Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation
Includes - St Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Cruden Bay, Trump Aberdeen, Royal Aberdeen, Carnoustie, Nairn, St Andrews Jubilee Course and the Boat of Garten
North of the Highland Line
The biggest concentration of world top-100 ranked courses isn’t found around St Andrews. They actually occur in the north, stretching from Royal Dornoch to the links of Aberdeenshire. Here we’ll encounter five such qualifiers.
At Faraway Fairways we blend club and country. Nowhere is this glorious fusion better presented than the Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation, which seamlessly slides into the archetypal Scottish landscape, culture, and history, making it ideal for non-golfers too. Deep lochs, dark glens, tartans, animal furs, castles, whisky, mysterious monsters and clan feuds, are all wrapped up in the spirit of the Faraway Fairways Royal Dornoch Scottish Highlands Golf vacation. This is the Scotland where eagles soar, where the rivers run clean and fresh, and where wild animals freely roam the heather uplands in an orchestrated symphony of rich splendour
St Andrews is on a tantalising line of travel out of Edinburgh. It needn’t be inconvenient to ‘give ourselves a shot at it’, so if the question is, can we play the Old Course? “possibly” is the answer. It would make for a stunning bonus. The Aberdeenshire leg keeps us within striking distances of St Andrews (1 hr 45 mins) throughout its duration, so other opportunities also exist.
The Itinerary
Saturday – St Andrews Jubilee Course (St Andrews town)
Sunday – Carnoustie (Glamis Castle)
Monday – Trump Aberdeen (Dunnottar Castle)
Tuesday – Cruden Bay
Wednesday – Royal Aberdeen
Thursday – Nairn
Friday – Castle Stuart (Culloden)
Saturday – Royal Dornoch (Loch Ness/ Urquhart Castle)
Sunday – Boat of Garten (Edinburgh)
Important note – We will only be able to ‘sensibly’ contest the St Andrews Old Course ballot for Saturday. We should perhaps treat it as an unexpected bonus, as we probably only enjoy a 1 in 8 chance
Note – there is a convoluted possibility to contest Monday’s ballot from Aberdeen, that would involve trying to rearrange Trump Aberdeen for Thursday, Nairn for Friday, and Castle Stuart for early Sunday, whilst sacrificing Boat of Garten as a ‘price worth paying’
We won’t be able to contest any singles ballots
Saturday - St Andrews Jubilee Course
The Jubilee in question was that of Queen Victoria. This course therefore dates to 1897. It’s a quite typical links for the area, threading its way through low dunes, and without any double greens. The raised tees afford the golfer stunning views across St Andrews Bay and the town beyond.
It was only in 1988 that the Jubilee course came of age when Donald Steel was asked to upgrade it, adding length, interest, and challenge to the layout. Slowly it started to build up a reputation and loyalty. Today most judges agree the Jubilee is St Andrews’s most underrated course. Some go even further and regard it has the toughest links in the family now.
Sunday - Carnoustie
Dubbed ‘Car-Nasty’, Carnoustie is considered by many to be the most difficult links in the Open Championship rotation
In recent years it has seen some dramatic finishes, none more so than in 1999 when Jean van de Velde took an eight at the 72nd hole to throw away the claret jug. Iconic images of him paddling in the notorious ‘Barry Burn’ have entered golfing legend. The final four holes are the hardest finish on the rotation. After the carnage of 1999 (6 over won) Sport Illustrated described it as
“a nasty antique that was brought down from the attic after 24 years …the rough was deeper; and the R&A made the fairways as narrow as an eel’s appendix scar”.
Whereas the eighteenth is the hole that has often generated the most drama. The par 3 sixteenth has the highest average scoring par 3 on the Open Championship rotation as indeed the closing four are the hardest. The Par 5, sixth ‘Hogan’s Alley’, is another famous hole with a punitive out of bounds fence running down it’s left
1999 Carnoustie reduced Sergio Garcia to tears after successive scores of 89 and 83
Monday - Trump Aberdeen
Making use of Europe’s highest dunes system Martin Hawtree set about transforming this shoreline to realise the owners ambition to build the “best course in the world”.
