 8 birdies round the course which in 2015 hosted the Scottish Open won by Rickie Fowler was wonderful golf.

In fact Lindsay had 8 birdies in a 13 hole stretch from the 4th to the 16th – 5 of those coming in a row from the 12th!

It’s a long time since I have been in a match where I was rooting so much for my opponent – Iain and I having lost 5 and 3 on the 15th green.

When on 16 Lindsay knocked a 5 iron into 6 feet and holed it for two – that meant if he could birdie the last 2 holes it would be a 10 birdie round with 8 of those coming on the back 9 !!!

As it turned out both birdie putts on 17 and 18 missed narrowly but what a round – and from a golfer who is an OAP !

Yesterday we were blessed with the most fantastic Scottish winter weather – no wind, sunny all the way round and a temperature of around 10 degrees centigrade.

The views “up” the (Firth of) Forth to Edinburgh and beyond to the new Forth Bridge were nothing short of sensational.

I am delighted to say we have a number of clients playing at Gullane this year and I know they will have a wonderful golfing experience.

Thanks to Gullane for yesterday – the course was fantastic as was the revamped clubhouse and of course I will remember Lindsay’s round for many a year to come.

The Epic Golf Adventure by Morton Golf

The “epic golf adventure” arranged by Morton Golf Holidays – a two month mega trip to Scotland.

Submitted by Chris Oldham from the USA

When I started thinking about a long, solo trip to Scotland, my first instinct was to reach out to Morton Golf Holidays. I had used them to book golf trips to Scotland before, but what I was contemplating was so much more than the standard 10 day “hit as many big name courses as you can trip” that most tour operators steer you towards (not that these aren’t great trips).

I approached Peter about what came to be known as the “epic golf adventure” – a two month trip through the off-the-beaten-path parts of Scotland to explore the courses that most golfers will never see. Peter’s first thought was to schedule open competitions to save money and to ensure that my goal of playing as may rounds with local gofers was met, so we looked at some of the most prominent 1-day competitions and booked several in different locations, along with a few rounds at courses I had really wanted to play along the way such as Cruden Bay and Royal Aberdeen. 

I had indicated that I didn’t want to be traveling long distances every day, so Peter suggested setting up lodging in 6 different cities for 6 to 10 days apiece, not only for the golfing convenience, but to get to know the places I would be staying, get to know the people in those areas and take away any sense of being rushed during the trip. By this time, Donald McLeod had joined in the planning stage and we finalized the details of the trip and all I had to do was contain my excitement until the date of my departure.

Once I arrived in Scotland, I was met at the airport by Donald who was waiting with my rental car and an invitation to lunch in Pitlochry. Donald and I had a great lunch where we talked about my expectations during the trip. I had told them that I wanted the trip to be very flexible (other than the open competitions) and I wanted to get up in the morning and have the freedom to do whatever I wanted that day. Knowing that, Donald and I exchanged cell phone numbers and I went on my way.

Throughout the weeks of my trip, I would call or text Donald or Peter for some information, or they would contact me with an opportunity that they thought I might be interested in, but the planning of the trip had been so well executed that I never had any problems doing any of the things I had hoped to do. At every stop the accommodations were unbelievable and all of the courses both Peter and Donald had recommended were excellent. 

The only hiccup on my end was a tweaked back and a quick text to Donald allowed me to deal with that and go back to my adventure. As I closed out the adventure, I had the opportunity to play a round with Peter and Donald and it’s obvious that golf is not only their business, but also their passion.

This is now my third trip planned by Morton Golf Holidays and each of them have been fantastic! 

From the luxury trip I first took with them, to the budget follow-up trip, and finally to this epic adventure Morton Golf Holidays has provided the absolute best golfing experience. I highly recommend that anyone looking for a golf experience at any level of luxury or price point contact them and let Morton Golf Holidays put together your epic golf adventure!

Chris Oldham visited Scotland from The Stataes Between June and August 2016.

Find out more about Morton Golf Holidays

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Prestwick is the Home of The Open. Is it on your list?

According to Peter Craigon of Mortong Golf Holidays Prestwick Golf Club on the Ayrshire coast “Should be on everyone’s MUST play list” and he explains why below

On Monday this week we took part in the wonderful annual Prestwick Fun Day which has a unique six ball "foursome" format!

Our Morton Golf Holidays team consisted of Donald McLeod our Associate Director, Sam Craigon my son who is assistant pro at Balbirnie Park GC in Fife and myself and we were hosted on the day by our Team Captain Allan Cook a member of Prestwick for over 20 years. I have been lucky enough to play regularly at Prestwick since the late 70's and played in the Scottish Amateur there in 1979. I was delighted to see Keith McIntosh who was the champion from that year also taking part in the Fun Day on Monday as he is a long standing member of Prestwick.

Everything about the venerable old place just oozes “class“.

From the history of the golf course and the clubhouse to the wonderful welcome you will receive when you play there it really is one of the best places in the world to play golf. The golf course itself is a classic old style links course which has hosted 24 Open Championships and the variety of its wonderful holes means you will remember every one of them long after you have played there.

I should also mention the Dining Room. Lunch at Prestwick is one of the great experiences in golf anywhere and there is nothing better than a round on the great links followed by a proper lunch and a couple of kummels to really get you going for the day. I believe the members sometimes refer to kummel as “putting juice “ as once you have had a couple the hands seem so much steadier on the putter for your afternoon round.

