It's been quite a while since my last posting! Although I've played all of the "official" Scottish courses and many more besides, there's still a handful of pitch and putt courses to do and I'll need to play any new courses that are built, so watch this space for more course write ups. In the meantime, I've been busy playing at the Glen and Dunbar, my "home" courses and nursing my handicap (now 8.6) and playing abroad (particularly in Turkey - and sometime I might write something about the terrific quality of golf courses over there). I've also been working for Scottish Golf, revising clubs' course and slope ratings. If you've ever wondered why your home course is rated e.g. 124, or even higher, it's folks like me who go round, taking tons of measurements and trying not to get in the way of folks playing the course, before arriving at figures that reflect the relative playing difficulty of each course, so that handicapping can be fair to all concerned.
I'm still doing course ranking for various golf magazines, offering thoughts on the relative merits of Scottish courses. If you've ever come across lists of the best/most fun/value for money etc courses in Scotland, it's guys like me who contribute their thoughts to such lists. It's all very subjective, but for anyone who's planning a golfing trip to Scotland, such lists can help to identify what's available beyond the big championship courses. Just bear in mind that for every Muirfield or Renaissance, there's a Glen GC almost next door that's probably more playable and enjoyable at a fraction of the price!
I'm also back caddying, now that COVID travel restrictions have eased and golfing tourists are able to visit Scotland again. Regular readers of this blog will know that I've been encouraging visitors to go beyond our big courses and search out courses that might offer greater value for money while still providing quality experiences. I recently did a podcast for a US-based golf travel company, touching on that very issue amongst other ramblings about my own golfing travels and caddying. Here's a couple of links to that podcast, which I hope isn't too boring!
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Travel Royally Podcast: Ep.
34 - Alan McPherson - Native of Scotland on Apple Podcasts Show Travel Royally
Podcast, Ep Ep. 34 - Alan McPherson - Native of Scotland - May 4, 2022 podcasts.apple.com |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5UhN-pndro
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Ep. 34 - Alan McPherson -
Native of Scotland Alan McPherson is on
a quest to play every single golf course in Scotland. Only a couple of pitch
n putts remain for him. We hope you enjoy hearing the many experiences and
stories Alan has from traveling around Scotland. |
Enjoyable interview. As a foreigner who has now played quite a few courses in Scotland (only 450 or so to go) and a few dozen in Canada., I would say the strength of Scotland is the huge diversity of styles of courses, the fantastic scenery, especially on the west coast (Rothesay is my #1 so far in scenic views), the fun element, the friendliness of the welcome and the affordability of lesser-known but tremedous courses.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Too often I come across visitors who are paying significant sums to play the big championship courses without realising that they'd have just as much fun playing less heralded courses nearby, at a fraction of the price. The key for any golf tourist to Scotland is do your research before you book your tee times.
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