A Golf Vacation at St Andrews

Fife, Scotland,is home to the the world's oldest golf course, St Andrews Golf Club. The honor of being the first golf club in the world goes to "Gentlemen Golfers of Leith"but it was the St Andrews Society of Golfers (later called the Royal and Ancient Golf Club) that was the first golf club to have a purpose built golf course. A regular venue for the British Open, St Andrews is now the number one destination, for a golf vacation, in the United Kingdom and one of the most popular golfing destinations in the world.

The game of golf developed on the links of Scotland, these wonderful stretches of grassy sand dunes between the sea and the farmland and forests provided the ideal location for the sport of golf. The game was most probably first played with wooden sticks and stones rather than the modern clubs and aerodynamic balls we use today. The game was extremely popular across Scotland, so much so that one of Scotland's early kings banned the game as he feared that men were playing the game at the expense of archery practice!

Initially the modern sport of golf (using club and ball) was the realm of the Gentleman due to the expense of the equipment. The first golf ball was known as a feathery (because they were stuffed full of feathers). Each feathery took a full day to create, which involved the tedious task of stuffing boiled feathers into a small pouch, so the expensive item excluded the poor. Happily we are all now able to enjoy the sport and many of us enjoy an annual golf vacation.

Scotland has an incredible number of golf courses and there are few places you can go without being close to one. Fife has some of the finest ground and St Andrews has more than it's fair share of great courses. All of the courses at St Andrews are maintained by the Links Trust of St Andrews. The Old Course, The New Course, the Jubilee Course, the Eden Course, The Dukes Course, the Strathtyrum Course and the Balgove Course make St Andrews a golfers paradise.

If you are planning to take a golf vacation this year take some time to investigate the many advantage to taking your holiday in St Andrews. If you will be traveling with the family the city of Edinburgh is but a short distance away. Edinburgh is a fantastic place for shopping so you might want to take a day trip there before you head home. It also has a massive selection of visitor attractions suitable for all of the family. The city has numerous festivals throughout the year so you may want to consider a couple of days enjoyment with the family before returning to your golf.

Andrew Kelly writes for a number of UK travel sites.