I would love to arrange for your group to play at Prestwick the next time you come to Scotland and I’d be delighted to add it to your itinerary on your next trip.

Castle Stuart has become a "must play" recommendation for many operators.

Castle Stuart Golf Links the host to the Scottish Open again in 2016 and Peter Craigon tells you why he reckons that this layout is one more of those MUST play courses when you visit Scotland. 

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of spending a couple of days at Castle Stuart on an early season mini-tour with 3 of my great golfing buddies – Donald McLeod is our Associate Director, Robin Duncan is the current Captain of Blairgowrie GC and Alan Wilson is a past Captain and Secretary of the 81 year old Perth Academy FPs GC. In fact all four of us are members of that wonderful old golf club having gone to school at Perth Academy (many years ago!)

I had played Castle Stuart on a number of occasions since it opened in 2009 and we have had some great feedback from clients we have sent there regularly in that time. However, I had not previously stayed in their accommodation. We stayed in their onsite Farmhouse which is a high class conversion only a drive and a wedge from the clubhouse. I can thoroughly recommend it as a base for anyone looking to play golf in the Highlands. The accommodation had 4 bedrooms and can easily accommodate 4 to 8 golfers and had a great lounge with Sky Sports to we enjoyed a few glasses of something nice whilst watching the PGA Tour event late into the night. We had a full Scottish breakfast in the clubhouse the next morning which was as good as any you would find in any of the hotels or guest houses up and down the country!

I must also say there can no other top class links golf course in Scotland with such fabulous scenery from more or less every hole (and I should know as I have played over 250 of Scotland’s wonderful golf courses over the years). The views to the west and north of Inverness and across to the Black Isle are simply spectacular. The course was designed jointly by Gil Hanse (he has just completed the course for this year’s Olympics in Rio) and Mark Parsinen and what a great job they have done. Every hole is fair yet challenging and it will be great to see some of the top players in the world warm up for The Open when the Scottish Open takes place at Castle Stuart in July. Simply put Castle Stuart is great links golf and is one of the reasons so many of the world’s best players think it is a great warm up for the Open at Royal Troon.

Also worth noting that it is not just me and our clients who think Castle Stuart is a great place to play golf – none other than Arnold Palmer visited last year and he and his design team are set to build what will be Arnie’s first golf course in Britain – the course is due to start being built next year – what an unbelievable prospect – taking what is one of Scotland’s very best links golf courses and adding another one right beside it with Arnold Palmer’s masterful design – I for one can’t wait.

Castle Stuart is one of the best golf experiences Scotland has to offer so why not ask me or Donald McLeod to add it to your itinerary the next time you come to Scotland along with Royal Dornoch and Nairn. In fact, to make the most of the experience we can add a high class whisky tasting in the Castle Stuart clubhouse run by one of the experts from the Tomatin Distillery.

Find out More on Morton Golf Website

Two New Tours from Morton Golf Holidays

SIGTOA member Morton Golf Holidays are promoting two new golf and whisky tours for 2016 on their website. This is definitely one is for the golfers out there who also enjoy a dram combining the Home of Golf with  Uisge beatha, the Water of Life!

Director Peter Craigon explained further,

“Having worked for a long time in the whisky industry, and being fortunate enough to be made a ‘Keeper of the Quaich’, I am in a unique position to combine the finest golf courses across Scotland with the most prestigious and renowned whisky distilleries to create the perfect bespoke Golf and Whisky Tour for our clients in 2016.” 

 

The two exciting additions feature both wonderful golf and classic malts. 

New Morton Golf Holidays Whisky and Golf Tour

• Day 1 – Arrive – stay in Gleneagles for 3 nights 
• Day 2 – Gleneagles Kings + Tullibardine Distillery VIP tour
• Day 3 – Deanston Distillery VIP Tour and visit the Trossachs
• Day 4 – Gleneagles PGA + Famous Grouse VIP Tour - Stay in St Andrews for 4 nights
• Day 5 – Kingsbarns + VIP Distillery Tour
• Day 6 – Edinburgh City Tour + Scotch Whisky Experience Tour
• Day 7 – Old Course + whisky tasting
• Day 8 – Depart

Slightly different is the new Golf and History Tour too, back to Peter again,

"This one is for the golfers out there who want to find out why Scotland attracts people from all over the world to savour our national heritage. The trip typically combines great golf with a flavour of some of Scotland's most historic venues. The old Tom Morris talk is great fun too and highly informative"

New Morton Golf Holidays Golf and History Tour

• Day 1 – Arrive – stay in Gleneagles for 3 nights 
• Day 2 – Gleneagles Kings + Scone Palace accompanied tour
• Day 3 – Accompanied tours of Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument 
• Day 4 – Gleneagles Queens Course and local history talk - Stay in St Andrews for 4 nights
• Day 5 – Crail Balcomie and Golf History talk
• Day 6 – Accompanied Edinburgh City Tour 
• Day 7 – Old Course + Old Tom Morris Talk
• Day 8 – Depart

As ever all bookings subject to availability. 

For more information on these two Tours please con us direct at info@mortongolf.com or find out more about Morton Golf Holidays on the SIGTOA website.