Scotland - A taste of St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Gleneagles | 6 nights, 4 games

The King's Course, opened in 1919, is a masterpiece of design, which has tested the aristocracy of golf, both professional and amateur.

James Braid's plan for the King's Course was to test even the best players' shot-making skills over the eighteen holes. When they play the King's the world's greatest golfers admire the cunning and craft with which he achieved that goal.

You find out all about it with your first approach shot. If you have driven straight and long from the tee, you will have what looks like a simple pitch to the elevated green. But you must be sure to select the correct club, because the shot is always a little longer than you think, with the wind over the putting surface often stronger than you can feel it from the fairway. And if you do not make the severely sloping green, a bunker yawns twenty feet below.

Selecting the right club for each approach shot is the secret on the King's. It is certainly one of the most beautiful and exhilarating places to play golf in the world, with the springy moorland turf underfoot, the sweeping views from the tees all around, the rock-faced mountains to the north, the green hills to the south, and the peaks of the Trossachs and Ben Vorlich on the western horizon.

All the holes have evocative and pithy Scots names. For example, the fifth, "Het Girdle" (Hot Pan), is a challenging par 3 with trouble every-where except on the green, while 17th's name, "Warslin' Lea" (Wrestling Ground), reflects the difficulty so many golfers have had with this long, sweeping par 4.

The most junior of Open venues, the Ailsa course at Turnberry is nevertheless one of the best and toughest challenges in championship golf.

Sited between the magnificent Trump Turnberry Resort and the sea, this great course weaves in and out of spectacular dunes that, with Turnberry lighthouse and Ailsa Craig standing over 1200 foot high out at sea, form great backdrops to all of the holes.

The course has recently undergone an extensive renovation with the changing of a number of holes providing even more excitement along the cliffs. In fact the trio of holes 9, 10, 11 rival if not surpass those at Pebble Beach. The iconic Turnberry lighthouse has been transformed into arguably the world's best halfway house providing amazing views at the end of the 9th hole.

Although stretched to over 7,000 yards for Open Championships, the medal course is not one that demands great power for par but rather more care and attention to detail both off the tee and with the approach shots. This course has seen some of the best exhibitions ever in the game, particularly over its closing holes testing the world's greatest players to their limits.

Given its quality, it is difficult to comprehend why the wonderful links at Carnoustie lay virtually undiscovered for so long and why it took until 1931 for it to host its first British Open. Since then, this great links has hosted the Open on six occasions.

Carnoustie Championship course is now in the finest condition it has ever been. Not only does it offer the ultimate challenge to every golfer but it provides a playing quality second to none.

It will provide you with one of the sternest tests of golf in the world - a relatively flat course, Carnoustie's main defences are from the wind and the two burns that run across the links through out, quietly awaiting the shot that is slightly less than perfect.

The Old Course at St Andrews is a must for all avid golfers, who should make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. This is where it all started – the undoubted Home of Golf.

This traditional links course is the oldest in the world. Its layout is unique and challenging and the sense of history is overwhelming. To tread the turf of St Andrews, where in the 13th century shepherds played a form of golf, is a marvellous experience. The course is known for its 112 bunkers including one of the most famous in golf, the Road Hole bunker at the 17th hole.

A peculiar feature of the layout of the Old Course is the double greens where the outward and inward holes are cut on the same putting surface. These large greens can mean that golfers may be faced with putts of almost 100 yards.