I know a group from the forum played here not so long ago but I thought I would post my review following a 2 day break with my son, doing the kind of trip that others may look at. I'll break it down into sections but I will say from the outset I loved every aspect of the trip:
The Clubhouse - Fabulous. Warm, inviting, imposing, classy but utterly welcoming. The staff are there to make you welcome, feel wanted, feel relaxed. One of the opening comments as we entered was "you can go anywhere in your golf shoes Sir, anywhere". Hats on inside, whatever you want
. They are there to make your trip memorable, not to intimidate or embarrass. Brilliant training. The gentleman in charge of the bar, "The Duel in the Sun", was class itself. Invites you in, chats if you want it, leaves you alone if not. Have a question about the place, the memorabilia and he will answer everything and throw a few stories in as well. I loved it. Incidentally, as we were leaving the following day he wished us a safe journey back to where we live, he had remembered from the previous days chat, nice touch. Prices were fine, more than standard club prices but not ridiculous unless you pushed the boat out. Bacon butty, £4.95, large lemonade, £2.50, tea / coffee approx £2.50 / £3. Considering the surroundings and number of staff that is fine. If you want something more substantial to eat then the prices shoot up but that is all clear and in front of you. The bacon butty was worth every penny by the way.
The golf - Before every round you are given a card, a pencil, a course planner and a bag of balls for the range. There are also practice areas for chipping and putting. Lovely. When you play The Ailsa they give you this plus tees all in a nice velvety branded bag.
The King Robert the Bruce Course - Smashing warm up course. Well kept, interesting holes but with more gentle bunkers and fairways. Highly enjoyable. You must play this first though as otherwise it may disappoint. Play it first and you will enjoy it. Plenty of views of the lighthouse and Ailsa Craigg.
The Ailsa. Wow, just wow. Fabulous, golf heaven. The tone is set on the 1st. Nice tee shot sets up a dog leg right. Nothing overly special until you reach the dog leg and see the green. Raised, surrounded by pot bunkers, designed by Gaudi. I just grinned and didn't stop for 18 holes. The fairways were like greens for many courses. The greens were true, shaped, wibbly on some holes, excellent considering the horrible weather, potentially bonkers in August. Each hole is a pleasure. Shaped, lined, every shot has to be thought out. Hit it straight and it will not beat you up, it is entirely fair. The holes at the turn get the most publicity and you can see why. The 9th is great fun, you must also walk behind the 8th green and go to the Championship tee for the 9th. Stand and laugh at what the pro's have to do. Bonkers.
After the 9th you get to the halfway house in the lighthouse. It was blowing hard at that point and it was a wonderful oasis of calm. Wonderful red leather chairs, not a sound came through the glass, toasty warm, lovely.
Something to think about. You can play off any tee, the starter advises that. We played off a mixture of yellows and whites, partly because in the winds that were blowing to stick to the whites would have been plain daft. Don't have an ego, play what is right on the day as otherwise your day could be ruined.
We took lots of pictures, it was quiet when we were playing, but we would have done that anyway. Nobody minds, they understand, whether on the course or in the clubhouse.
The hotel - As part of our package we stayed in the main hotel which looks down on the course. Lovely, genuine 5 star. Nothing is too much trouble, even the basic room, still called deluxe, is stunning. An absolute pleasure, high class in every way. If you didn't play golf this would still be a hotel for the bucket list. Once again the staff were superb, they treat everyone as though they were a billionaire walking through the door. We did not eat in at night, wanted to save that money for souvenirs in the shop, so went to The Souter Inn just down the road. Very nice too, I would suggest that to anyone wanting somewhere else to eat.
All in all, exceptional. Life may never be the same again. Will any course or two days away match or top it? For the record, I won the first day, my son won the second. I had a putt on the 18th on The Ailsa, in front of the clubhouse, to halve the whole match, similar in length to the Watson putt all those years ago, ie 2-2.5ft. A mixture of a strong wind pulling the putter and choking meant I shaved the left edge and missed. Bother I said, ah well.
