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This is a golf travel news festive special.
So prepare for plenty of goodies in your final Talking Golf Travel of 2024.
You’ve got pitstops at incredible destinations from the bustling Irish capital to the serene Scottish Highlands.
Along the way, you’ll find endless inspiration for future golfing adventures.
But first, here are the top headlines.
Gear up.
Because the great and the good of golf certainly haven’t slowed down this winter.
Your 8-hole Talking Golf Travel update includes:
Finally, white smoke from Cabot Highlands.
Old Petty, the eagerly anticipated new course designed by Tom Doak, debuts for preview play from August 1st to September 30th, 2025.
And it looks absolutely glorious – as you can see.
Arching along a tidal estuary towards a 400-year-old castle and the majestic Moray Firth, Old Petty has all the hallmarks of a classic Scottish links.
Plus, it joins a celebrated sister course at Cabot Highlands.
Castle Stuart, the 4-time Scottish Open host, is another modern marvel.
And, as a guest of Irish Golf Tours, you could be among the first to play both.
But you’ll need to start planning your late-season Highlands trip ASAP.
Recently, the biggest names in the game hit the red carpet for the annual year-end gongs.
First, to Portugal for the 11th World Golf Awards.
You’ve got to give kudos to Ayrshire.
Trump Turnberry won World’s Best Golf Hotel and Scotland’s Best Golf Course (Ailsa). Meanwhile, Dundonald Links scooped Scotland’s Best Golf Hotel.
Second, we go to London for the first-ever Golf Course Awards.
And your winners are…
Disproportionately in Fife!
Unsurprisingly, the Old Course at St. Andrews took home Golf Course of the Year for Scotland.
Then Dumbarnie Links got the nod for Emerging Course of the Year.
Also, Carnoustie Golf Links earned the Sustainability Award.
Elsewhere, The Colt Championship Links at County Sligo Golf Club won Golf Course of the Year for Ireland.
Speaking of the Emerald Isle.
Our third ceremony, the Golfers Guide to Ireland Awards, honoured a pair of underexplored gems.
Seapoint Golf Links received Best Links in Leinster (East Coast).
And Cruit Island Golf Club returned to the Northwest with the Best 9-Hole Course Award.
The No Laying Up Podcast just launched a dedicated golf travel series.
Naturally, they started with Scotland.
Enter local expert, Ru Macdonald.
Expect invaluable tips on the best transportation, accommodation and courses in each of the 5 Scottish golf regions.
Although, for the most part, the episode covers Fife and St Andrews.
It’s got everything you need to know.
Take a look – then explore the tour.
These days, Ireland is a must-go destination for travelling golfers everywhere.
In 1989, not so much.
But that’s when Marty Carr decided to gamble on the family game.
The son of Ireland’s greatest amateur golfer founded Carr Golf – our parent company – and helped to kickstart a global tourism phenomenon.
You can read Marty’s incredible story in the latest Golf Travel Wire.
Turnberry. Royal Dornoch. Carnoustie. Cruden Bay. Royal Troon. Gullane.
Scotland boasts some of the finest championship links ever created.
Of course, you already knew that.
Here’s something you might not know.
Every one of these iconic venues is also home to a world-class second course.
For example, King Robert the Bruce at Turnberry.
Get the inside scoop on King Rob and the lesser-known siblings from Scotland Where Golf Began.
By the way, when you talk with our team about a Scottish golf tour, just ask about tee times for your favourites.
If ever a golf course deserved its name.
Carne Links hides within a vast, rolling dunescape along the untamed coast of County Mayo.
It’s like another planet.
Thankfully, Zac Radford didn’t need a spaceship to find the Wild Atlantic Dunes on his journey through Western Ireland.
Find out how the Nashville native fared on the last course designed by the great Eddie Hackett.
Also, keep an eye out for Carne Links in the upcoming movie Finnegan’s Foursome.
Granted, it’s not your typical tip, for golf or travel.
Then again, there’s nothing typical about the illustrious links at Brora Golf Club.
And not just because it bears the signature of James Braid.
Brora is one of the few remaining clubs in Scotland that still permits grazing herds to roam its course.
But this quirky cow accommodation, as BNN Bloomberg discovered, has become an increasingly delicate balancing act.
Hopefully, the tradition endures.
Otherwise, everyone will lose a weird and wonderful part of the Highlands golf experience.
Let’s finish this golf travel news festive special with juicy gossip about potential Amgen Irish Open venues.
Juicy, yes, but also well-informed.
According to journalist Brian Keogh, The Island Golf Club is now a serious candidate to stage the event in 2026.
However, the North Dublin links faces stiff competition from Druids Glen and County Sligo Golf Club.
So the DP World Tour has a tough decision to make.
We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, if you’d like to play The Island, explore our East Coast tour.
Happy holidays!
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