Where eagles soar, birdies are bagged, and salmon leap

At Faraway Fairways we’ve grown increasingly aware of just how many golfers identify themselves as avid anglers. Well Scotland doesn’t just have a world class golf offer. Fishing for wild Atlantic salmon in Scotland is a lifetime experience for every lover of the outdoors. Remember, salmon have been part of Scotland’s heritage for tens of thousands of years. Whisky came later and tartan is but a mere baby. Indeed, Scotland has long been renowned for its salmon fishing on some of the most famous salmon rivers in the world. It only seemed perfectly natural therefore that Faraway Fairways should roll the two together and offer you a Scottish salmon fishing with golf tour.

Scottish Golf with Salmon Fishing Vacation weaves together some high-quality golf with two of Scotland’s ‘big four’ salmon rivers

The Tweed naturally combines with Edinburgh and the links of the Lothian’s. The Scottish Open venue of Gullane gives us a good opener before we tackle the world top-50 ranked track at North Berwick. Naturally after a days break to fish, we head north to the upper Tay with the Ryder Cup venue at Gleneagles sandwiched between another day on the water. We then undertake a loop east to finish off the golf in style taking in the Tayside giants of Panmure, and the toughest assignment on the Open Championship rotation at Carnoustie.

What about St Andrews you say?. Well why not? the ‘home of golf’ is in our region and so the itinerary has scheduled it in before we return to Edinburgh

The Itinerary

Sunday –  North Berwick (Edinburgh)

Monday – Gullane No.1   (Edinburgh)

Tuesday – River TWEED

Wednesday –  Gleneagles (Stirling)

Thursday – River TAY

Friday – Panmure

Saturday – St Andrews New Course (St Andrews town)

Sunday –  Carnoustie (Glamis Castle)

Important note – We will contest St Andrews Old Course ballots for Weds, Fri, & Sat. You can read these days as XYZ / St Andrews Old Course

We won’t be able to contest any singles ballots until Weds for subsequent play on Thurs onwards

North Berwick and Carnoustie are amongst the most difficult courses to rearrange were they to go into a clash with a successful ballot. We place both on a Sunday so as to eliminate the possibility

Sunday - North Berwick

The links of North Berwick are a traditional out and back nine. Undulating fairways, blind shots, tricky burns and even stone walls make their presence felt in the landscape. The course really is a throw back to the experiences of the game’s pioneers who had to interpret the landscape and weave the hazards nature handed them into their own personal tapestries. North Berwick has an endearing old-fashioned feel.

North Berwick also possesses the original ‘Redan’ hole, (15). Found the world over, ‘Redans’ are the most copied hole in golf.

The Redan completes a trio of holes from 13 which is rarely surpassed in Scottish golf, perhaps only Turnberry’s 9 to 11, and Carnoustie’s 16-18  has better claims for being the best consecutive 3 in a row.

North Berwick is one of those rare courses you never hear a bad word said about, and we’re always struck by the fact that it seems to be the most knowledgeable and the best judges who enthuse most about it.

It would be wrong to think that it’s a curiosity relic though. It’s a beguiling world top-50 ranked course on merit.

Monday - Gullane No1.

Gullane shares the same shoreline as the world renowned, top-10 course of Muirfield. Indeed, both Gullane’s numbers 1 & 2 courses have acted as final qualifying venues.

The course is wild, raw, very open, exposed, and windswept. When the wind decides to take a hand off the Firth of Forth, you’re sure to be in for a battle like few others. Would you want it any different?

The 7th is often regarded as the signature, played from a hight tee with commanding views of the landscape below its a deceptively difficult downhill hole where things can run away from you on the approach

Gullane is perhaps starting to step out of its blue blooded neighbour’s shadows however. For a long time it has been used as a final qualifying venue but in 2015 it began hosting the Scottish Open in rotation,  utilising a composite course of numbers 1 & 2.

Tuesday - River Tweed

The River Tweed frames Scotland’s southern border with England. Internationally famous for its salmon fishing, people come from all over the world to fish it. It ranks among the very top salmon rivers in the world, excelling itself in 2012 with a record catch of over 20,000 salmon. Wonderful fish are caught by those who have the opportunity to cast a fly on the many beats. The traditions and techniques used on the River Tweed have influenced salmon fishing wherever these wonderful fish can be found. To have the chance to fish for salmon on the Tweed is a wonderful experience.

Wednesday - Gleneagles

The majestic trio of courses at Gleneagles are a masterpiece of golf course design, which has caught the imagination of  both professional and amateur alike. Lee Trevino remarked whilst standing on the first, “that if this is heaven I sure hope they have some tee times available”.

The regal King’s Course is certainly one of the most beautiful and exhilarating places to play golf in the world, with the springy moorland turf underfoot, the sweeping views from the tees all around, the rock-faced mountains to the north, the green hills to the south, and the peaks of the Trossachs and Ben Vorlich on the western horizon.

Threading through high ridges on the north and west sides of the estate, the Queen’s course is the most aesthetic of the Gleneagles trinity. It presents you with lovely woodland settings, lochans and ditches as water hazards, as well as many moorland characteristics.

Having hosted the 2014 Ryder and 2019 Solheim Cups, the Centenary Course is the longest and probably the most recognisable today. It plays out towards the dark glen, sweeping up the Ochil Hills to the summit of the pass below Ben Shee, which joins it to Glendevon. Course architect, Jack Nicklaus, described it as “The finest parcel of land in the world I have ever been given to work with”

Thursday - River Tay

The largest of Scotland’s salmon rivers, the Tay drains an area of about 2500 square miles and is approximately 120 miles long. It is a big river, particularly in its middle and lower course below its confluence with the River Tummel. The Tay is one of the classic “Big Four” of Scottish Rivers and can still produce in the region of 10,000 salmon in a season making it one of the most productive salmon rivers in Europe. The Tay enjoys a reputation for quality. Excellent trout fishing, grayling magnificent scenery and a variety of fishing from big river boat to more intimate stretches and excellent tributaries such as the Lyon, offers something for every game angler.

Friday - Panmure

Panmure golf club never hosted the Open Championship but being less than 2 miles from Carnoustie it was used extensively to for final Open qualifying as well as many national and regional championships.

The name that is most synonymous with Panmure however is undoubtedly Ben Hogan. On his only visit to the Open (and victory), Hogan practised extensively at Panmure prior to the 1953 at Carnoustie. The sixth hole of the course was rated in his top 18 holes.

The greens are fairly small and the bunkers deep. Tight fairways lined with gorse demand good placement from the tee at the expense of distance. Whins and thick rough abound throughout the course and can destroy a poorly managed game. Accuracy is often more important than length and each hole should be played strategically. Approach shots also require precision and on occasion clever improvisation is necessary.

Saturday - St Andrews New Course

“New” in the context of St Andrews means 1895!

The course is often said to be the town’s favourite. It’s a tighter and more defined course than its regal neighbour, and aided by yellow gorse bushes, it tends to be more aesthetic too. The ‘New’ runs adjacent to the Old course and as a consequence has similar characteristics. The fairways are undulating but not as dipped as the Old course, leading to fewer hanging lies. A traditional out and back nine, only the 3rd and 15th share a green. The burn wends its way through a low dune system and features some particularly charismatic holes. The 464yd tenth is often cited as the pick. Think about it logically. It’s likely that the newer course that was designed for purpose, would be the better golf course than the ancient artefact. The good folk of St Andrews know!

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 72^nd 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