Our travel writer has played 79 golf courses so far in 2022. Here’s what stood out.
I have one of the best jobs in the world, but don’t tell my boss that I acknowledged such. Truth is, plenty of people would line up to do this travel job for free. Play golf around the world and write about it – just about a perfect gig.
There are some downsides. The 3 a.m. wakeup calls, the flight delays, the time away from family, the late nights staring at the keyboard, not to mention all the bogeys. But these are niggles, easily dismissed.
I played 79 golf courses so far in 2022, and I am likely to add at least one or two more before the calendar flips. There were affordable munis, high-end private clubs and plenty of top-dollar resorts. I see the full spectrum of golf in my travels, from dirt fairways to perfect putting surfaces. They all were among the 250-plus stories I filed in 2022, and I remember just about every shot from each round – my wife calls this ability to recall and fret about shots I struck months ago a major character flaw.
With the year wrapping up soon, it’s time to take a look back at several of my favorite experiences of 2022. I played from California to Scotland, and some days, courses and golf holes just stood out.
The World Golf Awards, which is held annually, is in its ninth year and celebrates excellence in golf tourism.
Scotland has been named the world’s best golf destination in a prestigious award being held in the Middle Eastern City of Abu Dhabi.
The World Golf Awards, which is held annually, is in its ninth year and celebrates excellence in golf tourism with the winner selected by tour operators, golfing media, and fans from around the world.
Beyond winning the world’s best golf destination award, Scotland was also named Europe’s best location to play golf in.
This is the first time the home of golf has picked up both of these awards in the sport’s prestigious prize-giving event.
Scotland, which has more than 550 golf courses, hosted the 150th Open at St. Andrews in Fife in July of this year.
The country also hosted The Genesis Scottish Open, The Senior Open Presented by Rolex, Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open, AIG Women’s Open, and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Tiger Woods of The United States poses for a photo with Jack Nicklaus on the 18th bridge during the Celebration of Champions Challenge during a practice round prior to The 150th Open at St. Andrews Old Course on July 11, 2022, in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
In a statement, VisitScotland’s chief executive said: “These awards are a fitting end to an extra special year for golf in Scotland and fantastic recognition for all the people who work so hard to grow and enhance our reputation as the Home of Golf.
“I’d like to extend our congratulations to everyone, as well as the wider tourism and events industries and suppliers.
“Every year, we welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors eager to play our great golf courses and relax in our accommodation after a day’s golf, enjoying local produce and visiting nearby attractions.”
Dermot Synnott, director of global partnerships for the World Golf Awards added: “Scottish golf tourism is thriving, and Scotland is a bucket list destination for most golfers around the World.
“It offers a vast range of parkland and links options across all its regions, so the traveling golfer really is spoilt for choice.”
Tom Doak lays out the Holy Grail of golf design, and it might not be what you think.
INVERNESS, Scotland – What do you get when you hand over some 150 acres of prime waterfront land in the Scottish Highlands to American golf architect Tom Doak? Not even Doak is sure yet.
But Cabot – the rapidly expanding Canadian company that started with the highly acclaimed Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia – is betting Doak’s work will be worth an overseas flight for traveling golfers.
Cabot acquired Castle Stuart Golf Links and its eponymous 18-hole layout near Inverness, Scotland, in June with development plans that include a second course and luxury cabins just minutes away from the Inverness airport. The property has been rebranded Cabot Highlands. Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of Cabot, has hired Doak to build the second 18 with plans to break ground in 2023 and a possible soft opening sometime in 2024.
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“We’ve got to get the routing done first,” quipped Doak with a laugh as he met with a small group of American and Canadian golf writers in October at Castle Stuart.
Cabot has expanded rapidly in recent years. The company took off in 2012 in Nova Scotia with Cabot Links, a Rod Whitman design that ranks No. 2 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern Canadian courses. That course was joined in 2015 by Cabot Cliffs, a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design that ranks No. 1 on that modern Canadian list.
In the Caribbean, a Coore and Crenshaw design at Cabot St. Lucia is slated to open in 2023. In Canada, the company announced last year the development of Cabot Revelstoke in British Columbia, which will feature a Whitman design scheduled to open in 2024. And in Florida, Cabot has purchased the former World Woods, rebranded it Citrus Farms and is having its two courses renovated with a planned reopening in 2023.
