I chose to book this trip through AIG based on feedback I’ve received from people who have used them and, on top of that, they have access to guaranteed tee times at the Old Course and part of their team (Robbie and Laura) live in St. Andrews. The planning for this trip started about two years in advance and AIG helped walk me through every step of the way. I submitted a handful of courses that were “must plays,” they added a few, and built an incredible experience where everything was organized perfectly. See below for the golf itinerary:

• Day 1 – Dumbarnie Links
• Day 2 – Kingsbarns Golf Links
• Day 3 – Dukes Course & New Course
• Day 4 – Old Course
• Day 5 – Carnoustie Golf Links
• Day 6 – Royal Dornoch Golf Club
• Day 7 – Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart) & Cruden Bay
• Day 8 – Royal Aberdeen Golf Club
• Day 9 – North Berwick Golf Club
• Day 10 – Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (aka Muirfield)

Most of us decided to take the Cordillera Ranch shuttle to fly out of Austin through Heathrow and then into Edinburgh — Brad wanted to be a lone ranger and flew out of San Antonio. He regretted that decision on the way there and on the way home as he faced some delays going through Atlanta. However, we had eight guys, eight sets of clubs and everyone’s luggage show up in Edinburgh. We all thought Greco might blow a gasket in the airport but thankfully we were able to avoid an international incident.

Pro Tip: Don’t play golf on your arrival day. You’ve basically been traveling for a whole day — you need a shower, a couple of cocktails, dinner and a comfy bed. We stayed in the No. 1 Apartments, which are located about a 15-minute walk from the Old Course. When we arrived, Robbie and Laura met us to make sure we were able to get into the rooms and show us around town a bit. Inside our rooms, we were pleasantly surprised by some thoughtful gifts curated by AIG. Robbie took us to a local bar and then we ventured over to Tailend, which is a favorite among the locals for fish and chips.

The next day, our golf marathon began and we quickly found out how much golf is too much golf. Dumbarnie and Kingsbarns are newer facilities in the greater St. Andrews area and both are awesome links designs. The Dukes is more of a parkland-style course and reminded me a lot of #8 at Pinehurst. The nice thing about the Dukes is you get to ride in carts so it’s great for a morning round on a 36-hole day. The New Course, Old Course and Carnoustie are all well-known great tests of links golf. When I called my wife after playing the Old Course, I was literally in tears describing the experience. I’m also the kid that grew up on the putting green trying to drain the 10-footer to win the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. It really is a spiritual experience walking down those fairways. Carnoustie, or Carnasty as it was called after the 1999 British Open, was in incredible shape and provided a tough test of golf. While in the St. Andrews area, we ate at Tailend (local favorite for fish and chips), Rusacks (surprisingly good steak), and Seafood Ristorante (absolutely incredible).

After our round at Carnoustie, we ventured up to Royal Dornoch, which is in the Highlands region of Scotland. We stayed at the Royal Golf Hotel, which is a flop shot away from the clubhouse at Royal Dornoch. This was easily my favorite golf course and a few of the guys on the trip would agree. Stunning views, incredible shot value, and it felt like a home club instead of a golf factory. Tom Watson eloquently described it as “the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course” and he described the 2nd hole as the “hardest shot in golf.” John Long got to experience why — after driving the green on #1 and making a simple birdie, he missed his tee shot on the short par-3 right and then played ping pong before making a 6-footer for double. Don’t worry, John holed a wedge a few holes later for eagle to make up for it. Personally, I thought Castle Stuart had the best views of anywhere we played — you got a nice mix of the seaside with some inland holes where it all meshed together very nicely.

That afternoon, we got to spend a little time on the shuttle over to Aberdeen where we played Cruden Bay. We were a little tired as this was our 9th round in seven days but we all enjoyed the quirkiness of Cruden Bay. If some of those holes were built today, everyone would hate them but we all loved it — very unique and fun — a must play if in the area. While in Aberdeen, we stayed at the Marcliffe Hotel, which is a Scottish 5-star hotel with a very nice whiskey collection. If you’d like to know more about the Marcliffe, just ask Weisberg — he covered every square inch of that property. We ate dinner at the Silver Darling, which I would highly recommend if you are in the area — phenomenal seafood. Our final round in this area was played at Royal Aberdeen, which supposedly has the best front nine in all of Scotland. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of it as there was only about 150 yards of visibility — this is one we all wanted to play again so we could actually experience it.

The next day, we ventured south to Gullane where we finished out the trip at the Marine North Berwick Hotel. The hotel is situated next to the 16th and 17th fairways of the historic North Berwick Golf Club, which was formed in 1832. North Berwick is a really cool layout with a rock wall that runs through the property and you play over it a few times. In addition, it’s the home of the original Redan and Biarritz template holes — often replicated throughout the world. For our final round of golf, we had the amazing opportunity to experience the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, also known as Muirfield. This is like the Augusta National of Scotland and possibly the best golf experience I’ve ever had. A coat and tie are required to go in the clubhouse and the golf course was challenging but fun. It was the perfect way to finish off our incredible trip.

I was going to omit this last part, but I really don’t want to hear about it from Doc, so here it is … every time we do one of these trips, I organize a cumulative game for the group. The champion golfer of the trip was Aldon Williams — he finished 23 shots better than the next guy over the 12 rounds, cashed every single day, and brought half of his pain management office with him to ensure the rest of us could survive the trip. Congrats and thank you, Doc!