Snakes of green slither their way through valleys in this frankly fantastic landscape. The early results have been impressive. A top-100 rating was secured in the opening season.
The par three’s quickly earned rave reviews, the 6th and 3rd in particular. The opening half dozen holes just seem to get better and better when it no longer seems possible.
More recently the par 4, fourteenth, an elevated tee played into a fairway valley has established itself as the signature hole.
Tuesday - Cruden Bay
If you’re the purist that believes links courses should be wild, windswept, isolated and one step away from the sea, then Cruden Bay ticks all your boxes.
The waves crashed into the bay of Cruden and set about carving a beautifully curving horseshoe. In addition, Cruden Bay also benefits from the same dramatic ‘high dune’ systems of the Trump International and Royal Aberdeen. Significantly though, Cruden Bay has greater personality, as it retains many original quirky old links features. It even counts a dog-leg par-3 amongst its garrison! The sixth, Bluidy Burn, is a candidate for finest par five in Scotland, combining as it does, just about every classic links challenge on a single hole imaginable.
Cruden Bay is sometimes referred to as a ‘cult classic’ and whereas we might associate this with the entertainment, it kind of works here too
Wednesday - Royal Aberdeen
Dating from 1780, the traditional nine out and nine back layout at Royal Aberdeen is the sixth oldest golf course in the world.
In 2014 Justin Rose won the Scottish Open here, whilst Tom Watson has added a seniors Open title to his collection.
The outward nine is often regarded as Scotland’s finest, wending its way north through a spectacular dunescape. It’s not hyperbole. It has legitimate claims.
Like a fairground ghost train, one by one hazards present themselves. Undulating fairways, gorse, a burn, and of course a stiff wind blowing in off the sea are essential ingredients.
It would be a mistake to overlook the merits of the back nine though. This is played on a raised plateau, and often subject to greater exposure. The final three holes rival any closing stretch in the country.
Thursday - Nairn
Created from a Highland wilderness of gorse and heather Nairn is a perennial Scottish top-25 hoverer.
Nairn is a bit like a great symphony which takes you on a journey with each movement getting progressively challenging before developing into a climatic crescendo. Nairn requires you to use every club in you bag, and play a myriad of different shots.
Wise heads frequently nominate Nairn as possessing the best putting surface that Scotland has to offer too. One of the slightly more remarkable features is that you can very easily hit the ball into the sea on every one of the first seven! If you’re a ‘leftie’ with a tendency to hook, you might like to consider packing an extra sleeve of balls!
Friday - Castle Stuart
Castle Stuart is another modern addition to the golfing landscape having opened in July 2009.
The course is set on two-tiered balconies overlooking the dark and foreboding waters of the Moray Firth. Players enjoy stunning panoramas from the highest elevations. The course is rich in the textured signature landscape of Scottish ‘whins’, gorse and broom, heather, and marram from beginning to end. These change colour with the seasons as nature commanded, and weave a tapestry of highland hues into this landscape mosaic of rugged beauty.
The course has quickly established a bit tour pedigree when it hosted the prestigious Scottish Open, where Luke Donald and Alex Noren have triumphed. It was used successfully by Phil Mickelson in 2013 as a springboard to Open success a month later at Muirfield
Saturday - Royal Dornoch
Golf Digest has rated Royal Dornoch the highest of Scotland’s many worthy candidates, and it remains one of elite quartet that vies for the title of best courses.
The Championship course represented a paradigm in design that endures today. The ‘bump-and-run‘ was the traditional shot to mitigate a links wind. Elevated plinth greens were introduced and ringed with fiendish pot-bunkers to guard them from any such commando approach. Without completely taking the traditional ‘stock shot’ out of the equation, a degree of risk was added. Dornoch therefore challenges you to go the aerial route, and ride the wind. Iron play is the key to the course. The rationale is simple: hit a good approach shot and you should be rewarded. Hit a bad one, and you pay the penalty.
