4Beauty with a hole-in-one
The lilt of a burn; the becalmed tides of a loch; the misty mystery of a bracken-covered castle – this is a portrait of the Scottish Highlands, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Every year, millions of tourists head up north to see the moody rugged landscapes of the Scottish countryside. They stare out over drizzly mountains, seeing the morning fog slowly dissipate beneath a grey pastoral sky. There’s a romance inherent in a walk up a craggy Scottish hill. It evokes Scotland’s patriotic icons – Robert Burns as he farmed and wrote some of the finest poetry in the world; William Wallace as he trekked the hillsides in preparation for battle. But whether the 2.1 million people that visit the Highlands are there for the scenery or to imagine they’re in an episode of Game of Thrones, they always find more than they expected. Golf courses (in line with Scotland’s greatest national export) crowd the Highlands, with major business people like Donald Trump investing billions in the development of luxury resorts to help you gain the perfect swing. Some have argued that these courses are a corruption of the natural countryside, but for the most part they complement it, supplanting natural beauty with artificial finesse.
One of the finest is the Grantown-on-Spey course, where you can shoot 18 holes while enjoying all the elements of the Scottish weather. Click the next ARROW to see the next image!
