Castle tours in Scotland, travel insurance for golfers, finding cheap courses, and a Caddyshack reunion tournament

Click here to listen.

Next time you plan a golf trip to Scotland, consider adding a handful of castle tours to your itinerary, making it a unique golf and castle adventure.

Scottish golf and medieval castles make a natural combination, according to National Golf Editor Tim McDonald. “There are some castles that are really close to some great golf courses,” he said. “Edinburgh castle, obviously - there are a lot of great courses around Edinburgh.

“It would be a shame to get that close to ‘em and not see some of these (castles),” Tim added. “You can do both.”

Getting on to an airplane with your golf clubs and a list of tee times can be a risky proposition. What if your three-day golf getaway turns into three days of rain? And what about lost or damaged clubs? Can you plan for disaster? Sure can. Brandon Tucker says it may be time to buy golf travel insurance.

“Travel insurance is basically getting specialized now and golf travel insurance is a now a new thing,” he said.

Brandon talks about a travel insurance offer by Travel Guard International that covers golfers against bad weather, lost or damaged equipment, rounds missed due to health problems and even the high cost of a hole-in-one celebration! Plus, they offer a helpful 24-hour golf concierge service, Brandon says.

Golf writer Dave Marrandette talks about bringing down the cost of the game we love. “It’s pretty hard to get new golfers into the game when they know they’re going to have to make an investment every time they play of at least $50 or $75 plus the initial equipment and so on. It’s slowly going to destroy the game except for a very small percentage of golfers.”

Dave offers tips on finding those affordable diamonds in the rough, including one Wyoming golf course where you and the mrs. can play all season long for the cost of a single round at Pebble Beach.

Lastly, the 1980 movie Caddyshack is seered into every golfer’s senses. If we had a nickel for every time we’ve heard a line from the film while golfing, we’d all be millionaires. At the end of this month, at the Willowcrest Golf Club just outside of Chicago, fans of the film will be able to watch cast members play in the movie’s 25th anniversary golf tournament (50 bucks says the guy who played the Smails kid picks his nose). The tourney’s to raise money for troops in Iraq. For more information, see www.caddyshackreunion.com.

This edition of TravelGolf.com This Week was supported by Myrtle Beach Travel and Pioneer Golf.