Tom Watson said of Dornoch “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course”.
The bunkerless 14th, ‘Foxy’ is often regarded as the signature hole and one of the toughest par 4’s in Scotland
Sunday - Boat of Garten
Boat of Garten is a comparatively short course at about 5500 yds and just a delight to play; fun and picturesque
It might be described as an alpine course that has claims to Scotland’s title of number one ‘hidden gem’ (sadly being discovered).
Boat of Garten is flanked by a steam railway on one side, and the River Spey on the other. The Cairngorm mountains provide constant drama to the east, whilst its fairways are lined by silver birch trees
Unless we’re flying out of Inverness, any trip to the Highlands has to come back south eventually, that means using the A9 to Edinburgh. Whereas Gleneagles is an option, Boat of Garten is on a direct line of travel and further north, so perhaps more in keeping with the spirit of Highlands and Aberdeen golf vacation
Featured Group
Do I put something about video in here?
What's Involved?
The flow to the Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation is a long loop in a south to north, anti-clockwise, point-to-point tour that involves stops in four regions, albeit two would be closer to drive throughs as we concentrate more intensely on Aberdeenshire and the Highlands
The green fees tend to be a little bit less expensive in the Highlands than we find elsewhere, and the price of accommodation is notably more agreeable in Aberdeen and Carnoustie than it is in St Andrews and Edinburgh. That’s not to say we’re dealing with bargain basement value though, courses like Trump Aberdeen and Royal Dornoch prevent that, but we should achieve a more compassionate cost
The Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation is laid out as a nine night duration that observes a point-to-point itinerary, staying at:
- Carnoustie – 2 nights
- Aberdeen – 3 nights
- Inverness – 3 nights
- Edinburgh – 1 night
At about 650 miles, the Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation is a high mileage medium intensity transport burden. It involves at least one significant drive back from the highlands, albeit this could be eliminated if we’re routing through London as our hub since we can fly direct from Inverness via London
In total, this should only require about 16 hrs of road time, which is an average of just under 1 hr 45 mins a day. It becomes quite easy though for the mileage to run away from us in the highlands if we decide to ‘lay into’ the non-golf activity
We wouldn’t advise using a hired driver for the delivery of the Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation , as there are three regions we’re seeking to link and we’d likely incur ‘driver away’ overnight accommodation costs. If you were insistent on doing to however, then clearly we’d need to find a solution, but find we’re making occasional use of a train to draw some of the financial sting
The Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart & Aberdeen Golf Vacation could support Luxury, Premier and Affordable options.
One of the big bonuses however is that it opens up the highlands to include Culloden, Loch Ness, and Urquhart Castle. This trio are all ‘A’ list and very credible
We’ll likely pass through St Andrews but the ‘auld grey toon’ is a legitimate point of interest regardless of golf. The ruined old castle and cathedral are natural focus points, whereas the town also possesses aesthetic charisma and history.
The only weaker leg really comes at Aberdeen. Dunnottar Castle is in a line of travel between Aberdeen and Carnoustie, and a genuine point of interest
Edinburgh is also rich with prospects and opportunities
The Scottish Golf with Whisky Vacation doesn’t encounter the number golf courses operating handicap thresholds that we more typically see elsewhere
- Nairn (24 & 36)
- Royal Aberdeen (24 & 36)
- Carnoustie (28 & 36)
- St Andrews (36)
Unlike some courses who needn’t be rigid in enforcing their handicap thresholds, the St Andrews Links Trust will do. Failure to provide evidence will result in a refusal to allow us to play
The Old Course diary is available on-line to consult for availability and is dynamic in so much as it changes every season, although there are some known block outs that occur every year, notably the first week of May, the first week of June, and a run from early/ mid September to early/ mid October
There is no play on the Old Course on Sunday
Royal Aberdeen has restricted visitor play at weekends (narrow windows of play in the afternoon).