If you haven't been, save your money and go. It really is worth it, a different level to anything I have experienced before.
The Clubhouse - Fabulous. Warm, inviting, imposing, classy but utterly welcoming. The staff are there to make you welcome, feel wanted, feel relaxed. One of the opening comments as we entered was "you can go anywhere in your golf shoes Sir, anywhere". Hats on inside, whatever you want
. They are there to make your trip memorable, not to intimidate or embarrass. Brilliant training. The gentleman in charge of the bar, "The Duel in the Sun", was class itself. Invites you in, chats if you want it, leaves you alone if not. Have a question about the place, the memorabilia and he will answer everything and throw a few stories in as well. I loved it. Incidentally, as we were leaving the following day he wished us a safe journey back to where we live, he had remembered from the previous days chat, nice touch. Prices were fine, more than standard club prices but not ridiculous unless you pushed the boat out. Bacon butty, £4.95, large lemonade, £2.50, tea / coffee approx £2.50 / £3. Considering the surroundings and number of staff that is fine. If you want something more substantial to eat then the prices shoot up but that is all clear and in front of you. The bacon butty was worth every penny by the way.The golf - Before every round you are given a card, a pencil, a course planner and a bag of balls for the range. There are also practice areas for chipping and putting. Lovely. When you play The Ailsa they give you this plus tees all in a nice velvety branded bag.
The King Robert the Bruce Course - Smashing warm up course. Well kept, interesting holes but with more gentle bunkers and fairways. Highly enjoyable. You must play this first though as otherwise it may disappoint. Play it first and you will enjoy it. Plenty of views of the lighthouse and Ailsa Craigg.
The Ailsa. Wow, just wow. Fabulous, golf heaven. The tone is set on the 1st. Nice tee shot sets up a dog leg right. Nothing overly special until you reach the dog leg and see the green. Raised, surrounded by pot bunkers, designed by Gaudi. I just grinned and didn't stop for 18 holes. The fairways were like greens for many courses. The greens were true, shaped, wibbly on some holes, excellent considering the horrible weather, potentially bonkers in August. Each hole is a pleasure. Shaped, lined, every shot has to be thought out. Hit it straight and it will not beat you up, it is entirely fair. The holes at the turn get the most publicity and you can see why. The 9th is great fun, you must also walk behind the 8th green and go to the Championship tee for the 9th. Stand and laugh at what the pro's have to do. Bonkers.
After the 9th you get to the halfway house in the lighthouse. It was blowing hard at that point and it was a wonderful oasis of calm. Wonderful red leather chairs, not a sound came through the glass, toasty warm, lovely.
Something to think about. You can play off any tee, the starter advises that. We played off a mixture of yellows and whites, partly because in the winds that were blowing to stick to the whites would have been plain daft. Don't have an ego, play what is right on the day as otherwise your day could be ruined.
We took lots of pictures, it was quiet when we were playing, but we would have done that anyway. Nobody minds, they understand, whether on the course or in the clubhouse.
The hotel - As part of our package we stayed in the main hotel which looks down on the course. Lovely, genuine 5 star. Nothing is too much trouble, even the basic room, still called deluxe, is stunning. An absolute pleasure, high class in every way. If you didn't play golf this would still be a hotel for the bucket list. Once again the staff were superb, they treat everyone as though they were a billionaire walking through the door. We did not eat in at night, wanted to save that money for souvenirs in the shop, so went to The Souter Inn just down the road. Very nice too, I would suggest that to anyone wanting somewhere else to eat.
All in all, exceptional. Life may never be the same again. Will any course or two days away match or top it? For the record, I won the first day, my son won the second. I had a putt on the 18th on The Ailsa, in front of the clubhouse, to halve the whole match, similar in length to the Watson putt all those years ago, ie 2-2.5ft. A mixture of a strong wind pulling the putter and choking meant I shaved the left edge and missed
. Bother I said, ah well. If you haven't been, save your money and go. It really is worth it, a different level to anything I have experienced before.
