There’s an old Irish adage that states ‘an ounce of breeding is worth a pound of feeding’ — in essence it translates to mean that thoroughbreds are born not made, pedigree can only be refined it can not be created. And so it is with golf — great golf courses, great golf holes are born from a fusion of natural forces, refined only by the subtle hand of an Arnold Palmer or a Tom Morris. Nowhere has golfing pedigree like Ireland and nowhere can the task of picking a signature 18 be more challenging.

While our selection displays a penchant for links golf — in the land of Ballybunion & Lahinch, Portmarnock & Royal County Down we feel more than justified in our selection.

Hole No. 1 (Doonbeg) – As you approach the first on this Greg Norman creation your eyes begin to wander. As you look seaward, one and a half miles of crescent shaped beach acts as a fitting backdrop to the imposing maran grass dunes. The first fairway runs gently from the tee — an accurate drive will set you up for the second which has to avoid some fairway traps before playing into the large green protected on all three sides by monumental dunes.

Hole No. 2 (The Cuilin, Tralee) – Wayne Westner once said of Tralee ‘If heaven is not like this, I don’t want to go there.’ The second hole is a dogleg par-5, measuring a full 595 yards and plays directly along the Atlantic Ocean to the right. Golfers must negotiate a narrow entry as if by right of passage to the small sheltered green set high upon the cliff top. (Click here to read the article in full)

Getting to Scotland has never been easier. There is a vast array of Airline Carriers servicing the main cities of Scotland. So here is a very brief guide to getting there, and hopefully getting there with enough money to spend on the reason d’etre, Golf.
Airports to Courses
First let’s look at what airports best serve which courses

Low Cost Carriers – (Connecting UK, Ireland & Europe)

Ryanair – the worlds largest low cost carrier are hard to beat in terms of coverage and cost, especially for those flying from the UK & Ireland.

Edinburgh – Dublin, Shannon
Aberdeen – Dublin, Liverpool
Inverness – Liverpool, East Midlands
Glasgow – Dublin, Shannon, London, Paris Cork

Easy Jet – serve the same cities as Ryanair in Scotland, and are better at connecting Inverness & Aberdeen with London. BMI Baby continue to improve and are your best bet if you want to connect to the cities such as Birmingham & Cardiff

National Carriers – (Connecting UK, Ireland & Europe)
As you might expect British Airways, KLM, Aer Lingus & Lufthansa do a pretty good job at joining the dots with the principal Scottish Cities. The nice surprise these days are that there prices are becoming increasingly competitive – particularly British Airways.

Rest of the world to Scotland
The flight options are too numerous to mention, but the best place to start is undoubtedly the flight aggregators. Two we particularly like are
Kayak & Mobissimo, the later is our new favourite.

Remember Fairway Golf in association with World Choice Travel provide a comprehensive flight booking service – for further detail click here.