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The Golf Courses of The British Open
Most of the Scotland golf courses that Americans have heard about are those on which The Open is played – Carnoustie, Troon, Turnberry, Muirfield, and, of course, the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Because of their fame, these golf courses have become expensive in recent years, many
costing upwards of $200 for a round. And they are crowded, typically with Americans,
who are traveling on company-financed tours or have written months ahead or entered
daily lotteries to secure tee times.
But they ARE the courses of the British Open, and we all should play some of them in this life.
To schedule tee times and play these courses 
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Other World-Class Scottish Golf Courses
I addition to The Open rota, Scotland boasts a number of other world-class golf courses that are just as high in quality as their more famous "Open" sisters. These include courses like Royal Dornoch, Royal Aberdeen, Machrihanish, and Kingsbarns.
These Scotland golf courses are always ranked on everybody's "Top 100" list of courses to play. They are sites for many international competitions. If they weren't quietly isolated from population centers and if "old boy" politics weren't at play, these courses could easily host the British Open.
Every Scotland golf trip should include one or a few of these.
To learn about and play these world-class courses
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Scotland's "Hidden Gem" Golf Courses
Scotland is also blessed with a good number of golf courses that offer a quality of play that comes very close to the courses above. Scots like to call these courses their "hidden gems" because they understand that visiting Americans don't know about them.
For the Independent Golfer, who is willing to break away from the crowds and venture off the well-trodden packaged tour paths, these "hidden gem" Scotland golf courses have five distinct advantages:
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Quality of the Golf: It is very high, just a small cut below Scotland's "Open" and "World-Class" courses.
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Open and Uncrowded: There are no legions of visiting golfers following each other around the course.
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Easy to Schedule: Scheduling tee times for the "hidden gems" presents no difficulty.
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Inexpensive: Many are less than half the cost of comparable, more well-known courses.
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Welcoming: Local Scot golfers are very open to visiting Americans. Picking up a game with locals is very possible.
For more detail about these "hidden gems"
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Scotland's "Home" Golf Courses
There are 556 registered Scotland golf courses, or one course for every 9,104 Scots. Each course is a proud "home" of local players who take their golf seriously. Most are owned and run by clubs of golfers, some are municipal courses and a growing number are privately owned for public play.
They range in quality from lovely and remote Dunaverty in the far northwest of Scotland to tiny Tarbert that has no staff but maintains an "honesty box" into which you drop your £10 to cover green fees for the day.
You wouldn't plan a trip around playing these courses but many of them are so delightful that, if you're in the area, there would be no better way to pass the time than stopping in for a round.
Unless there is an event going on, you can probably walk on. There may be some locals hanging about who might be interested in a game.
To read more about some of these courses
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111 Great Scotland Golf Courses
To see a list and descriptions of these courses, and gain access to their websites
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The Independent Golfer's Guide helps you include Scotland's other World Class golf courses and its lovely "Hidden Gems" in your Scottish golf trip.
To look at the book in more detail
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