There's never been a better time to golf Scotland

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There are very few serious golfers around who haven't dreamed of someday taking a golf trip Across the Pond to Scotland. Thoughts of filling a week's vacation with as many of those world famous links courses as can possibly be played, perhaps even including a few that have hosted The British Open, all sounds so very tempting. Unfortunately, for too many of these dreamers, that "someday" never comes around and the Scottish golf trip of a lifetime, forever stays just a dream.

Our US dollar is worth a lot more in Scotland today than a year ago.

Scotland's welcome will be especially warm this year as the entire country celebrates Homecoming Year.

Turnberry's Ailsa Course hosts its 4th British Open in 2009.

Highland Games are a Scottish summer tradition, best understood by attending as a spectator.

Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course will host the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Royal Dornoch consistently ranks as one of the world's top links courses.

So come join the celebration of all things Scottish - including golf.

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For a other ideas on golf trips to Scotland, Ireland, British Open, Spain & Portugal, click here or call Golf International at 800.328.9898.

Procrastination is a terrible thing and a golf trip to the home of golf may seem easy to postpone until another year, but the years are inclined to roll by a lot faster than most of us anticipate and before you know it, time has slipped by and it's too late. We are not on this planet forever and the best time to take care of the things we promise ourselves is now, while we can still enjoy them!

For any who may need more convincing, there are a few special reasons why 2009 should be the year, not the least of which is that a golf trip to Scotland has never been more affordable.

Our US dollar is the strongest it has been in many years. It's stronger against practically every foreign currency, but nowhere as strong as it is against the British pound. In October 2007 it cost $2.10 to buy one British pound -- in February 2009, just 18 months later; a pound cost only $1.45. That's an increase in our dollar's value of well over 30%. All of Britain (and that includes Scotland) is on sale and with US dollars in your pocket, everything is being offered at a king-sized, 30% discount.

As healthy a discount as this is, it's not the end of the story. Britain has its own economic problems and with it, fewer British tourists are visiting Scotland this year. Many Scottish hotels and even golf clubs have come to the realization that to fill their rooms and golf courses in 2009, they have to offer some very special deals. These special offers are usually in the form of some added value rather than a cash discount, but if you can stay in a hotel for 4 nights and only pay for 3 nights or play 2 rounds of golf for the price of one, it all comes down to the same thing - an even more reasonably priced Scottish golf trip.

Not all hotels and golf clubs are offering deals and many of those that do often prefer not to promote them to the general public. Best to check with a reputable golf travel company such as Golf International, to find out what's being offered and where you can gain pricing benefits. And there's still more to make Scotland even more attractively priced in 2009.

More than 100 of Scotland's 550 golf courses have joined VisitScotland (the Scottish national tourist board) in a unique enticement, geared toward attracting more overseas golfers to the game's homeland this year, which has been designated as Scotland's Homecoming Year.

2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland's poet laureate and the occasion is being used to hold a year long celebration of everything Scottish. Taking the combined themes of Scottish heritage, culture and music; Scottish innovation, creativity and invention, together with Scotch whisky and of course, golf - Scotland has a lot going on in 2009. The year is jam-packed with festivals, exhibitions, pageants, concerts, clan gatherings and other special events -- it's a unique and especially fun year to visit Scotland and everyone is invited to join in the celebrations.

VisitScotland and the participating golf courses want to show-off the excellence of the Scottish golf product to as many overseas visitors as possible and have come up with a massive golf give-away called "Drive It Home", the likes of which have never been seen before.

Each of the participating 100 plus courses is donating free visitor foursomes to be given away to residents of the USA, Canada and a limited number of other countries. The first phase of this giant golf give-away was launched in late January and within 7 days, all 2,200 rounds of free golf had been snapped up. Phase two of the giveaway and another 2,000 complimentary rounds or 500 foursomes of golf is set to launch in early April and there may be a third phase later in the year.

The courses involved run the gamut of Scotland's golfing banquet, from some of the most famous names such as Gleneagles and Royal Troon, to a selection of the wonderful, but less widely known links courses at Cruden Bay, Machrihanish, Nairn, Old Moray, Machrie and Crail, to name only a few. There is also a variety of Scotland's real hidden gems, those purely Scottish jewels that see few visitors, yet are often the equal and not infrequently, even better than some of the established names. Included among others are some delightful surprises like Fraserburgh, Lundin Links, Brora, Tain and Scotland's most northerly course at Thurso.

You don't get to choose your course, this is done by random computer selection and these free foursomes are limited to one per group of four golfers traveling together, but it's likely to introduce your foursome to a Scottish golf experience you might not have otherwise enjoyed.

To get in on VisitScotland's, Drive-It-Home golf giveaway, the first step is to register your name on the website at www.DriveItHomeScotland.com You will be notified as soon as phase two of the Drive It Home golf giveaway opens up, then all you have to do is follow the simple instructions to get your free Scottish foursome.

Scotland's Homecoming Year seems to have also become the year of the Scottish golf deal, so take full advantage of everything and enjoy, but don't leave it too long, bargains like this don't last forever, so better act quickly.

For more ideas and suggestions on how to get the most out of your trip to The Home of Golf, click here.

©2009 David Brice / Golf International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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