A Round of Scottish Courses

As a young boy growing up in Alabama, Jim Hartsell became fascinated with Scottish links golf while watching the 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry—the legendary Duel in the Sun between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Then 17 years later in 1994, Jim made his first trip to Scotland to play all the famous links with his father. The ultimate revelation of that initial visit, however, was not the great Open venues, but a few days spent in the village of Machrihanish near the Mull of Kintyre. Inspired to travel to the remote peninsula by Michael Bamberger’s classic book To the Linksland, that week changed the course of his life. During a break from playing the mythical links of Machrihanish, a friendly B&B host convinced him to visit nearby Dunaverty Golf Club—setting off a 30-year obsession with visiting and studying the lesser-known outposts of traditional Scottish golf.A Round of Scottish Courses celebrates Hartsell’s 18 favorite courses in the sublime country where golf began. From the Highlands to the Outer Hebrides, from the Kingdom of Fife to the magical island of Arran, the experiences of this lifelong journey are as important as the golf. A Round of Scottish Courses celebrates the kind and giving Scottish people, the stunning, otherworldly landscapes, and the wonders of a post-round bowl of Scotch Broth. It is a loving paean to Scotland, its great links, and the traditional community golf that still exists in the hidden corners of an ancient land.