Play Scotland’s most iconic golf courses and then return to your own fortress.

No sooner have you arrived at your 17th-century Scottish castle, your private staff are waiting to meet your every need; at the five-star Turin Castle, you choose the experience you wish to have. You could be greeted by the sound of bagpipes before hosting your own feast complete with highland dancing, before taking a dram of the finest Scottish whisky in front of the open fire. The next morning, after waking to views of the 20 acres of beautifully manicured gardens and the distant Angus Glens, you ready yourself for the first round of golf.

The options include Scotland’s finest, with St Andrews, Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Royal Aberdeen and Trump International anything from 20 minutes to 75 minutes away, all within easy access. Alternatively, stroll along the sandy shores of nearby Lunan Bay Beach, get taken to the very best fishing spots, or take a tour of the best whisky distillers Scotland, or indeed the world, has to offer.

To play The Old Course, St Andrews is a rite of passage for every golfer.

Watson v Seve; Faldo v Norman; Daly v Rocca; and Tiger Woods at his absolute pomp, just standing at the first tee overlooking that famously vast opening fairway takes your breath away. As the starter signals for you to begin your journey, so many moments from golf history rush through the mind and, with six centuries of golfing history, there’s plenty to choose from.

Once you do hit that, thankfully wide, first fairway, you then have the course to sharpen the focus. Aside from the whistling winds from the North Sea, and even the rain that’s compulsory to have a truly authentic experience, there’s also the double-greens; the ball-hungry bunkers, including the infamous 300 sq ft of Hell on the 14th; and the 17th ‘road hole’, one of the toughest in golf. But at least, once you’re done, you get to pose on Swilcan Bridge Nicklaus-style as you begin the home strait on the 18th.

It’s fair to say, even if you finish with a scorecard to forget, the golfing memory of playing the Old Course at St Andrews is one that will last forever.

Fishing, falconry, archery and horse riding, combined with golf at luxury Gleneagles.

The Ochil Hills are a 25-mile stretch of mountains, occasionally peaking at a cloud-piercing 2,000 ft that stretch from the Firth of Tay to Stirling, playing their role in making this part of Scotland so spectacular. Beneath the Ochils in prime Perthshire countryside you find the 850 acres of the Gleneagles estate, where you can indulge in, almost literally, an A-Z of country pursuits. Making the most of the greatest of great outdoors, you can ramble, horse ride or cycle through endless woodland, cairn, riverside and forest trails that inspired the likes of Wordsworth.

Try your hand at everything from falconry and clay or game shooting to archery, salmon and trout fishing, or even work with gundogs and ferrets. When you’re tired from the day’s adventures, you’ve got the splendour of the 232-room Gleneagles hotel, arguably the world’s most luxurious golf hotel, dating back to the 1920s era of railway resorts, now thoroughly modern, but in all the right places, still boasting character and first-class service at every turn. Later, dining at the two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, you have the perfect day, and that’s before you tackle the three Championship course, including the two original King’s and Queen’s courses and the PGA Centenary Course, host of the 2014 Ryder Cup and 2019 Solheim Cup.

Traverse a dramatic landscape shaped by the Atlantic ocean, while taking in six of Ireland’s most spectacular courses, including the acclaimed Ballybunion.

Curling around Ireland’s west coast from Derry in the north to Cork in the south, the Wild Atlantic Way is high on the list of everyone’s road trip bucket-list, but add in six of the country’s top golf courses and it’s impossible to resist. 

The coastline’s otherworldly feel is the result of its age-old battle with the Atlantic resulting in gargantuan rock formations towering over the ocean: karst landscapes; vast swathes of sandy beach; and fortress and castles that could withstand the enemy but not the weather. Around every turn there’s another romantic ruin or chance to hop to another island or islet and the wildlife – from rare seabirds to dolphins – is abundant whichever way you look. You’ll go from fishing towns and villages that still brave the wild waters in search of the freshest seafood – ocean to oven is double quick here – to abandoned ancient settlements and iron age forts that tell a thousand stories. And, of course, the links golf here also is out of this world.

From Old Head, south of Kinsale, where you’re almost playing in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by the Atlantic, on a headline stretching two miles; west to Waterville where you’re teeing off between a stunning lake and the big blue; then to Arnold Palmer’s first European course Tralee; Ireland’s No.1 Ballybunion; future Ryder Cup host Adare Manor; and Lahinch, which has been touched by the golf architect genius of not only Old Tom Morris, but Alister McKenzie too. It’s the perfect triumvirate of iconic courses and an iconic road trip in the most hospitable country in the world.

"All that one would hope to find in the ideal golf club is in abundance at Sunningdale." Sir Michael Bonallack

There are many clubs, both ancient and modern, that are lucky enough to have two courses; courses that compliment one another, one perhaps more difficult, one easier, one for fourballs at the weekend, one for singles, one maybe long and wide open, one short but narrow. Few though would argue that Sunningdale’s pair are as fine a set of thirty six holes as you’ll find anywhere.

For many the Old is quite simply the best inland course in the country, scarcely altered since Willie Park Jnr wove it in amongst undulating heather and pine more than a century ago, yet still a test to intrigue stranger and old friend alike. Despite the advent of metal heads and titanium shafts, it still demands care and attention to get round, while at the same time charming all who play it. Above all it creates that most important of golfing emotions – the desire to play another nine holes after tea.

Had it not been for the presence of the Old next door, the New would probably be rated the best of the Surrey and Berkshire heathland courses, if not in the whole UK. It is mostly the work of the finest golf course architect this century, Harry Colt, who also just happened to be Sunningdale’s first club Secretary. The difference in the two courses is that whereas the Old flatters and charms, the New demands and examines to the point of undoing all who are not totally in control of themselves or their game.

One of Scotland's Finest

The Carnegie Links is at the very heart of the Club. An 18-hole Championship course on the shore of the Dornoch Firth, it offers players 6,903 yards of golfing genius. There are no tee times, so members are free to play as and when the mood takes them.

Whether it’s the big-bodied Macallan or the sweeter, lighter Glenlivet, Speyside in the Scottish Highlands has long been a heartland for single malt whisky, with a higher concentration of producers than any other region of Scotland.

The 485-acre Macallan Estate on the banks of the River Spey, licensed to distil since 1824, is one of the many iconic distilleries set within this Highland utopia, where forests are abundant in wildlife – from wildcats to red deer to red squirrels with golden eagles soaring above – and the waters are home to some of the world’s best salmon (wild Atlantic). Throw in visiting whales and dolphins and, of course, the shaggy-haired highland cow grazing the verdant rolling hills, and you have a picture-perfect vision of wild Scotland.

And given Scotland’s status as the home of golf, this mountainous land with its lochs, rivers and wild coastline, has naturally been put to good use on the golfing front, with courses that blend into nature, created by some of the sport’s legendary designers. Old Tom Morris has made his mark here, Donald Ross was born here, and modern names have been keen to get involved too, ensuring the Highlands doesn’t just have the perfect ingredients for golf, it has been touched by those that know the right recipes too.