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None of us Golf Road Warriors expects any sympathy for the schedule we’ve kept the last few days. Lots of golf and great meals, staying in luxury, and crisscrossing western Scotland in search of more. Poor poor us, indeed.
Not to complain, but it was a busy few days. Up early, out late, walking courses in sometimes tough conditions, and then applying liberal doses of food and drink (especially whisky) purely for medicinal purposes. We are …
Western Gailes Golf Club is one of those wonderful Scottish seaside gems that is savoured for a long time afterwards. Situated next door to Dundonald Links and close to Prestwick, Turnberry and Royal Troon, golfers who have discovered this delightful course find a genuine links [...]
Alas, it’s our last day in Scotland. But we’ve used it well. After a wonderful (full) Scottish breakfast in the Mar Hall dining room, we headed out for a very enjoyable round of golf on this splendid resort’s Earl of Mar course, a scenic and surprisingly challenging parkland course that sits on rolling land between the hotel and the southern bank of the River Clyde.
The afternoon brought more writing time -- and some editing time on a special video that the group has been working on about a certain Scottish Someone (see our video section for more on that) -- along with spa treatments for all the Warriors. Playing 156 golf holes in seven days takes its toll on us usually desk-bound journalists, and the massages we enjoyed in Mar Hall’s Aveda spa went a long way toward making us feel human again.
Today was Warrior Anita Draycott’s (20th?) birthday, and coincidentally it was also the night that Mar Hall’s chef Sam Carswell and Restaurant Manager Frankma Canas Romero had chosen to send the Warriors off with an 8-course culinary adventure, complete with wine pairings. It was a dining experience that exceeded any expectations that any of us could have had. Check out the posts on that if you want to see some truly imaginative ideas.
Tomorrow, we head homeward – James to London, David Whyte to eastern Scotland, Anita to Toronto, Jim to New York City, and I home to Boston and then Maine. The trip has been everything we could have hoped for – and more. Great golf, great camaraderie, wonderful hotels and dining, single malt whiskies galore, and all the sights and sounds of this beautiful southwest of Scotland. More than anything, though, it was the people we met along the way that stand out. Dozens, if not hundreds, of them. In the end, golf everywhere is a game about people and the joy of hitting a white ball around in pretty places with friends old and new. We did that in spades, and so much more.
Where will the next Golf Road Warriors crew pop up? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out. For now, we’re heading home – and we hope you’ve enjoyed being along for the ride.
Welcome to Golf Road Warriors, the website that lets you ride shotgun with a foursome of professional golf journalists on a great golf road trip. The Warriors will be waging their latest golf campaign in Scotland from May 10 - May 16.
A self-confessed golf addict, Anita has chased dimpled white balls over six continents. She writes golf travel stories for several Canadian magazines and websites, including Golf Canada, and is a course evaluator for SCOREgolf.
Jim Frank is the former editor of Golf and Golf Connoisseur magazines, contributing editor to LINKS Magazine, and author of numerous books.
James Mason is a contributing writer for Golf Monthly magazine, and has also written various features and articles on golf travel and other golf-related topics for Greenside, Golf World (UK), Going for Golf and Middle East Golfer.
The man behind the video camera is Scottish golf travel writer & photographer, David J Whyte, who has turned his mulitfarious talents to the video medium.
Writer and editor David DeSmith’s work has appeared in Travel + Leisure Golf, Golf World (US), New England Journal of Golf, Examiner.com and many other publications and websites. He is the author of two books.
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