Golf Touring in Britain: Links, Heathland and Early Tee Times

Fife, and why St Andrews sets the shape

St Andrews is the anchor of any Scottish golf itinerary, with the Old Course and several others managed together on the same links. Access to the Old Course is competitive and allocated through arrangements that need engaging with well in advance; the course also traditionally rests on Sundays, when the public walk it. Around it, Kingsbarns, Crail, Elie and Carnoustie put a week of serious golf within a short radius. Edinburgh is a straightforward run south across the Forth, which makes an airport arrival and a Fife base a workable pattern.

The heathland belt west of London

Surrey and Berkshire hold a concentration of heathland courses on sandy soil among pine and heather, and they play completely differently from links. Sunningdale, Wentworth, Swinley Forest, The Berkshire, Walton Heath and St George's Hill sit within a small area west and south west of London. That proximity matters practically. A visitor can play in the morning and be back in central London or at Heathrow by early evening, which is why so much corporate and visiting golf happens here rather than further afield.

• Heathland courses cluster tightly west and south west of London
• Kent links at Sandwich and Deal sit close together on the coast
• Fife puts several championship links within a short radius
• Airport proximity often decides which region suits a short trip

Tee times drive everything else

Golf travel differs from other touring in one respect: the fixed point is not an opening hour but a tee time, and missing it usually means not playing. That pushes departures earlier than people expect, particularly for a first tee before mid-morning with a drive at either end. Visitor access, dress codes, handicap requirements and guest policies vary widely between clubs and change. All of that is set by the club and needs confirming directly rather than assumed from a general reputation.

Bags, trolleys and boot space

Four players with full bags, trolleys and shoe bags is a genuine luggage load, and it is the most common cause of a vehicle being the wrong size. Bags need to travel flat or upright without being wedged, and wet gear at the end of a round wants somewhere to go. Telling us the number of players and whether bags are travelling with them means the right vehicle is allocated rather than discovered to be too small in a club car park. Shared bags between two players change the answer considerably.

Weather, season and the shape of a golf trip

Links golf is at its best from late spring to early autumn, though the wind is the variable that matters more than the month. Heathland courses drain well and play year round, with winter greens in the worst weather. Scottish summer daylight is long enough for thirty-six holes in a day, which is a real advantage in June. In midwinter the window is short enough that a single round fills the usable light, so trips shorten accordingly.

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