Tracks & Trains
BY ED HODGE
3 MINS READ
Train times. Perhaps as synonymous with golf in Scotland as tee times. The image of a golfer, clubs draped over their back, scanning a timetable at a remote, scenic railway station is part of our very fabric. Remarkably, the Scottish rail network offers 400 courses within a 30-minute taxi ride of a station – a fact to bring a smile to any discerning golf traveller (of course, provided said train is on time).
The train of thought drifts to notable golfing stops. Picture the tracks in Ayrshire that run down the right-hand side of the opening hole at Prestwick – home to the first Open in 1860 – simply exacerbating first tee nerves. The first hole at Monifieth in Angus is another knee-knocker, as trains hurtle by on the right.
Think back to when a railway line skirted the Old Course in St Andrews, images from a bygone era. Gleneagles is famous for the development of its ‘railway hotel’ back in 1924 and associated championship courses. If your game is going awry (off the tracks shall we say), at least the passing trains can act as a distraction.
Much like the game itself, the association between golf and railways in Scotland is deep rooted in history. If golf’s pioneers were limited by personal mobility, the advent of the train altered this. Step forward James Braid as a prime example.
With 2020 marking exactly 150 years since the birth of the famous Scot, a rail trip down memory lane is perhaps appropriate. By 1910, only 14 years after turning professional, Braid had remarkably become the first player in history to win The Open five times. For the Fifer from the village of Earlsferry, who relocated south to a club pro role at Walton Heath, a distinguished career as a course pioneer was also underway – and trains were his preferred, almost only, mode of transport.
He was one of the dominant ‘Great Triumvirate’ of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor, but his fear of flying and motion sickness on ocean travel meant he never contested a golf event in America, or worked on a course in the US. A train journey north to Scotland was typical of Braid’s lifestyle.
“James travelled by train anywhere,” his granddaughter, Marjorie Mackie, explains. “His whole life was golf and trains took him where he wanted, because he was such a very bad traveller. He took the train up, walked the ground with his stride – he never measured with a tape measure or anything like that – stored it in his head and organised the course on his return train. It was just like that, quite often. He could create a course from just going over the ground once.”
As such, of Braid’s brilliance in designing over 250 courses in the UK, many are near railway stations – and often in remote locations. Still accessible by rail to a town of approximately 1,200 inhabitants, you can almost picture Braid steaming north to Brora in 1924. While the course was founded in 1891, it was Braid’s re-design that continues to stand the test of time. Scotland’s two-time Major champion Sandy Lyle says, “For the connoisseur, Brora is well worth the journey.”
That journey to the Highlands from the central belt, snaking its way north amid stunning scenery, offers all manner of golfing opportunities. Pitlochry and Aviemore are among the stops to hop off and pop along to enjoy nearby fairways, as well as the beautiful surroundings.
The east coast line from the capital, Edinburgh, into the countryside is another to experience, opening up a wide variety of courses in the region. Alight at North Berwick and stride onto the home course of Solheim Cup-winning captain Catriona Matthew or delight in Dunbar further down the tracks.
Across in the west, Ayrshire ranks as one of the finest stretches of golf and rail. If arriving at Glasgow Airport, take the train from Paisley and within 30 minutes you will pass an array of wonderful links courses, including Irvine (Bogside), Gailes Links, Western Gailes, Dundonald Links, Kilmarnock (Barassie), Prestwick and Prestwick St Nicholas. Royal Troon, host to the recent AIG Women’s Open and countless other leading amateur and professional events down the years, is the region’s jewel. Check your train times, book a tee time. Scotland awaits.