It is fitting that the first Open Championship of the new millennium should be held at St Andrews, the home of golf. For in Scotland, the game is much more open than in the rest of the world, with a few dishonourable exceptions. The whole of Scotland is teeming with golf courses - about 540 of them - and most of them are open to the golf-playing public. Some are great, some more humble and often, if you pass one and you have your clubs in the back of the car, it will be worth enquiring whether you can have a round.
But if you want a guide to some of the best, here, in no particular order, is a top 10.
St Andrews
Not everybody realises that the most famous golf course in the world, the Old, is public and that anyone can play it. In theory, that is. In practice, it takes more than a little organisation (see below), but whatever it takes it is worth it. This is how golf began, with all the idiosyncrasies of those early courses still perfectly preserved and still, amazingly, offering a serious and correct challenge to the modern golfer. Everything about St Andrews, the town and the 99 holes of golf offered, is unique and it is every professional golfer's wish to win here. When Nick Faldo won in 1990, he averaged 67.5 strokes per round which, as Steve Isaac, a Royal and Ancient agronomist observed, was "not murdering the course: a mild mugging perhaps".
Handicap certificate: 24 for men, 36 for women.
Green fees: £80 a round.
Eating: Links clubhouse open from 6am. Also lots of pubs and hotels nearby.
Booking: 01334 466666.
Restrictions: Put in your request at least a year in advance. Applications are acknowledged and held on file until October/November when they are processed in order of receipt for the following year. A request for a time in high season (April 1-October 31) must be accom panied by a request for a time on one of the St Andrews Links Trust's other courses (there are five: the New, Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgove, which is nine holes). Or you can take pot luck in the ballot. Every day except Sunday (the Old Course is closed on Sundays), there is a draw for a number of times the following day. The Saturday draw is for play on Monday. You have to enter by phone or in person the morning before you wish to play and the ballot is drawn after 2pm. The results are announced on www.golfagent.com and, after 4pm, they are posted at the Links clubhouse, the starters' boxes, the caddie manager's office, local golf clubs and the tourist information centre. Single players can join in a two- or three-ball by speaking to the starter.
Pint of lager: £2.10.
Address: St Andrews Links Trust, Pilmour House, Fife KY16 9SF.
Website: www.standrews.org.uk
Turnberry
Probably the most scenic of the acknowledged great courses. Certainly, it has one of the all-time great tees in golf, the ninth, which has the sea crash ing around on three sides and presents a fearsome carry over waves, rocks and cliff edge to the fairway. The 10th is a beauty, too, curving around a driftwood- and seaweed-strewn bay, with magnificent views out to the huge rock of Ailsa Craig. The course hosted perhaps the greatest major championship of them all, the 1977 Open confrontation between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus, having birdied the last hole - only for Watson to do so also and win - was as gracious as ever in defeat. Wrapping an arm round his conqueror's shoulder, he said: "You have seen my best - and you've beaten it."
Handicap certificate: There's no rule that says you even have to have a handicap.
Green fees: Weekdays £120 a round, weekends £150 a round (for non-residents).
Eating: Restaurant/grill/bar at clubhouse.
Booking: 01655 331000 and ask for pro's shop.
Restrictions: Hard to get a time. Will send you a request form - for date, numbers etc - and let you know two or three weeks prior to the date.
Pint of lager: £2.25.
Address: Turnberry Hotel Golf Courses and Spa, Ayrshire KA26 9LT.
Website: www.turnberry.co.uk
Muirfield
Here dwelleth the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, and also some modern myths about the impossibility of gaining access to one of the world's top 10 golf courses. One of the best stories came courtesy of the late Payne Stewart, at the time the US Open champion and in Scotland on vacation. A friend rang to see if Stewart could come and play but the assistant, catching only the fairly common Scottish surname, did not connect it with the American champion and explained that the course was full that week. When the tabloids inevitably got hold of it, it was "Toffs Snub Champ" all over the place. You can play if you pull the right levers, and wonderfully rewarding it is, too. Jack Nicklaus loved it so much he named his own course in Ohio after it, Muirfield Village, and he considered it to be the fairest of all the courses on the Open rota.
