The Amazing Thing About Golf in Scotland

Let me paint a picture for you. 

You drive towards the Old Course at St. Andrews, alongside the road hole with the legendary R&A Clubhouse off in the distance. 

It’s a crisp spring morning, but you are lucky because at least the sun is out and there is only a mild wind blowing off the water.

You get out of your rental car and are immediately greeted by a jolly man with a thick Scottish accent. You can barely understand him but you realize that he has come to take your golf clubs out of the trunk of the car. 

After breaking out your credit card and settling your very expensive greens fees, you head over to the driving range to hit a few balls to loosen up before your round on the closest thing golf enthusiasts have to heaven on earth.

You head towards the first tee and meet your caddie, who knows every inch of the Old Course, but it will take you at least five holes to begin navigating through his thick accent to understand the insightful instructions he is giving you.

The sun is beginning to rise further into the cloudless blue sky, quickly turning a crisp morning into what looks to be a perfect afternoon.

Then, as your hands are shaking as thoughts fire through your mind about how you are seconds away from teeing off on the most famous golf course in the world, you send a perfectly struck drive between the pot bunkers, landing on the rock hard fairway and rolling an additional 30 yards. 

As amazing as the this story sounds, the most amazing part of it is that anyone and everyone, who is willing to pay an expensive greens fee, is able to live this golfing dream. 

You see, golf in Scotland is vastly different from golf in America, in that in Scotland, the average Joe can walk out and play the same courses where British Opens have been held for over a century.

You can walk the same fairways as Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Walter Hagan, and just about every one of the game’s all-time greats. 

In one trip to Scotland, the average Joe can play St. Andrews, Turnberry, Royal Troon, Carnoustie, etc.

Sure, it will cost you a pretty penny, but it’s still possible, which is what makes golf in Scotland very much different than golf in America.  

In America, we spend hours each weekend watching tour professionals play courses that 99 percent of golf fans will never even sniff unless they purchase a ticket to watch the tour event there.

Take Augusta National for example–good luck even getting a ticket to the Masters, let alone an opportunity to play the course. 

Virtually every PGA Tour event in America is played at country clubs that demand exuberant entrance fees and that one cannot even enter the front gates unless accompanied by a member. 

Golf has always been a sport enjoyed mostly by the wealthier segments of society, and that is also the case in Scotland. 

However, in Scotland, a fan of the game can save up a little money and decide to go out and play the Old Course. 

In America, you better hit a $200 million lottery and become friends with some members of Augusta National to even be considered for a round of golf, and even then, the likelihood of walking the pristine fairways of Augusta National are slim to none.

Scotland is the birthplace of golf and, remarkably, throughout history they have continued to make virtually every course accessible to anyone who wants to experience the joy of walking these magnificent, historic fairways.

Let’s just hope that Scotland remains this way for future generations to enjoy the game of golf on the same courses their heroes once walked.