A couple of weeks ago, I detailed the family vacation I took to Sweden and Denmark earlier this summer.

Here’s a visual look at my trip via short Instagram snippets.

View post on Instagram
 

GHIN

On the back end of that, I went to Scotland for ten days during The Open to play and watch golf. I met my friend Dan Horner (aka “D-Block” aka “Ax Capital” aka “Nicholas Brody”) and we played nearly every round with Scots who are members at each club. Some of these hosts were Dan’s friends from the mid-am golf circuit, some were people we met along the way, and others were just folks who reached out via email or social after they saw we were in Scotland. Without fail, each person’s willingness to host, point out the intricacies on the course, answer a multitude of questions about the area and the club, and just spend quality time on the course reaffirmed everything I love about golf - the willingness to meet strangers and walk off the eighteenth green as friends, the personality of each club, and the couple of phrases or terms I pick up each trip and then repeat in perpetuity (more on that below.)

Here’s a down and dirty, train of thought summary of the trip, along with some lasting reflections…

This trip I flew into Edinburgh, as there were no directs from Stockholm into Glasgow. EDI is always a breeze until you leave the baggage claim in the customs area and make the interminable march to the rental car facility - this remains one of the more soul-crushing walks in all of golf. Driving on the left side of the road becomes less of a consideration with each passing trip to the UK or Australia, and over the last two years, I think I’ve banked seven weeks of experience on that side. This time, I really worked on roundabout skills and mastering when and where to signal in the course of those roundabouts. That said, something that always trips me up is the way that cars park in both directions along both sides of the road - this is disconcerting as often it counteracts other reminders to drive on the left when you’re hopping in the car. I’ve always appreciated road signs in the UK, particularly in Scotland. Simple terms like “Queues Likely” immediately transport me, and names like Kirk of Shotts, Windy-Yett, Crookedholm, and Coodham (I’m not even picking out unique names! - just listing places I passed on the way from EDI to Prestwick) put a smile on my face.


After a ninety-minute drive, I rocked up to Prestwick and met Dan out on the course around the eighth hole. We were hosted by a couple of delightful members (one of whom is a walking conundrum, a +3 handicap who plays Titleist T350 irons - that delighted me to no end!), and I feel like I understand golf and how/why it developed the way it did after playing Prestwick. Just a brilliant course, much more meaty than I anticipated, and grounded in hospitality and camaraderie between members. The place felt like the hub for the golf world during Open week.

We had a 36-hole day at Turnberry on Monday, with the King Robert the Bruce course in the morning. The “B-side” course at the club, it punched above its weight with a spectacular stretch in the middle, the thought-provoking combination of width and bunkering that messes with your eye and alters your depth perception, and a flatter linksland feel than its more-celebrated big brother. In the afternoon, The Ailsa was as good as advertised, and the DT-led changes to the course are brilliant (with the exception of a burn on 16 that feels needlessly artificial), with the stretch from 7 through 11 as picturesque as anything I’ve played worldwide. That said, this is not a course that I’d want to play every day - the walk is big, the dunes are huge, and the golf is more akin to Lahinch or Ballybunion than to other courses in Scotland - big and brooding and a bear if the wind is up. We had it on a placid day, so it’s likely we didn’t get the full experience. It was a bit surreal being at Turnberry less than 36 hours after the DT assassination attempt, especially in the midst of leaving the country for a month, and he was never far away, whether with reminders like gold-plated everything or crests or pictures.


The Ailsa course
The Ailsa course

The Ailsa Course

On Tuesday morning, we headed over to Western Gailes and it was love at first sight. We had two excellent hosts and an atypical north wind, so the meat of the golf course was downwind and then we fought for dear life on the closing stretch. There wasn’t one hole that stood out, rather it was a collection of fully-realized holes that brought out the maximum effect of each little hump and dune and slight variation in the direction of play. It helped that I played well, but I can’t wait to return. I’ll also never forget the scent of the locker room - a century of damp cashmere and other whiffs of the distinguished club on a wet coastline. It’s a very complicated, visceral smell that suits the club well, much like the need to wear a coat and tie to and from the course. We were wiped and called off a round at Glasgow Gailes that afternoon to catch up on work, sleep and nourishment.

