Seven nights from a single base at Dundonald Links, and five rounds along the Ayrshire coast: Western Gailes, Dundonald, Trump Turnberry’s Ailsa, Royal Troon’s Old Course and Prestwick, where the first Open Championship was played in 1860. Gary Murphy hosts the week, with welcome and farewell dinners, a day at leisure and just sixteen travelers in all.
Prestwick hosted the first Open Championship in 1860 and staged 24 in all, a total exceeded only by St Andrews. In 1870 Young Tom Morris won there for the third straight year and, under the rules of the day, took the Challenge Belt home for good. With no prize left to play for, there was no Open in 1871. When it returned in 1872, the winner received a new trophy, the Claret Jug.
Royal Troon has since hosted ten Opens, from 1923 to Xander Schauffele’s victory in 2024. Turnberry’s Ailsa Course has hosted four, including the 1977 “Duel in the Sun,” when Tom Watson edged Jack Nicklaus, and the 2009 Open, when Watson came within a putt of winning at 59. Between them, Western Gailes runs the narrow strip between the railway and the sea, and Dundonald Links became the first course to host both the men’s and women’s Scottish Opens in the same year. Four of the five courses rank among Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest.
A former European Tour professional with close to 300 Tour appearances, a share of 34th at the 2003 Open Championship and a career-best third at the 2008 Irish Open at Adare Manor, Murphy now competes on the Legends Tour, serves as Head Golf Professional at The K Club, and is a familiar voice on DP World Tour broadcasts. Across the week, on the course and over dinner, he brings the history and architecture of Scottish links golf to life.
The group is based in custom-built golf lodges at Dundonald Links, clustered around three practice putting greens and minutes from Western Gailes and Royal Troon. Each two-bedroom lodge pairs two private bedroom suites with a fully fitted open-plan kitchen and living space, looking out toward the Isle of Arran. The lodges and the clubhouse opened in 2021, and it’s the same base for all seven nights and all five rounds.
Each round is on a different stretch of the same coastline, from a modern championship links to the birthplace of the Open, and four of the five rank among Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest.
Squeezed onto a strip of dunes between the railway and Irvine Bay, Western Gailes has been played since the 1890s, and many of its holes are little changed from the ones its founders laid out. Firm fairways, deep revetted bunkers and fast greens reward strategy over power, and the club has hosted the Curtis Cup. Golf Digest ranks it No. 78 in the world.
The group’s home course. Kyle Phillips, the architect behind Kingsbarns, rebuilt the links on the site of a 1911 course that had been taken over by the army during the Second World War. It hosted the 2017 Scottish Open, won by Rafa Cabrera Bello, and has become a regular home of the Women’s Scottish Open and a Final Qualifying venue for The Open.
Ranked No. 8 in the world by Golf Digest, the Ailsa has hosted four Open Championships, including the 1977 Duel in the Sun between Watson and Nicklaus. Martin Ebert’s redesign brought the coastline further into play, and the run of holes past the Turnberry Lighthouse, set into the rocks above the Firth of Clyde, is the stretch golfers come for.
One day set aside between rounds, centered on the towns and coastline that connect every course on the itinerary.
Host of ten Open Championships, most recently Xander Schauffele’s in 2024, Royal Troon’s Old Course is home to the Postage Stamp, the 123-yard eighth and the shortest hole in the Open rotation. It’s also where Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson traded birdies in the 2016 final round, and Golf Digest ranks it No. 27 in the world.
Laid out by Old Tom Morris and host of the first Open Championship in 1860, Prestwick staged 24 Opens in all. Blind shots, rumpled fairways and deep revetted bunkers reward imagination over length, and walking it is a step through the game’s own history. Golf Digest ranks it No. 62 in the world.
A day at leisure sits between Turnberry and Royal Troon, centered on the towns and coastline that connect every round.
A single base at Dundonald Links, five rounds and a day at leisure, with Gary Murphy throughout and dinners to open and close the week.
Arrivals at Dundonald Links. Settle into your two-bedroom lodge ahead of a welcome dinner with the group and your host.
Round one, along the coast between Irvine Bay and the railway.
Round two, on the modern championship layout that hosted the Scottish Open.
Round three, along the Firth of Clyde past the Turnberry Lighthouse.
Troon, Irvine, and the Ayrshire coast, at your own pace.
Round four, on the Old Course at Royal Troon.
Round five, at the course that hosted the first twelve Open Championships, followed by a farewell dinner to close the week.
Ground transport arranged throughout.
Everything below is included for every traveler. Airfare to and from Scotland is arranged separately.
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