Global accolade for golf played the Hebridean way
Barra and South Uist can expect an influx of golf-related tourism after their island courses won rave reviews on the world’s most-watched golf podcast, No Laying Up.
One of its founders, Troy Carter – who has played courses from Tasmania to the Arctic Circle – told the Gazette this week: “Golf is a sport but to me it is also an experience. In my mind, there is no better experience in the world than golf in the Hebrides.”
While the Old Tom Morris course at Askernish in South Uist is accustomed to global accolades, it is more of a novelty for Barra’s nine holes which are billed as “the most westerly golf course in the United Kingdom”.
However, when the No Laying Up feature went on YouTube this week, honours were even in terms of superlatives about both the spectacular setting and the unique nature of the golf challenges.
The Barra course, founded in 1992, clearly took the visitors by surprise. “This is a lot better than I was expecting”, says one.
“This is a hard place to play golf … I don’t know if the pictures are going to do this place justice”. They do!
At Askernish, they had been advised in advance: “Play Askernish before you die. You will live ten years longer …”.
One of the team said: “I thought it was going to be much more of a novelty” around the Old Tom Morris story. But they found instead ia “world-class” links course.
The No Laying Up team mix American banter with serious golf tourism as they travel in search of iconic destinations.
This edition also featured the famous Kintyre courses of Dunaverty and Macrihanish, with a stopover on Arran, before hopping north to Barra and South Uist.
Within five days, it had attracted more than 100,000 views with the site’s followers matching the hosts’ enthusiasm with their comments.
One said: “If there were Oscars or Pulitzers for YouTube videos, this would be runaway winner. Absolutely perfect, from scenery to music”.
Another added: “Thank you for putting this out there to the world – it is the best of the best”
Tron Carter told the Gazette: “We wanted to make a film about golf in Scotland that wasn’t about the big courses like St Andrews and Muirfield, and the Western Isles had been on my mind for a long time.
“The people on Barra couldn’t believe we’d come all this way – I’m from Florida – but we wanted to show our audience a place where golf is played the way it was; friends walking across the field, hitting a white ball to the flag. Barra is a truly ethereal place, a special way to spend time with the sport we love”.
He asked for a “shout-out” to Café Kisimul in Castlebay, explaining: “We stopped half way through our round to go pick up food they kindly made for us – lamb curry made with local lamb. It was the best Punjabi food I’ve ever eaten”.
Askernish “lived up to everything we had been told”, said Troy. “The stretch of holes from seven to 12 is one of the best run of golf holes in the world”.
They were also hoping to travel north through the islands to play Scarista on Harris but “there was an issue with the ferries” – surprise, surprise.
Troy’s message was: “I hope with this film we have shown our audience around the world that there is another side to golf in Scotland and it’s not all about the big names the big ticket prices. Golf is a sport but it is also an experience. In my mind there is no better experience in the world than playing golf in the Hebrides”.
The Kintyre and Hebrides trip can be watched without charge on the videos section of www.nolayingup.com