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Ireland and Scotland compared as Golf Destinations
by Rick Hendershot, The WeekEndGolfer
www.internetgolfreview.com and www.theweg.com
This article is taken from a summary of a golf holiday Judy
(my wife and sometimes golfing partner) and I took to Donegal, Ireland in July,
2004. For the complete article, along with some great photos, see the article,
"The
Golf in Ireland is Really Tremendous".
After planning a golf trip to Ireland for
almost 18 months, Judy and I finally got there this July (2004). Home base was
about 6 miles outside of Donegal Town in County Donegal way up in the northwest
of the island, on the Atlantic side. We had set up a house swap with the owner
of a beautifully renovated Irish
"cottage" which just happens to be about two miles from Donegal Golf
Course — a world class, and quite difficult links course.
A few people have asked me if I prefer Ireland
to Scotland (which we have visited a couple of times) either as places to visit,
or places to play golf. It is hard to say. Neither of them would suit the person
looking for a lot of warm weather and sun. But if you are into history and
"culture", it is hard to beat either of them. And, of course, as far as golf is
concerned there are lots of interesting golf courses in both places.
There are some important cultural differences.
Judging from the books I saw in the stores I visited, Scotland is big on
battles, clans and castles while Ireland is much concerned with poetry, music
and literature. I was also quite surprised at how difficult it was to find
information on Irish history. It is as if they just don't want to talk about the
hundreds of years they have spent trying to free themselves from English
domination, exploitation and tyranny.
Ireland feels more visitor-friendly, at least
in the superficial ways that tourists notice. The roads are usually just a bit
wider and easier to navigate (Scottish road signs are pretty obscure until you
get used to them), and there seemed to be more North American style restaurants
within easy reach. They also use the Euro in the Republic of Ireland, and I
found it a more tourist-friendly currency — probably because it is closer in
value to the Canadian dollar.
Of course our trips to Scotland were both to
pretty remote areas. We spent most of our 2001 trip in the Dornoch area, with a
4 day trip to Macrahanish way down in the Mull of Kintyre. For our 2003 trip we
stayed in a cottage near Grantown-on-Spey, and traveled to ten or twelve
relatively isolated golf courses scattered across the Scottish
Highlands.
In the Scottish Highlands you get a real taste
of the unique countryside and the variations from small region to small region
by driving on any of the numerous very remote one lane roads. For instance, our
trip along the "whiskey trail" inland from the Spey was memorable, not only for
the many distilleries we visited, but also for the fantastically rugged scenery
and isolated countryside up in the hills. After another side trip up through
Wick and Thurso to John O'Groats way up in the north, we decided to return via
an inland route. It stretched on for miles and miles of mostly deserted one lane
road precariously perched on the side of rugged hills and valleys with nothing
but sheep to keep us company.
Compared to these Scottish treks, the landscape
in Ireland is what I would describe as more pastoral and "less harsh". We did
see some pretty rugged countryside in Ireland, but there was a greater sense of
isolation and remoteness in Scotland. In Ireland -- even up in the very most
remote northern part -- you were never far from other cars. And there were new
houses and (what we call) "subdivisions" going up almost everywhere. We saw
almost none of that in Scotland.
Irish Golf vs Scottish Golf
As far as the golf is concerned, I think
Ireland is probably further ahead in making the game more accessible to a wider
spectrum of golfers. I doubt if Ballybunion (which we did not go near) will ever
replace St. Andrews as the world's primary golf destination. And there are
probably as many, if not more, second tier big name courses in Ireland for the
serious golfing traveler -- you know those guys in the expensive rain gear and
the 8 man tour bus who want to cover off as many courses as they can in 10 days.
But I'm not sure there are too many courses in
Scotland in the mid-range of affordability to compare with Donegal or Enniscrone
or even Ballyliffin. The people who run these courses in Ireland seem to have
made a concerted effort to keep their prices down and cater to the golf
traveller. Most Irish courses also have power carts available, which was pretty
rare in Scotland, at least where we visited.
Part of the "affordability" problem is the
inflated value of the British pound. When we were in Scotland in 2001 we played
North Berwick, an historic course just south of St. Andrews (North Berwick is
also the home of the original Redan par 3). It cost 45 pounds at that time,
which converted to roughly $110 Canadian. In comparison, Donegal -- arguably a
"better" course but lacking the history -- was 50 Euros full price (around $80
Canadian). And we were able to negotiate a 50% reduction at Donegal based on our
extended stay. So that's roughly 1/3 the price of North Berwick. Nobody offered
me a 50% reduction in Scotland.
The closest we came to this kind of "value" in
Scotland was at Brora (just north of Dornoch) (30 pounds/ approx $75cad),
Macrahanish (25 pounds/approx $60 cad), and the Struie Course at Dornoch (also
25 pounds). These courses all have more unique charm (in my estimation), but
less "polish" than their closest Irish equivalents.
Having said all that, I have almost no desire
to go play the big names or even 2nd tier name courses in Ireland (Ballybunion,
Royal Portrush, Portmarnock, Royal County Down), but would gladly go back to
play Donegal, Sligo, Enniscrone, Ballyliffin, and many others I did not have the
chance to play this time around.
On the other hand, I really would like
to play some of the "name" courses in Scotland: The Old Course (of course),
Kingsbairns, Gleneagles, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Prestwick, Royal Troon,
Muirfield (yea, right!). And yes, I would like to live in Dornoch for at least a
year or two and play Royal Dornoch four or five times a week.
— Rick Hendershot, www.theweg.com (The WeekEndGolfer)
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