GUIDE TO GOLFING HOLIDAYS IN AYRSHIRE
Where to stay and where to play on your Ayrshire golfbreak.
Golf holidays in Ayrshire
Along Scotland's west coast, running from Glasgow down to Turnberry via Troon and Prestwick is probably the most concentrated swathe of remarkable links golf courses that you will find anywhere in the world: Scotland's Golden Golf Coast. If you love links golf, a golfbreak in Troon or Prestwick is an absolute must at some point in your golfing travels.
Ayrshire - Golf Courses
Aside from Royal Troon and Prestwick, the other Golf Clubs in Ayr that you may have heard of are Western Gailes and Dundonald Links? These are rightly trumpeted in the golfing press and TV as jewels in Scotia's crown of links. The ones you may not have heard of are Kilmarnock Barrassie, Prestwick St. Nicholas and Irvine Bogside: every bit as testing as the big golfing names along Scotland's west coast, we can assure you!
For a golfer on holiday, it is a miraculous sight to see courses as fantastic as Royal Troon, Prestwick, Kilmarnock, Western Gailes, Glasgow Gailes and Dundonald Links lying cheek-by-jowl and each vying for the touring golfer's attention: it's hard to know where to start - let alone when to stop! And if that roll-call of Scottish links golf isn't enough don't forget the luxury of Turnberry lying just to the South!
Where to stay in Ayrshire
In our opinion the choice is quite clear: Troon or Prestwick. Two towns that are quite close together along the Scottish coast, yet quite different in character. Troon is the smaller but more charming of the two, a small town gathered around an active harbour with ships coming-and-going either fishing between the islands or freight and ferries to the islands.
Prestwick is a quieter town, with just one main street of shops and guesthouses; all life seems to centre around the Golf Club - not a bad thing!
Dining out in Ayrshire
With so much coastline offering access to the North and Irish seas it is hardly surprising to find some of the best catches landed on the Ayrshire shores. So lovers of fresh fish will have a whale of a time between Troon and Prestwick.
The two towns of Troon and Prestwick are fairly compact, yet they offer enough bars and restaurants to sate and slake the hungriest and thirstiest of holiday golfers. Indeed, with the recent boom in tourism to the Ayr area there are some strikingly trendy restaurants to be found amidst the establishments offering more traditional Scottish fayre.
Getting to Ayrshire
Getting to your golf holiday in Ayr could hardly be any easier with so many flights into the two airports of Glasgow and Prestwick. Prestwick is about halfway between Troon and Prestwick so very handy for both. We can arrange flights for you if you wish or are equally happy to let you book these yourselves if you prefer?
We can arrange a hire-car for the duration of your holiday, or we have a very reliable coach and minibus company that we use if you prefer to be chauffeured from golf course to golf course around Ayrshire?
If you are considering driving to your golf holiday in Troon, Prestwick or Turnberry, then that is even easier still! As you might imagine, Glasgow is well connected to by roads heading south across the border into England and Wales.
