Story of a Golf Club: The Renaissance Club The 2017, 2019, 2020, and - dare we say 2021 - Scottish Open venue that is The Renaissance Club. The brainchild of Jerry Savardi is sandwiched between the venerable Muirfield links, and Archerfield to the East, and designed by the acclaimed architect Tom Doak, opened for play in April 2008.  Firstly, the club. Renaissance is exclusivity defined, and you get the sense that you’re in for somewhere very special when you arrive at the 20 ft high wrought-iron gates at its entrance, with the simple button by the side to [...]

Story of a Golf Club: Musselburgh Links - The Old Golf Course Musselburgh Links – The old golf course….. To the racing fan stood up in the terraces, it looks like any other 9 hole golf course. But to golfers, it’s a pilgrimage to the games roots. With golf played since 1672, and fabled stories that Mary Queen of Scots played here as early as 1567, Musselburgh is the oldest remaining course in the world, and the game we enjoy would be very different in a number of ways without its existence.   Starting with the hole itself, [...]

The second part of our Tour Film from the Cookie Jar comes from the Scottish Highlands. This one is a cracker! It’s longer than a typical English soap-opera, and twice the entertainment! In this episode, we head down to East Lothian for the second leg of our trip, playing at the Renaissance Club, Gullane No.1, Muirfield (The Honorable Co. Edinburgh Golfers), Kilspindie and Musselburgh Old Links. All of this in 3 days, with a late night barstool putting tournament at the epic Duck’s Inn, Aberlady with our host Malcolm Duck (aka The Duck)!We have a cameo appearance from Steve Elkington [...]

The story of Castle Stuart is, in many ways, the story of Mark Parsinen… In the early 2000s, Mark began planning the design of a golf course on the Moray Firth. He had been closely involved with the creation of Kingsbarns near St Andrews, which opened to critical acclaim in July 2000. To create his Highlands masterpiece, Mark enlisted the support of the American architect, Gil Hanse.  Although Mark was given an undeniably picturesque landscape from which to carve this links, his meticulous attention to detail certainly maximised the natural beauty of the surrounding environment. Both loops of [...]

Story of a Golf Club: Brora Golf Club To kick start our new Scotland 2020 tour series, we’re bringing you ‘Story of a Golf Club’ from the remote town of Brora. Situated a short drive north Dornoch, along the beautiful coastline sits this (previously lesser known) James Braid classic, which is untouched and natural as almost any course you will visit. We say ‘previously’, because the charm, and magical aura surrounding the course and the club has become famous worldwide, with thanks to a number of famous visitors from the US, who left feeling exactly like we did [...]