Although the off season for overseas golf travel is when our industry tries to catch its breath, there is no rest for the weary for the H&B team.
The offerings for Golf and the Good Life across the pond are rapidly changing, especially over the last few years.
As a result, we must be extra vigilant to ensure the restaurants, hotels, and other activities we recommend are suited to the high expectations of our travelers.
Once the travel season draws to a close, members of our team fan out across Great Britain and Ireland to have a look in on things and, if we’re lucky, discover a few new options in the process.
After spending many weeks across the pond between them, three members of our team have recently returned with numerous new recommendations for the upcoming travel season.
Some of their favorites have been compiled into the following guide.
First up, Mike Walters, Expedition Planning Manager, offers a few of his new discoveries from an extensive visit to Scotland and Ireland.
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You might say that this trip was a little overdue. Life and the pandemic kept me stateside for the last several years, and I was suffering from some serious links golf withdrawal. Thankfully, I had plenty on the itinerary.
Here are a few of the new or new-to-me things that I discovered along the way.
The Marker – Dublin
My wife, Lisa, and I had The Marker at the top of our list for our time in Dublin and I’m glad that we did. We enjoyed an extensive tour with General Manager Michael Davern, who our company has known for many years thanks to his tenure at the nearby K Club.
The Marker first landed on our radar when my colleague, D.J., randomly stopped in for a drink and came home raving about the unique lobby and delicious old fashioned. After just a few minutes, I could see why…
Although The Marker feels sleek and modern, it does so in a way that nods to the landscape of Ireland. The one-of-a-kind ceiling is an inverse of the blocky waves of the Giant’s Causeway, while the floor is reminiscent of The Burren.
The guestrooms are impressive and so is the cuisine at Forbes Street, The Marker’s award-winning restaurant helmed by chef Gareth Mullins. But the real highlight is up on the roof.
I can’t think of a better way to cap a day at Portmarnock, Royal Dublin, or The Island than watching the sunset over the spires of Dublin from The Marker’s rooftop terrace.
Photo courtesy of The Marker
Highland Larder
I definitely did not have “food truck on the beach in Dornoch” on my Bingo card for this trip, but here we are.
The Highland Larder serves seafood favorites like fish & chips, lobster rolls, and langoustines just steps from the shoreline.
We enjoyed some fish & chips at a picnic table under the canopy that provided some welcome protection from the wind. Definitely take a jacket! I suspect in the summer months it is absolutely delightful.
If you’re in the mood for something unique and fun, take a stroll down Beach Road (the street that cuts in front of the 1st tee at Royal Dornoch) and follow your nose to the Highland Larder.
And be sure to get there early… It’s a popular stop and by the time we arrived, most of the menu had been scrubbed for the day.
Fortrose & Rosemarkie
This one is in the “new-to-me” category, but it’s definitely not new to many of our members.
Fortrose & Rosemarkie has been on my list since I joined H&B nearly a decade ago. Why it took me so long to get here is baffling. So is the fact that James Braid managed to fit 18-holes of golf on this tiny peninsula.
I joined Mike MacDonald, Club Secretary, for a round that I won’t soon forget thanks to the 30-40 mph winds brought on by Storm Babet.
All I can say is… This course is a lot of fun. For me, it’s the Ardglass of Scotland. The sea is in view every step of the way. A colony of dolphins call the area around the peninsula home, and they are an attraction in their own right. The tip of the peninsula and its lighthouse is one of my new favorite spots in Scotland.
As for golf… You don’t play to the distance here (especially in the winds I experienced). The compact routing also means that accuracy is essential. The course is scorable if you’re in play, but if you’re off your game, the gorse will slap you with a big number pretty quickly.
Fortrose & Rosemarkie was worth the wait, and my visit confirmed what I already knew… More golfers should put it on their itinerary in The Highlands.
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Next up, Connor Evers, PGA shares a few discoveries from his visit to the Channel Coast of England.
This fall, I had the opportunity to discover additional Golf and Good Life offerings in southern England. I’m quite familiar with the city of London. I studied for a semester at the University of Richmond in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. But there was more to see outside of London, and my objective was to experience the Channel Coast.
The PIG Hotel
After a lovely autumn drive down the M2 from London Heathrow, I arrived in Kent, affectionately known as the “Garden of England.” And it was just that. After my drive south and experiencing the sites of Dover Castle and the Cliffs of Dover, I made my way to The Pig – at Bridge Place for the night.
This property is a delightful and quintessential English Manor house. It oozes history dating back to the early 1600’s when it was first built. In the 1970’s, the property hosted many concerts, which included performances by Led Zeppelin and many others.
The scale of the estate is immense from rooms in the original manor house and traditional lodges with multiple bedrooms and communal living areas, to boutique huts, similar to what we would call “log cabins”. The Pig blends old and new in a delightfully unique way.
Not only is the property and estate charming, it’s only a few minutes drive to the sites of Canterbury and Dover, as well as the great links courses of Rye Golf Club, Royal Cinque Ports, Prince’s, and Royal St. Georges. If you’re looking for a great retreat and being close to the courses in the Channel Coast of England, you’ve come to the right place.
Deal
Besides vetting new accommodations for our members, I enjoyed some time at a few “new-to-me” courses as well. I was fortunate to visit Prince’s Golf Club and to play Royal Cinque Ports as well as Royal St. Georges. All three clubs share the same coastline and are within a few minutes drive from each other.
