In terms of UK bucket lists, I like to think of areas. Still would like to get to: 1. Northeast Scotland - Dornoch, Nairn, Tain, Golspie, Brora, etc. 2. Northwest Ireland - Rosapenna, Enniscrone, Standhill, Carne, etc. 3. The Scotland Islands - "the Jim Hartsell trail" - Macrihanish, Shiskine, Ardmore, Donaverty My struggle these days is finding people that want to do some of these out of the way trips. I suspect it might have been different in my 20s when nobody had responsibilities, but now you're asking someone to take vacation time away from their families, for something that's relatively expensive (flights, rental cars), and they have to be willing to get outside their comfort zone for something they don't usually consider uncomfortable (e.g. golf, or hotel rooms). I envy those who have a buddy (or foursome) or spouse that would be willing to make those sorts of trips.

Adam, your instincts are spot on!! You should add Brancaster and Hunstanton along the Norfolk coast

I currently have booked a room on Iona in late September… I’d love to play every course on the islands there. I’m just hoping I can get across on the ferries without too much trouble.

Diamond Springs is my favorite course of the DeVries’ trio. The one cut is a unique perspective regarding course maintenance. Obviously the gorge holes are the ones people remember most, but a great set of greens make the others just as much fun to play too. For the record, not everyone is a fan of the single cut, and if I recall correctly, the better players complained about the unpredictable shots hit from it.

Diamond Springs is my favorite course of the DeVries’ trio. The one cut is a unique perspective regarding course maintenance. Obviously the gorge holes are the ones people remember most, but a great set of greens make the others just as much fun to play too. For the record, not everyone is a fan of the single cut, and if I recall correctly, the better players complained about the unpredictable shots hit from it.

Diamond Springs is my favorite course of the DeVries’ trio. The one cut is a unique perspective regarding course maintenance. Obviously the gorge holes are the ones people remember most, but a great set of greens make the others just as much fun to play too. For the record, not everyone is a fan of the single cut, and if I recall correctly, the better players complained about the unpredictable shots hit from it.

Diamond Springs is my favorite course of the DeVries’ trio. The one cut is a unique perspective regarding course maintenance. Obviously the gorge holes are the ones people remember most, but a great set of greens make the others just as much fun to play too. For the record, not everyone is a fan of the single cut, and if I recall correctly, the better players complained about the unpredictable shots hit from it.

Great write up! Living so close, I kick myself for not getting down there more than a couple times a year. Note: If you haven't played MidPines, PineNeedles, SouthernPines, you might want to get them on the schedule soon. The hotels at PineNeedles and MidPines just got acquired by Marine & Lawn, so expect prices to go way up starting in 2026 (renovations start in Fall 2025) https://businessnc.com/mid-pines-pine-needles-enter-joint-venture-with-marine-and-lawn-hotels/

I think these days the remote destinations in northern Scotland are most attractive to me. Places like the Machrie, Durness, Iona, Whalsay. The journey there is the fun part with so many of the courses there.

The few historical photos I've seen of SP suggest that the course did have a rugged, sandy look, as well as big features to match the scale of the land. The natural ground was probably scrubbier than it is now (i.e., less straight-up exposed sand), but again, we have to let Franz's work mature. But overall I think SP was a tricky restoration job because the course had sand greens until at least the mid-30s, and it's unclear whether Ross ever really designed "Ross greens" there.