Handicap certificate: 18 for men, 24 for women. Must be members of a recognised golf club.
Green fees: £80 a round, £105 a day.
Eating: Gentleman can, ladies can't (in the clubhouse).
Booking: 01620 842123.
Restrictions: Tuesdays and Thursdays only. Probably have to book a year ahead. Books for 2001 opened on May 1, phone has hardly stopped ringing since. Women must play with men, one each (ie can't have three women and one man).
Pint of lager: £1.65.
Address: Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian EH31 2EG.
E-mail: hceg@btinternet.com
Nairn
This is one of those gems that until relatively recently has been unrecognised by the various championships. It is a magnificent test of golf, hard by the Moray Firth, with a glut of great holes. Because it is fairly exposed, it is subject to - and is the better for - a wind, that can blow severely. Nairn needs only a few more yards to be worthy of an Open.
Handicap certificate: 28 for men, 36 for women.
Green fees: Weekdays £60 a round, weekends £65 a round.
Eating: Full catering.
Booking: 01667 453208.
Restrictions: Members' times 9am-9.30am. Four-balls after 9.30am. Some at weekends.
Pint of lager: £1.80-£1.90.
Address: The Nairn Golf Club, Seabank Road, Nairn IV12 4HB.
Website: www.nairngolfclub.co.uk
Royal Dornoch
This is a place of pilgrimage, a long way even from Edinburgh or Glasgow. It is the most northerly championship course in the world, on the same latitude as Hudson Bay and Labrador. But, as the Michelin guides say, it is worth a detour as two players who arrived singly and were introduced on the first tee discovered. One had flown from New York to London to Inverness and then taxied to Dornoch; the other had driven from Birmingham and both had taken 10 hours. But they discovered a course that is a delight, wandering around the whins, the heather and the gorse in full accord with its surroundings. Tom Watson said of it: "I have played none finer, a natural masterpiece."
Handicap certificate: 24 for men, 39 for women.
Green fees: Weekdays £57 a round, weekends £67 a round. Weekdays combination ticket £62 for both courses.
Eating: Full catering.
Booking: 01862 810219.
Restrictions: Saturday morning members only. Blocks of times for visitors but very busy mid-May to early October.
Pint of lager: £1.60-ish.
Address: Royal Dornoch, Golf Road, Dornoch IV25 3LW.
E-mail: www.royaldornoch.com
Carnoustie
This might have been purpose-built for the masochists of the golfing world. It is 7,371 yards long from the back tees and has a par of, wait for it, 71. It can be the hardest golf course in the world. Carnoustie is a brutal test even on a nice day and when, as so often occurs, the weather draws its great grey curtains, the bleakness of the surroundings can be overwhelming. The daunting nature of the course can be summed up in one word, and was when the comedian and singer Danny Kaye made the following entrance in the vistors' book: "Murder," he wrote. The local council lost the plot in the 1970s and 80s, allowing the course to become a milked-out cash cow in clapped-out condition. It is restored now, so go and be proud if you get within five of your handicap.
Handicap certificate: 28 for men, 36 for women.
Green fees: £70 all the time.
Eating: Golf club or the hotel.
Booking: 01241 853789.
Restrictions: Weekends more difficult. After 2pm on Saturday, 11.30am on Sunday.
Pint of lager: £1.40-£1.80.
Address: Carnoustie Golf Links, Links Parade, Carnoustie, Angus DD7 7JE.
Website: www.carnoustie.org/golf
Royal Troon
"Royal" was added to its name quite recently despite the fact that 50% of the world's population are not allowed on to the championship course. Women are expressly forbidden from playing there, presumably because they might strain themselves, poor dears. This barmy ban apart, Troon is a great place to play golf. The course runs out-and-back in the classical manner and, if the wind is from the north, the homeward half becomes monstrous.
Handicap certificate: 20 for men, 30 for women (on the Portland course).
Green fees: £125 a day, includes coffee/lunch and a round on both the Old and the Portland courses (women excepted). £85 a day includes coffee/lunch and two rounds on the Portland course.
