Scotland is a mecca for golf, whether you play with the latest clubs from ping golf or the local sports store. Scotland is after all, the home of golf, the place where it all began and where the game has been played for over 600 years -- longer than anywhere else.

The history of golf in scotland is steeped in mystery and the usual folklore. It is rumoured that so widespread was the game of "Gowf", as it was known in Scotland, that an Act of Parliament (fact) was passed to prevent the playing of the game on Sundays and thus preserve the skills of Archery-so you can understand that this didn't exaclty happen yesterday!. The citizens of Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Leith on Scotland's East Coast were the principal "gowfing" miscreants and it was no coincidence that rolling sandy links land was commonplace here. On this very terrain, a game that started with a cleek and a ball took on a form that started an evolutionary process that continues to this day.

There are well over 500 courses in scotland or the land of golf as it is sometimes referred to. Some, maybe no more than a couple of dozen, are names known the world over and generally these are the chosen few that have hosted the British Open, Ryder Cup or gained a similar distinction.

Of course dwelling on this may put you off. It doesn't really matter in Scotland whether you are playing with the best clubs that ping, callaway or taylor made has to offer or Titleist balls and the latest in gadgetry. Alternatively you could equally be playing with the latest in replica or the latest "special" from your local sports store. Indeed your vast experience of golf may have been limited to computer games or the latest in online casinos (OK maybe the last two are a bit extreme). Whatever your skill level you will find a willing home for your talents somewhere in Scotland.

Consider courses such as:

Royal Dornoch

Nairn

Golspie

Brora

Cruden Bay

Royal Aberdeen

Murcar (the last three being listed in the top 100 courses of the British Isles)
rather than just those you have heard of and most of all-ENJOY YOUR GAME!