Wednesday morning arrived and we were refreshed and played Prestwick again. This time, I got the full experience with the quirky shot off the first tee and the Himalayas and then out toward Troon on the far end. After a wonderful lunch, we headed over to Irvine Bogside, which I won’t forget any time soon. A little scruffy in spots, but all the right James Braid stuff I revel in. Every hole is radically different from the last and the next: Bulkheads above bunkers, the train line running hard up against several of the holes (including one of the best short fours in all of Scotland,) and a warm atmosphere to boot. I can’t recommend this place highly enough, and for £120 for a day ticket, a worthwhile stop on a trip to the Ayrshire Coast.

4 green at Irvine
4 green at Irvine

4 green at Irvine

On Thursday, we attended The Open. We marveled at the aircraft flying overhead into Prestwick Airport, watched various warmup sessions on the range, met up with old friends, and wandered around the course. This was my second year in a row attending The Open and I’m really impressed by the R&A’s infrastructure, build-out and general logistics plan. Troon was easy to get around, the food trucks and offerings were varied and colorful, and the whole experience felt like a celebration of golf.

That afternoon I ferried over to Arran that night with my friend Jim Hartsell, Jim’s son Jake, Bret Waldrep (who co-owns the Birdhouse at Sweetens Cove with us), our Arran friends Greg, Pam and Ewan (all of whom I met through Jim and are now dear friends, and all featured in When Revelation Comes), Ewan’s brother who was visiting from New Zealand, Ben Shaw (of “St. Rappeo” fame), and newly minted Scottish resident Ross Flannigan, our friend from Melbourne, Australia who made our most recent season of Tourist Sauce possible - a true cast of characters from all over the world. We had some ferry beers (which are at the top of the beer pyramid), followed by dinner at Corrie Hotel, and I attempted to hop on the pod that night despite Arran not exactly being a point of presence from a bandwidth standpoint. The three best nights of sleep I’ve had this year have been at the Corrie Hotel - open the window, get the room down around 60 degrees and listen to the waves of the Firth of Clyde softly lap against the shore. Heaven.

The next morning we headed just up the road to Sannox to play the nine-holer at Corrie. Ewan, in addition to leading the Arran Mountain Rescue outfit, is also the greenkeeper at Corrie, and had the greens absolutely firing and the pins in some cheeky spots. Corrie might as well be Narnia Golf Club. We popped into the brilliant Glen Sannox Tea Room for a bite of cake, then to the Wee Book Shop (which only sells books about Arran and Scottish mountaineering and travel and a few specially-curated titles) and had a glass of port with Tony the proprietor at 11am, then headed down to Blackwaterfoot for lunch in the “Tee Room” at Shiskine, and then out for a brilliant twelve-hole match with Greg and Jim and Jake in a HEAVY wind. If Corrie is Narnia Golf Club, then Shiskine is Middle Earth Country Club, and Stewart the legendary greenkeeper there had it in “great nick” and popped over as always to say hello, which was among the highlights of the entire ten days - his deep brogue, harsh goatee and passion for grass fill me up! After chatting with Hamish in the pro shop (another character who makes Shiskine more than just a golf course), we went to the pub at the Kinloch Hotel to watch the golf down in the town of Shiskine and then went back over to the other side of the island. I popped into a tiny little takeaway spot next to the Corrie Hotel called Mara and ended up having an unexpected five-course seafood experience with oysters from Gigha on the Mull of Kintyre, local lobster risotto, razor clams, mussels, and a variety of veggies from Arran. Afterward, I went over to convene with Sir Woofchester at the hotel and regale him with news of Randy’s new furry friend King Arthur, and then a dram of whiskey with Jim and Greg and Pam in the bar and another ethereal night of sleep.

Various scenes from Arran

I ferried back to Troon the next morning and KVV picked me up and we headed over to the course for Saturday’s action. Weather was BLEAK (but I still contend that it was not very windy!) and we were fortunate to luck into some hospitality badges courtesy of Mastercard. The hospitality scene at The Open is more elevated and detail-oriented than anything I’ve been to in the States (never been to Berckmans Place and imagine that would be the exception), with thoughtful menus and drink offerings, and each company’s chalet having its own design and personality. Tom Watson popped in for a bit and I talked to him about the upcoming renovation at Swope, the muni in his hometown of Kansas City, and we popped out for a few holes to follow the action but mostly watched on TV from the box because the weather was so bad, and then went home and did the pod, followed by dinner at Lido in Prestwick, which was a lifesaver during the week with later, more accommodating hours than you typically find in Scotland.