Eating: Full catering, including Ailsa lounge, where you don't need to change and soft spikes (not hard) are permitted. In the dining room and smoke room, jacket and tie required.
Booking: 01292 311555.
Restrictions: Old 9.30am-11am and 2.30pm-4pm; Portland 9am-10.30am and 2.30pm-4pm. Women and players under 18 can play the Portland course. Women are not allowed to play the championship course but are permitted to "accompany and look decorative". Are they allowed in the clubhouse? Doubtless, on special occasions, under armed guard.
Pint of lager: £1.73.
Address: Royal Troon Golf Club, Craigend Road, Troon, Ayshire KA10 3EP.
E-mail: bookings@royaltroon.com
North Berwick
Another old Scottish course that is laid out seemingly in the only way possible - following precisely the contours of the land, which happen to be just perfect for golf. It has a famous last hole, a drivable par four, which features a green raised rather like a cake tin, throwing any ball not perfectly struck off into the grassy swales that surround the green. This natural outcrop has been copied by designers worldwide, mostly inappropriately. There is not enough room on the course for large crowds to follow play, so although an Open is out of the question, one of the final qualifying rounds is always played there when the Open goes to Muirfield.
Handicap certificate: 24 for men, 34 for women.
Green fees: Weekdays £36 a round, £54 a day, weekends £54 a round, £72 a day.
Eating: Full catering.
Booking: 01620 892135 from 11am on. If no answer or engaged, try the pro's shop on 01620 893233.
Restrictions: Can't get out before 10am.
Pint of lager: £1.65.
Address: The Glen Golf Club, Tantallon Terrace, North Berwick EH39 4LE.
Machrihanish
Mention this one to an aficionado and they'll start drooling at once, picturing a wild, windswept landscape and a links to die for. It's remote enough, even these days, situated on the Mull of Kintyre, near Campbelltown, but few who've been there moan about a wasted journey. If you take the car, it takes a long time to get there - about three hours from Glasgow - but it's only 25 minutes by air and, either way, you'll enjoy some stunning scenery. It's not advis able to rush on to the first tee without warming up. The view of the bay and the beach is fantastic but the drive is daunting, tempting the brave, or foolhardy, to take too direct a line over the sea. Old Tom Morris, a pioneer of the game, said the Almighty had designed Machrihanish for playing golf.
Handicap certificate: None, just as long as you can play.
Green fees: £28 a round, £45 a day, except Saturday, £35 a round, £55 a day.
Eating: Catering available 11am-3pm, 6pm on. Also rolls, soup etc.
Booking: 01586 810213.
Restrictions: Not many. Pretty easy going. Tee times from 9am on.
Pint of lager: £1.75.
Address: Machrihanish Golf Club, Machrihanish, Campbeltown, Argyll PA28 6PT.
Boat of Garten
It's not a great course - Tiger Woods would probably consider it a pitch and putt, with only four holes longer than 400 yards - but that's not a problem for most of us. The Boat is a great place to be and to play and that's what stays in the memory. It's the sort of course that will still be a favourite 30 years after your only visit. It's a handful of miles north of Aviemore, so there's the river Spey, the Cairngorms, pine trees, perhaps the odd osprey and enough undulations and variety to test your shot-making. A gem and a delight.
Handicap certificate: Should have a handicap but no certificate necessary.
Green fees: Weekdays £23 a round, £28 a day. Weekends £28 a round, £33 a day.
Eating: Catering 9am-8pm.
Booking: 01479 831282.
Restrictions: Booking system, otherwise not many.
Pint of lager: "Haven't a clue, Never look at prices when I buy a drink. Club prices," said the steward.
Address: Boat of Garten Golf and Tennis Club, Inverness-shire PH24 3BQ.
Website: www.boatgolf.com
• The Open Championship is on July 20-23. Accommodation is still available on the the QE2, moored offshore, from £125 pp per night from Scotia Travel (0141-305 5050, e-mail QE2lastmindeal@scotiatravel.com). The Scottish Tourist Board has produced a free map showing more than 300 courses with details. For a copy, call: 08705 511511.