Carnoustie and Cruden Bay will normally only permit afternoon play at weekends too
Nairn can also protect the very early times for their members
Statistically, Saturday is the most favourable day of the week for winning an Old Course ballot
We’ll probably only get one opportunity, so our chances of success would be considered ‘low’ (about 1 in 8) but there’d be no harm in ‘rolling the dice’ so long as we understand that we’re treating the St Andrews Old Course as unexpected bonus
The Highlands are too far away from St Andrews to launch a conventional ballot strategy, but Aberdeen is only 1 hr 45 mins away so might potentially be squeezed into action
If we were prepared to accept some additional mileage and clunky geographic arrangements, as well as a forfeit that we’d try and back-pass to the Boat of Garten we could potentially contest ballots on Mon (decent chance of mitigation) and Tues & Weds (harder to rearrange Cruden Bay and Royal Aberdeen)
We’d have to try and move whichever course we cancelled to Thursday and play it before we left Aberdeen. This would be the first challenge. The next hurdle we’d have to overcome is moving Nairn from Thursday to Friday in place of Castle Stuart, and finally, moving Castle Stuart from Friday to early Sunday in place of Boat of Garten. Messy! and it could easily breakdown at any of these points
About Activities
Testimonial
From BB Canada
“I told Alun the courses I was interested in playing and he prepared a stay and play package with 14 days of outstanding golf, but also tremendous site seeing opportunities for my wife.”
From JC Illinois
“His attention to detail is amazing--I think our travel plan booklet ran to forty-eight pages, with gorgeous descriptions of cities and sights, plus maps showing where to go to catch trains, or walk from trains to hotels, sights and golf courses, etc.”
From DF Alabama
“I will cherish the memories for a long time- especially the wonderful times spent on and off the golf course with two of my brothers and brother-in-law. None of the memories and golf would have been possible or enjoyed without your tremendous planning and logistical support.”
AS from Colorado
“Alun and Faraway Fairways created possibly the most memorable golf trip we have ever experienced. EPIC is the only word that comes to mind.”
From Florida/ New York, 2025
“We were hopeful to secure a 4 ball at St. Andrews while avoiding the massive expense other operators had quoted. He was very clear about the plan for achieving a tee time at the Old Course through the ballot, including detailed instruction on how it could be done, and what our odds were. He suggested mid- to late April as the best chance of success and advised that this is also the least rainy part of the year. We took his advice and trusted the process. Well, he was right on all counts!”
From SB, Minnesota
“We wholeheartedly recommend Alun and Faraway Fairways if you’re looking for a golf trip that is effortless, enjoyable, and truly unforgettable—even for a non-golfer in the mix! My husband and I will be daydreaming about this trip for years to come. 5.5 stars!”
From JB, California
“The best part was that the service was surprisingly affordable. They were thousands of dollars below other quotes that I received, in fact the prices were very similar to what I would have paid if I would have booked everything on my own.”
From JCA, Maryland
“I would and will highly recommend your company to anyone looking to plan an unforgettable golf trip. Thank You for putting together a fantastic trip for J.C. and me”
From WF Connecticut
“I think all eight of us would agree that Alun at Faraway Fairways did an absolutely wonderful job of putting this “golf vacation of a lifetime” together for us. His focus on the details was extraordinary from the choice of courses and the timing of the tee times, the amazingly beautiful accommodations along with some excellent meal selections, and the transportation options he provided to get us from place to place.”
From DR South Carolina
“You are about to tee it up in your Major. Seek wisdom, integrity and professionalism. Alun Davies and Faraway Fairways will not disappoint you. They cannot assure a calm sunny day with temperatures in the 70’s on the Old Course.”
From MM, California
“One fantastic trip you organized, and more importantly took ownership of in terms of daily communication and stewardship during our 2+ weeks in Scotland and Ireland. The logistics were spotless…100% of the transports were on time and excellent, the lodging choices spectacular and the golf was off the charts in terms of quality and arrangements made”
DH from California
“You cannot go wrong with the support Faraway Fairways offered. I did this trip solo and all last minute but I have already begun to plan the next trip which will include my best golfing buddies.”