Murray's summary:

With so much great links golf, one visit will never be enough.

Good for:

•  Links courses - quality and quantity

•  Short distances between courses

Not so good for:

•  Winter golf

•  Huge range of mid-price hotels

The Ayrshire coast has one of the highest concentrations of high quality links golf to be found anywhere in the world: amongst which two current Open Championship venues at Turnberry and Royal Troon and of course Prestwick where it all started.  Extremely easily accessible with an international airport at Prestwick, it is a golf destination that lovers of seaside golf should visit at least once in their golfing lives.

There is a huge range of Green-fees too, from simple municipal golf at Lochgreen, Bellisle and Girvan, through mid-range private Clubs such as Prestwick St. Nicholas and St. Cuthbert to the exclusive top end Clubs like Royal Troon and Western Gailes and the unique golfing experience that is the old course at Prestwick.

When to go

Winters in Ayrshire can be long, cold and wet; so best avoided for golf.  From May through to September are the best times to visit, albeit July and August can be very busy with general tourists (in their coaches).

Being on the coast the sea breezes tend to keep the Scottish midges at bay, which is a real boon if you have ever come across them further inland.

Accommodation

Accommodation is either top end resort hotels such as Turnberry or the Marine hotel in Troon or simple B&Bs.  In between there is not a huge choice - the Parkstone hotel in Prestwick or the South Beach hotel in Troon are the only decent three-star hotels.

Sightseeing

Around the coast there are some long sandy beaches although it takes a hardy swimmer to brave the Atlantic waters even with the warmth of the Gulf Stream!

The coastline is studded with relics of Scotland's feudal past with the castle and gardens at Culzean (just north of Turnberry) being one of Scotland's finest.

Literary fans may be interested in visiting Robert Burns' cottage, just south of Ayr (beside Belleisle G.C.).

Over the water the lobely island of Arran with its fine food and whisky is just an hour by ferry from Ardrossan.  A lovely day out, even if you don't play at the quirky little twelve hole course at Shiskine.

Lundin Links

Course:

Greenkeeping:

Clubhouse:

Murray's word

* Only 3 electronic trolleys available - should book in advance

The Golf House Club Elie

Course:

Greenkeeping:

Clubhouse:

Murray's Word

Leven Links

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Condition:

Clubhouse:

Murray's Word

Crail - Balcomie Links

Course:

Condition:

Clubhouse:

Murray's Word

* Possible to get combined greenfee to play both courses for £72 (weekday) - £92 (weekend)

Crail - Craighead Links

Course:

Condition:

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Murray's Word

Balbirnie Park Golf Club

Course:

Condition:

Clubhouse:

Murray's Word

* Course closed during and after WWII - previously known as Markinch Golf Club (1905), reformed as Balbirnie Park in 1983.

Dining out in Cork

Should you be after after dinner drinks then the back bar in Elliots is open to 1am on most evenings; watch out for the Karaoke evenings however, which still seem very popular in Ayrshire (the Susan Boyle factor?).

Dining out in

Nightlife

Flights

Prestwick airport has direct connections to many European destinations and more can be reached with a change of aircraft in Istanbul.  From Antalya the drive to Belek will take less than an hour as the airport is to the East of town and the road is a decent dual carriageway.

Hover on a logo to see the available routes, clicking the logo below will take you directly to the airline's website to book your flights.

Hire cars

Probably the most flexible way to get around during your visit.  Both airports offer the full range of hire-car companies: Avis, Hertz, Budget, Europcar, Sixt et cetera, whose contact details are shown opposite (if you have not already been offered a hire-car by your airline when you booked your flights!).

Chauffeur driven cars, minibuses and coaches

Local Agencies

If you would prefer to leave the driving to somebody else then there are a number of local travel agents who will take care of all you transfer arrangements.

We have heard good things about Laura Golf.  The others mentioned are a bit of an unknown quantity, so please leave a comment if you have experience of their services.

Credit card payments is the surest way to pay and will allow you to reclaim your money should you run into any trouble with a local agent going into liquidation or failing to deliver their promised services.