On Sunday morning Dan and I set off for East Lothian. We stopped at Musselburgh on the way over so Dan could see it and then played Dunbar with a couple of lovely members, and I after much thought, I think it is my favorite course I’ve played this year. The routing worked out along an ancient wall, and then back in sandwiched between that wall and the sea, the extended views of town, the holes themselves, and the warmth of the club and the pros working the shop. I’m sitting here a couple weeks later writing this and I’m just as enchanted as I was that day. We watched the back nine of the Open from the clubhouse with members, visitors from Germany and the Dominican Republic and fellow Americans, and then drove up the road to Gullane and checked into Greywalls for a few nights, which was cheaper than the Marine North Berwick. I did the pod and apologized profusely for my Xander takes. Greywalls is truly a trip - wildly stiff and stuffy, all sorts of scents, but also spectacular food and like staying at your grandparents' place, but if they were Scottish billionaires. Had a great bottle of wine on the back patio on Sunday night and stared out at Muirfield and across the Firth of Forth toward Fife.

Dunbar

Woke up Monday and played The Glen aka The North Berwick East Links, which was a really nice change of pace. Not as strong a layout as Dunbar or the West Links - more of a headland course than a true links, and an awkward walk in some spots, but some wildly fun holes and a wonderful host and a strong lunch in the clubhouse. We then shipped over to the West Links for a bluebird afternoon round with Seth and Thomas Sargent, Gordon Sargent’s dad and brother, and it was just as I remembered it. Spectacular afternoon with great company, and then post-round dinner and beers upstairs in the clubhouse.

The East and West Links of North Berwick, respectively.

The next morning we slept in, had a delightful chat at breakfast in the hotel with the actress Tracy Ullman, and enjoyed a long outside looking out over Muirfield. Then we took the scenic route up St Andrews, winding through Gullane (I’ve still never played any of the three courses there, nor stopped in at the hickory shop, nor hung out in town - need to change that), stopping at Kilspindie (wanted to show Dan and we decided we need to get back there and play hickories) and Ladybank (very intrigued by these Scottish parkland courses!) for a quick gander at each. Once we arrived in St Andrews, I popped into the bougie coffee shop to get a proper espresso (the coffee scene in Scotland leaves me wanting, often), a stop at Donaldson’s for a pastry, and then into my favorite bookstore in the world, then lunch at the R&A with a nice adventure through the world class winelist, and a 5:40pm tee time on the Old for Dan’s first time actually playing the Old. He’d caddied it several times during the Dunhill, walked it a bunch during the Walker Cup, but never actually hit all the shots. To see his eyes light up on seven, and eleven, and fourteen, and sixteen, and chasing the sun on the way in…was just a really nice evening. We finished up in the dark with a couple of guys visiting from Kenya and South Africa, cellphone flashlights lighting the way the last hole and a half. After a stop at the go-to St Andrews Shawarma Shop, we had a late-night drive back to Gullane.

Always fun to see friends’ books in the window at the store.

Borrowed a coat and tie for a couple of lunches. By this point in the trip I was struggling for clean clothes, much less stuff that matched.

We woke up the next morning, walked next door, and did the 36-hole day at Muirfield, the lunch in between, both rounds alt-shot, great host and company, the whole deal. I’ll save this for its own full write-up, but I’ll just say that there’s a case to be made that Muirfield is the best golf course in the world. It’s going to take a few weeks to fully unpack and reflect on the experience and all of the various creatures there.

Greywalls & the only pic I’ve got from Muirfield (which means it was an epic day)

We stayed at an Edinburgh Airport hotel that night and I woke up for a 5:50am flight to Frankfurt, and then onward to IAD, and JAX. The captain came on with a truly unbelievable message:

View post on X

Somehow we ended up getting out within a couple of hours (the captain under-promised and over-delivered!) and then got in and out of Frankfurt in time to make my connection at Dulles. Truly a Star Alliance miracle!

Golf and/or Scotland-related observations in no particular order:


Many of the Scots we played with tend to play a lot of links golf in the winter (drains well/stays drier) and then when summer rolls around they seek out parkland rounds. Looking around Ladybank reminded me of some of the courses I’ve loved in Sweden and makes me want to play more Scottish parkland courses.

