Famous golf courses
Britain is the home of golf, and boasts some of the world's most famous golf courses. There are literally hundreds of courses to pick from, but you don't want to miss St Andrews, in Scotland, where golf has been played for over 600 years, and where every golfer dreams of playing.
It was at St Andrews that the game of golf as we know it was invented. The Open Championship was first played on the Old Course in 1873. And with the 27th championship played there in 2005, St Andrews has held the even more times than anywhere else.
Another famous course worth visiting is Royal Liverpool (www.royal-liverpool-golf.com/), in Hoylake, which has hosted the Open 11 times. It's one of Britain's most challenging golf courses, due to the notoriously strong winds. The Belfry Golf Club (www.devere.co.uk/golf/) in Warwickshire has staged many Ryder Cup matches, and is home to the Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) of Great Britain and Ireland, Europe, and the PGA National Training Academy.
Royal Blackheath (www.royalblackheath.com/), in London, is the world's oldest golf club, where you'll find some of the oldest golf medals in existence. Another great historical club is Muirfield (www.muirfield.org.uk/), near Edinburgh, home to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers who wrote the original 13 rules of golf in 1744. Muirfield is the only club to have staged the Open (15 times), the Amateur, the Mid Amateur, the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup.
There are many more famous golf clubs and courses in Britain, and many of them offer bookings so you can play on the same course as many of the world's best golfers.