TRAVEL: A trip through Scotland's Best - Gleneagles/Loch Lommond, Pg. 6 |
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Some to see, some to be guessed, They marched from east to west . . .
We left Carnoustie in the morning after a good meal of fish-and-chips in the hotel restaurant the night before. Having a couple pints with a Welshman afterwards, we watched the first leg of Barcelona-Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semifinals, and it was a hoot. Even more so was him trying to explain why the Royal Wedding – now only two days away – was actually a thing of importance. He was a barrister by trade, and imagining him in a powdered wig seemed just about right. So now we were leaving the east coast of the country and heading west, all the way to the other coastline, final destination being Turnberry, just southwest of Glasgow on the Irish Sea. It was a trip of about 150 miles, so we decided to make a couple pit stops. The first one came highly recommended by Roy and is a place of magnificent inland beauty.
The Gleneagles Hotel is one of the spectacular places we saw in all the country. Sitting equidistant between Dundee and Glasgow, Gleneagles inhabits a landscape of big rolling hills, and dramatic, sharp dells (called glens). From the croquet lawn of the majestic old hotel built in 1924, you can see for miles and the view of lush greenery is just intoxicating. The five-star resort has a highly touted spa and numerous swimming pools, even one that has a small cut-through from indoor pool to outdoor hot tub. There are many wonderful dining options, ranging from a small, intimate, two Michelin-starred restaurant called Andrew Fairlie, to the wide-open area of a high-end food emporium, where cured meats and cheeses hang on display. The activities at Gleneagles are also abundant, with things like falconry, a shooting and fishing school, an equestrian school with ponies, off-road 4x4 driving, and a “gundog school,” where you get your own personal hunting dog. And, of course, there is golf. There originally were two courses built on site, the best being James Braid’s “King’s Course,” opened in 1919. From all we’ve heard, it’s an exciting and tough layout, carved into the big rolling hills. The European Tour’s Scottish Open was held there for many years. There is also the “Queen’s Course,” which is supposed to be a little more inviting, along with a newer short nine-hole course, PGA National Academy Course.
Then there is the brand new PGA Centenary course. It was built by Jack Nicklaus in 1993 for the direct purpose of bringing big events to Gleneagles. It hooked a huge one when it was awarded the 2014 Ryder Cup matches, and although there has been some negative feedback from the pros about the place – the designs of Nicklaus are a far cry from the understated grace of Braid – it should make for a very interesting competition.
From Gleneagles, we drove about an hour west to Loch Lomond, one of the country’s large inland lakes. There is a golf course around the water with the same namesake, designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, that has hosted the Scottish Open in recent years. But we didn’t stop there, instead Roy deciding it was a good idea to take the women to the quaint little summer town of Luss. With a narrow street bordered by old, small, and seemingly straw-roofed houses, Luss exemplifies the country living of inland Scotland. At the end of the street is a small beach with a pier that goes out into the loch. Small boats scurried around, and sunbathers threw tennis balls into the water for their shaggy dogs to retrieve. The water was still too cold for anybody but the bravest of souls, yet the setting was beautifully idyllic.
“Dees howses ir n’er ona markek,” Roy said with a nod. It wasn’t hard to understand why.
DRIVING into Turnberry is an experience that in its own right is worth crossing the Ocean. Coming down A77, you crest a hill and as you start the decent, in the distance you see the famed Ailsa Craig. A huge rock island in the Irish Sea, the Ailsa Craig is the halfway marker between Scotland and Ireland, and it looms out in the water like a sentry guard, often covered in mist and ominous. It’s now a vacant bird sanctuary, but its importance seems imminent. The road then turns right and after a minute, you look up back into the hill and there is the Turnberry Hotel, bigger than in any pictures you’ve seen and more elegant than imagined. It sits atop the third tier of a three-tier climb, at least 200 feet above the road.
To the left of the road, on the land abutting the water, are the golf courses. In addition to the famous Ailsa Course, where they have played four Open Championships, there is also the estimable Kintyre Course, which gets rave reviews and is said to have a handful of even better views than the Ailsa (of which we’ll get to soon.) Next to the road, on the first tier heading up the hill, is an 18-hole pitch-and-putt course. Now I haven’t played a ton of pitch-and-putt in my life, but I can’t imagine anywhere on the planet there being a better, more difficult little track than this one. It is a collection of 40-to-80-yard holes, littered with deep, penal pot bunkers and tiny greens carved into the hillside. It’s just a bear of a course that can’t play more than 1,200 yards, but, as a 3-handicap, if I finished at 10-over, I’d have played a good round. If you’re taking a beginner out there, be ready to walk off after a couple of frustrating swipes.
Before we left for the trip, while in talks with Roy, he told us Turnberry is his favorite resort in all of Europe. Getting into the hotel, we found out why. With an assortment of outdoor activities similar to that of Gleneagles, Turnberry offers a complete resort package. They have 4x4 off-roading, ATV rentals, horseback riding on the beach, biking, fishing trips, archery, falconry, and a shooting range. They also have one of the world’s most renowned spas. In an adjacent building to the hotel – with an underground passageway between the two – people walk around comfortably in bathrobes, looking completely relaxed. The pools and assorted spa treatments look to be a delight. So as we walked in the front door, there was a fire crackling in the lobby and the kilted doormen cheerily welcomed us. Once through, I went straight to the back of the grand room, where there is a little sitting area for afternoon tea, set against a panel of bay windows looking out over the golf courses and the sea. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was still bright and high in the sky. Our two rooms, up the regal staircase to the second floor, both looked in the same direction. We passed suites with the names of previous Open winners, none more impressive than the Tom Watson suite, at the top of stairs and doublewide. Our rooms, standard size, were as five-star as you could get, including heated bathroom floors. Our large window was filled with sunlight, and the room was bright and felt very open. Much like our room at the Rusacks in St. Andrews, it was hard to pull me from starring out at the scenery. This time, my girlfriend was right next to me. Turnberry is a place that is beautiful beyond words, and it has nothing to do with what’s on the linksland.
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