  • On the agenda for future trips: Goswick, Southerness, Siloth on Solway, Stranraer, Archerfield, Luffness, Bruntsfield Links short course, back to Dunbar! Fraserburgh and Royal Aberdeen continue to be big blind spots for me, too. Durness and The Machrie and Isle of Harris and Gigha are all of interest, too. Looks like I’ll be returning to Scotland every year for the foreseeable future and then trying to fold in some England trips, too.
  • Sometimes it doesn’t seem like you’re in nature when you’re playing golf in the States beyond, but it’s always readily apparent in Scotland. The birds, the wildflowers and thistle blooming, the sea air, and the long evenings all add up to something substantive that goes well-beyond anything I’ve experienced in the states outside of select rounds on the Pacific Coast or in Nebraska or Michigan. Thinking about it, for a month straight, I spent at least six hours and sometimes as many as fourteen hours per day outside in nature. So far at home, I’ve managed to keep that up.
  • It’s been a wet year all over Scotland - the courses are lush and green, but I think that should set up for a healthy fall with everything in great condition. Coastal erosion becoming more pronounced in many spots after a spate of bad storms.
  • Across Sweden and Scotland, there’s a healthy sense of thrift and frugality that I’d like to incorporate more into my everyday life. The value of a pound or a krona is very much top of my mind, and unnecessary fees or superfluous charges simply aren’t tolerated. There’s just less bullshit.
  • Scots tend not to explore their own country enough. The number of people I chatted with over the last 10 days who have lived in Ayrshire or Glasgow their entire lives and have never played Shiskine or Macrihanish, or been up to Dornoch, astounded me. Each time I come back, I try not to stretch myself too thin but also try to knock off some new stuff and dig a level deeper in each region.
  • On the flip side, I think Americans are perhaps too focused on the links courses here at the expense of some really unique and eye-catching inland stuff. The Scots play the links all winter.

Subscribe to No Laying Up Emails

If you enjoy NLU content, you'll enjoy NLU emails. We send our newsletter twice a month, and we send a Weekly Digest email. Get monthly deals, exclusive content, and regular updates on all things No Laying Up #GetInvolved

Subscribe Now

TONIC

A rundown of various consumption and observations recently:

  • Giannis documentary - DJ recommended this and I loved it. What a bright light in a depressing world of professional sports.
  • Meeting Tracy Ullman reminded me that I hadn’t yet watched the final season of Curb, which I knocked out on the long flight home. Loved it - got better and better as it went along.
  • Various bottled drinks in Sweden and Scotland, all of which had a cap attached to the bottle (I believe a recent EU mandate.) Many people are bitching about this over there, but I loved it. No need to worry about losing the cap, and various ways to fold it over. Big fan.

The attached bottle cap.


Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen at IAH is quickly becoming my go-to airport restaurant.

  • A close second is the “Asian Kitchen” at SAN, specifically the shrimp and chicken lettuce wraps. Maybe the perfect airport food - clean, healthy, portable, delicious.
  • I used an induction range to cook a few times when we were in Sweden and it was, without a doubt, the most unpleasant cooking experience of my life. I felt like I was doing math and technical troubleshooting the entire time just to keep it on and at the right temps. I’m really bummed that’s the way the world is going.
  • I had a bunch of people making fun of my Crocs on various socials recently. I stand by them. Sport mode forever.
  • Rawdogging flights continues to garner a bunch of notoriety lately, but I’ve been doing this for years on a variety of domestic flights. Highly recommend it as a way to really lock in, center yourself, and get in touch with that in-flight map.
  • Other good features of note lately from admittedly haughty/coastal elite publications (/sorry):
  • One of our hosts in Scotland remarked “DOES HE HAVE THE MINERALS?!?!” when we were coming down the stretch during a round and the match was close. Dan and I used this for the remainder of the trip. What a phrase. And speaking of phrases, “it’s in good nick right now” is one that is big down in Australia, and pops up in the UK some as well, and is so much more cool/efficient than saying “course conditions are really good.”

Join The Nest

Established in 2019, The Nest is NLU's growing community of avid golfers. Membership is only $90 a year and includes 15% off to the Pro Shop, exclusive content like a monthly Nest Member podcast and other behind-the-scenes videos, early access to events, and more.

Join The Nest