Royal Cinque Ports (commonly known as Deal) was an absolute treat. I joined a few members for the final few holes, and they took me to school with their impressive short games. With nearly a century of membership at Deal between them, this group had mastered the essential art of the bump and run.
But my favorite part of the round at Deal was my time in the halfway hut with the bright and cheery Carol.
The halfway hut features a nice sitting area to enjoy a snack and a short rest, as well as a cork board where you can place a ball mark of your home club. Carol not only served an exceptional sausage roll (with HP sauce just how I like it), she took my picture in front of the halfway house. A thoughtful memento for a solo traveler. I’m still dreaming of that sausage roll…
Sandwich
Once I had found out I was playing Royal St. George’s (commonly known as Sandwich), I did what any links golf junkie would do… I read Tom Doak’s review in his Confidential Guide to Golf Courses and watched Golf Digest’s review prior to The Open in 2021.
Sandwich is a masterpiece in golf course architecture and exactly what I enjoy in a links course.
It features a few blind tee shots and requires you to think through every approach. It also places a premium on accuracy and the ground game. Pair this with a few ocean views and the rich history, and Sandwich is a must-visit for the traveling golfer.
But like many memories across the pond, my time off the course was just as valuable as my time on it. I enjoyed breakfast and lunch in the beautiful clubhouse at Royal St. George’s (jacket and tie required after 11 am). The conversations with a post-round Pimm’s and lemonade, while surrounded by the sea of memorabilia, were the perfect cap to a truly exceptional day.
As I have said before many times… You go on an Expedition to Great Britain and Ireland for golf, but the lasting memories are usually made off the links. It’s funny how that works.
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Finally, our Marketing & Communications Manager, Daniel Jones, shares a few discoveries from his recent time in Scotland and England’s Golf Coast.
Somehow, I have managed to squeeze three different trips across the pond into the last calendar year. Each has yielded at least one or two discoveries to add to our repertoire. These are just a few of my favorites from my most recent trip last fall.
Gleneagles Townhouse
One of the most storied names in Scottish golf and hospitality has recently splashed into the heart of Edinburgh.
My introduction to the Gleneagles Townhouse came in stages. First, I dined at The Spence earlier this year while touring Edinburgh with my parents. To say it makes a grand first impression would be an understatement.
Once the home of the Royal Bank of Scotland, the dining room is arguably the most impressive in all of Scotland. The bar was lively and the food was exceptional all around.
A few months later, I returned to the Townhouse for an extensive tour. As a members club, the common areas are a little different than most hotels. In place of a grand lobby is a cozy lounge behind an unmarked door off the main reception.
Upstairs, the 33 guestrooms, like the “big house” in the Glens, are decidedly Scottish and feature every amenity required by the modern golf traveler.
But the best feature of Gleneagles Townhouse – stop me if you’ve heard this before – happens to be on the roof. More specifically, Lamplighters – the gorgeous rooftop bar and lounge that’s accessible by guests and members only.
It may be the best choice in Edinburgh for post-round toasts after golf on the nearby links of East Lothian.
Cucina Amore – North Berwick
After a windblown day on the course, I often crave a hearty bowl of pasta, drenched in marinara or arrabbiata, with a side of garlic bread to mop up the excess sauce.
I realize that’s a very specific craving, but I found it at Cucina Amore in North Berwick.
This small, family-owned restaurant serves a wide variety of Italian classics. It’s the kind of place where the proprietor greets local regulars at the door, sometimes with a hug.
Most importantly, it serves delicious fare that will cure your hunger pangs and provide some needed fuel for the round ahead.
Alandas – North Berwick
If you’ve listened to our podcast, you have possibly heard Connor Evers and I sing the praises of the gelato at Jannetta’s in St. Andrews.
At Alanda’s in North Berwick, I found a close rival.
Of course, “close” is the important word here – I’m not sure anywhere will ever match our beloved Jannetta’s.
But if you have a sweet tooth after dinner at Cucina Amore or the famous Lobster Shack, this is the spot.
The Vine – Prestwick
Prestwick is a sneaky good town for food. For years, The Lido* and Elliott’s were two of my favorite restaurants in Scotland.
So when I heard that Elliott’s had been reimagined since my last visit, I was…. Concerned.
Those fears proved to be completely unfounded. In fact, I would say that The Vine, as it’s now known, is even better than it was before.
The menu features a little bit of everything and it’s all done quite well. But it’s the dining room that really won me over.
*I also had dinner at The Lido and it remains as great as ever.
The Grand – Southport
Of all the new discoveries made during my trip, The Grand in Southport may have been my favorite.
Over the last century, The Grand has been a car dealership, a luxury cinema, and a casino. Today, after a spared-no-expense renovation, it feels like an old school Manhattan supper club.
At any moment, it seems like the Yankee Clipper could walk in for dinner or Dean Martin could sit down at the piano in the lounge.
While it was quiet in The Brasserie the night that I visited (a Monday in early November), The Grand is clearly the place to be in Southport.
It was booked solid when I tried to visit the night before, and I heard my server inform another table that their Christmas dinners were nearly full… nearly two months before Christmas.
And understandably so… The Grand is a bejeweled piece of the Good Life in a town that definitely needs some shimmer.
We look forward to introducing our members to all of these new discoveries in 2024, and to finding many more in the year ahead.
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