Kingsbarns Golf Links has been voted the number one ranked new course in Britain and Ireland.  The accolade, which can only go to courses built after 1960, was awarded by prestigious American magazine GolfWeek and was voted for by a panel compiled by the magazine who took a number of aspects into consideration.  Second and third in the rankings also went to Scottish courses in the shape of Castle Stuart and Loch Lomond; so it was a major coup for the home of golf.  It’ll be interesting to see where Trump’s course in Aberdeen will feature on the rankings next time they’re announced.

Anyone who has contacted PerryGolf regarding a trip to Scotland, and has spoken to me, will know that I agree wholeheartedly with this decision, as I consider Kingsbarns to be my favourite links course in the world.  If you haven’t played it and you’re planning a trip to Scotland, be sure to include it on your list of ‘must plays’.

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By Keith Baird.  Keith has been with PerryGolf for over 11 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

Castle Stuart Golf Links

This is fantastic news for Castle Stuart Golf Links and, more importantly, Scottish Golf.  The Scottish Open is one of the biggest events on the European Tour and it currently occupies one of the most sought after slots on the European Tour calendar.  There was widespread speculation that if a sponsor wasn’t found, the French Open would replace the Scottish the week prior to the Open Championship.  However, it looks like the European Tour will hold out for a sponsor on the back of the success of this year’s event.  Having attended the event myself, I fully agree with the decision.

By Gary Sheppard.  Gary has been with PerryGolf for over 5 years and is one of your Golf Travel Specialists.

We at PerryGolf are very excited to read that work has been completed at Donald Trump’s new golf course at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire.  The course development got off to a rocky start with some objections from local groups; but they seem to have created a world class course – whether the Trump International Golf Links will be the best course in the world as Mr Trump claims, remains to be seen but we are looking forward to July next year when the course opens for play.

This new addition makes Aberdeen a ‘must visit’ region of Scotland on a golf tour with other great courses like Royal Aberdeen, Murcar and Cruden Bay also on your doorstep.

Full details can be seen by clicking here.

By Alastair Niven.  Alastair has been with PerryGolf for over 11 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

Castle Stuart Golf Links, the new home of the 2011 Barclays Scottish Open, is now officially rated as the 56th best Golf Course in the World.  The official rankings by the US based GOLF MAGAZINE were released this week on the ‘front9′ app with Castle Stuart being the highest-ranking debut on the World list. Following on from its success as host venue to the recently played Barclays Scottish Open, Castle Stuart’s reputation continues to spread worldwide.  Perfect location and the courses in the highlands are a must play on a trip to North of Scotland; Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart and Nairn are some of many worth the trip to the area.

By Denise McKee.  Denise has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is a member of our admin team.

I have read with interest this week that a new £55 million golf resort is planned for Scotland.  The new Angus resort will feature a Darren Clarke designed course as well as a 5 star hotel.  It will add to several great courses in the local area; the main one being Carnoustie Links which will be just a few minutes away.  With the golfing Mecca of St. Andrews being under an hour’s drive from the site, this is a welcome addition that makes the region all the more attractive to golfers.  In addition to this, the new Trump course is well under way – and around 90 minutes to the north – the future looks very exciting for golf on Scotland’s East coast.

You can see full details by clicking here.

By Alastair Niven.  Alastair has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

The Barclays Scottish Open, which takes place this week at Castle Stuart, has attracted arguably its strongest ever field; with 5 of the top 10 in the world competing.  Moving the venue from Loch Lomond appears to have had a positive effect, not only on the players competing, but also on ticket sales, with advance sales reportedly reaching an all time high.  

Notable entries for the event include world number’s 1 and 2, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, as well as three time major winner Padraig Harrington, who has opted not to play the event in recent years.  Coming over from the PGA Tour are Martin Laird, Brandt Snedeker, Justin Rose and Gary Woodland, who all join tournament regular Phil Mickelson.  A special mention has to go to Matt Kuchar, who is returning to the event having played in it as an Amateur in 1998.  As a personal friend of PerryGolf (he stayed with the company when he played at Loch Lomond 13 years ago), we wish him well.  

Edoardo Molinari certainly has his work cut out to successfully defend his title!

By Keith Baird.  Keith has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

One of the biggest tournaments on the European Tour calendar is set to move venue in a bid to lure some of the world’s biggest stars.  The tournament, which is held the week before The Open Championship, is currently based at Loch Lomond GC and has been there since 1996.  Loch Lomond is one of the best courses in the world but as it is a parkland style course; some bigger name players prefer to practice on a links course the week prior to the Open Championship. There has been speculation as to who the main contenders are and it seems as though it has been narrowed to 2 potential candidates – Castle Stuart near Inverness or The Renaissance Club in East Lothian.  The Renaissance Club is the more mature of the two, having been open for two seasons, a pretty remarkable stat for the two main contenders for this highly regarded event.

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By Gary Sheppard.  Gary has been with PerryGolf for over 4 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

Castle Stuart, which runs along the banks of the Moray Firth in the Scottish Highlands, was recently voted the best new overseas destination by Golf Digest.  The course, which was co-designed by Mark Parsinen (Kingsbarns) and American architect Gil Hanse (Craighead Links at Crail), opened in 2009 and it has already taken its place amongst Scotland’s greats.  Not only has it made the Highlands a much more appealing destination, but Scotland as a whole.  With Royal Dornoch (Scotland’s #3 course) and Nairn (#14) its best and closest neighbours, 3 or 4 nights in the Inverness area make for a great addition to any Scotland tour.

Castle Stuart Golf Links

I recently had the opportunity to play it for the first time and loved every minute of it.  Other than the fact that the rough needs some time to mature – to make it more of a challenge – you wouldn’t know it was only a new course.  With reasonably wide fairways, you might be forgiven for standing on the tee and thinking it looks relatively straight forward, but with the impetus put on getting the right angles from where to approach very tricky greens, it’s definitely a thinker’s course.   If you’ve been to Scotland before and you’ve played the more famous British Open rota courses, but you’ve never made it up to the Highlands, now is the time…and Castle Stuart should definitely be on your list as one of the ‘must plays’.

By Keith Baird.  Keith has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

Gary Player opened Donnafugata Golf Resort in scenic Sicily, Italy this month.  An accomplished golf course designer Player has designed such courses as Leopard Creek Golf Course in South Africa and Montagu at Fancourt Resort.

This new addition is one of many design projects for Gary Player.

Donnafugata Golf Resort, courtesy of Aidan Bradley

By Denise McKee.  Denise has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is responsible for our Mediterranean programs

Having only opened last year, it is a fantastic achievement for Machrihanish Dunes to have appeared on Golf World’s 2010-2011 Top 100 Best Golf Courses of UK and Ireland.

The list is calculated by voters based all over Europe and it identifies the best courses from a broad range of designs – parkland, links and heathland.

Click here to read more about the development of this still very new course.