The second course at Cabot Highlands will mark the first time Doak has worked with Cowan-Dewar, but Doak has established himself as one of the premium designers of his era. His course credits, either solo or in combination with other designers, include 12 courses on Golfweek’s Best list of the top 200 modern courses built since 1960 in the U.S., including four in the top 10. He also laid out five of the top 50 Golfweek’s Best modern international courses, including three of the top five on that list.
Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen designed the original 18 at Castle Stuart in Scotland, now named Cabot Highlands. (Golfweek)
Doak met the handful of writers, including this author, at Cabot Highlands’ clubhouse, then led the group on a tour of some of the property where the new course will be constructed. It’s a stunning site alongside the Moray Firth, a huge bay that is fed from a river that flows through nearby Inverness with waters from Loch Ness.
The original 18 at Cabot Highlands, built by Gil Hanse and Castle Stuart founder Mark Parsinen (who died in 2019), sits high upon cliffs overlooking the Moray Firth with some of the most dramatic golf views in Scotland. That course opened in 2009 and ranks No. 4 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses in Great Britain and Ireland. It has hosted the Scottish Open four times.
Doak’s parcel is lower, stretching from the clubhouse, past a 400-year-old castle that gave the property its original name and down a ridge toward the water. The rolling site has been farmed with the land smoothed over as it descends toward the coast, which means Doak’s team likely will move a lot of earth to create interesting internal contours – similar to the original layout at Castle Stuart.
Doak said the new course won’t quite be a true out-and-back routing with nine holes in one direction and nine coming back, but it likely will be close to that with a few redirections along the way. Parsinen originally planned to build a course by Arnold Palmer on the site, but those plans have been replaced.
Doak spoke candidly about the opportunities, challenges and thrill of building on the site and in Scotland in general. He also spoke openly about several of his other projects around the world and how he approaches the lofty expectations that come with building on such a beautiful site. Lengthy excerpts of that conversation are included below.
Furue fires a 10-under 62 to set a new course record at Dundonald Links.
Sunday’s final round at the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open is one LPGA rookie Ayaka Furue won’t soon forget.
Furue torched Dundonald Links on Sunday in Ayrshire, Scotland, firing a course record and tournament record of 10-under 62 to overcome a four-stroke deficit and capture her first LPGA victory. Japan’s newest LPGA winner finished at 21 under, three shots better than Celine Boutier, who was tied for the 54-hole lead with Lydia Ko.
“My all-around game was really good,” Furue said. “The putts I needed to make, I made. My putting was really good.”
The stats back that up. She hit 17 of 18 greens and 13 of 14 fairways. She putted 26 times, recording 10 birdies and no bogeys en route to her course record. Furue made six straight birdies from Nos. 6-11. She shot 5-under 31 on each side. And she did it without lighting up the par 5s, as she birdied only one of the four three-shotters, the finishing hole.
Ayaka Furue of Japan plays her tee shot at the 18th hole in the final round of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links on July 31, 2022 in Troon, Scotland. (Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Furue, 22, began the final round four shots behind the leaders but quickly made up that ground. She birdied the par-4 first before recording four straight pars. Then the birdie streak started, and more followed on Nos. 15, 17 and 18 to finish at 21 under.
By the time the final group came to the 18th tee, Furue had locked up the victory.
Boutier shot 3-under 69 in the final round, which included seven birdies. Ko, who led after 36 holes, shot her second straight 1-under 71 after back-to-back rounds of 65 to open the tournament. Ko finished five shots behind Furue in a tie for fifth place.
Hyo-Joo Kim and Cheyenne Knight finished tied for third at 17 under, four shots behind Furue.
The win could be pivotal for Furue heading into the final women’s major championship of the season next week, the AIG Women’s British Open at Muirfield.
“It builds up a lot of confidence,” Furue said. “I look forward to more tournaments and next week.”
If you’re traveling internationally and looking to get in a round abroad, you may want to consider a rental set.
You thought the British Open ending the men’s major championship season was a bummer? Wait until you see this.
Domestic travel is bad enough these days in the United States with severely understaffed airlines leading to frequent flight delays, cancellations and of course, lost luggage. On the international scale it’s even worse, and one picture showed just how backed up high-traffic airports can be.
