A new “expedition golf” cruise stops at eight beautiful seaside links courses in Ireland and Scotland
SEASIDE GOLF IS one thing, but arriving via Zodiac, that’s another. It’s all part of the eight-day cruise from One Ocean Expeditions, which sees the 146-passenger RCGS Resolute carrying guests to eight legendary links courses along the rugged coast of the British Isles. Below, some highlights.
Glashedy Links, Ballyliffin Golf Club, County Donegal, Ireland
Picturesque and punishing best describes the newer of Ballyliffin’s two duneland layouts. The Inishowen peninsula upon which the course sits is so dramatic it represented planet Ahch-To in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Machrihanish Dunes, Kintyre Peninsula, Scotland
Blind shots abound at this course crafted among ecologically protected dunes that once backstopped a RAF rifle range. Hole 8, High Park, is named for the nearby farm owned by Kintyre’s most famous resident, Paul McCartney.
Askernish Golf Club, South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
An abandoned-then-resurrected 1891 course by famed designer Old Tom Morris, this far-flung site is golf’s newest pilgrimage. Holes wrap around undulating seaside grasslands. Cattle and sheep graze the fairways in the winter months.
Royal Dornoch, Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland
The world’s third-oldest course is known for worn-in softness and diabolical plateau greens. Yet its heritage is part-American: After buying nearby Skibo Castle, Andrew Carnegie donated the club’s coveted Carnegie Shield trophy in 1901.
This article originally appeared in the June 2019 edition of American Way magazine. Photography is my own.