Just days after Cameron Smith won the British Open in epic fashion at the Old Course at St. Andrews, a pile of golf bags currently sits in the Edinburgh Airport, which is just 50 miles from the Home of Golf.
There’s a comfort that comes with playing with your own clubs, but if you’re traveling internationally this year and looking to get a round or two in abroad, you may want to consider a rental set.
There are four ways for visiting golfers to play the Old Course at St. Andrews, so plan early or plan to get in line.
The Old Course at St. Andrews is considered the Home of Golf and, throughout its history at the base of an incredible Scottish town, has been a public-access layout. But don’t expect to just ring up the pro shop for a tee time at 10 a.m. next Saturday for yourself and seven buddies.
The Old Course – site of this week’s British Open – hosts nearly 50,000 rounds a year, and that’s with the course being closed on Sundays when the hallowed golfing grounds become a public park – take your dog for a stroll to the beach, but don’t plan on sneaking out for a quick nine after a haggis brunch.
With all those rounds played six days a week, there is quite a bottleneck for access for visiting golfers. But tee times aren’t impossible, they just require planning – and maybe a very early morning wake-up call or long night sitting outside.
There are several ways for locals to score tee times – might we suggest signing up for classes at the ancient University of St. Andrews? Short of that, the St. Andrews Links, which manages tee times on the Old, offers access to non-residents via limited advance registrations, authorized providers, the Old Course ballot and singles golfers. Check out the details for each below.
Worth noting, the green fee for 2023 is 270 pounds (roughly 320 U.S. dollars) in the high season of April 18-Oct. 16, then it drops to 190 pounds for the shoulder season of October 17-31, then it falls to 135 pounds for the low season of November 1-March 31. Players tackling the Old in the winter might be required to play all full shots off mats, little strips of artificial turf that must be carried around the course throughout the round. Caddies, of course, cost extra and must be arranged.
And last of all, don’t forget your handicap card. Players must provide proof of having a handicap of 36 or less.
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To celebrate the 150 British Open, Nike has created a special version of its Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour NEXT% NRG that pays tribute to Scotland.
The British Open is a tough event for apparel and footwear makers to plan for because traditionally the swirling winds, fluctuating temperatures and suspect conditions have players adding and removing layers all day. At the same time, this week’s 150th playing of the Open is the season’s final major in men’s golf and is being held at St. Andrews, the home of the game.
To celebrate, Nike has created a special version of its Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour NEXT% NRG that pays tribute to Scotland. The shoe is functional, featuring two Zoom Air units in the forefoot for extra cushioning and a textile upper that enhances breathability. There are also two spikes on the forefoot and two more designed into the heel to compliment the sole’s traction elements, but the shoes are also loaded with symbols of the game’s homeland.
The Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour NEXT% NRG is available now for $180 at nike.com. Here’s a look at it.
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We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
How does St. Andrews, site of this week’s Open Championship, stack up against the rest of the course rota?
Each of the 10 layouts on the modern British Open course rota score highly in Golfweek’s Best ranking of top classic golf courses built before 1960 in Great Britain and Ireland, as would be expected. But that doesn’t mean they all are equals.
Check out the rankings of each course on the modern rota below. The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings, and they are included for each course below.
We know that most golf fans will spend the next week and more dreaming of hitting the Scottish links, so we here at Golfweek are doing everything within our power to make that dream a bit more real.
Last week we gave you some of the best U.K. golf vacations out there, but this week our focus narrows to Scotland and the 10 best courses that the home of golf has to offer.
These rankings come directly from the hundreds of Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 who continually evaluated courses and rated them based on our 10 criteria. They also filed a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course.
For more of Golfweek’s Best course lists, check out the most recent selection of course rankings:
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Wild, thriving landscapes stretch across the Scottish Highlands. Located to the northwest of Scotland, the Highlands feature rocky coastlines, grassy valleys, towering mountains, and even historic castles. Nature and history shape the area’s beauty and make the Highlands a highly sought-after travel location.
See all the sights the Scottish Highlands have to offer. Visitors can take a ferry to the Isle of Skye, ski Glencoe Mountain’s snowy slopes, go animal-spotting at Highland Wildlife Park, and experience many more once-in-a-lifetime activities. Curious to preview some of the area’s charming vistas? Look no further than these seven magical photos of the Scottish Highlands.
