Heli golf - when the journey becomes part of the adventure
Some of the greatest golf courses lie in the most beautiful, yet inconveniently remote corners.
For Bravo Whisky Golf, that is part of the attraction.
Rather than allowing geography to dictate a journey, we use helicopters to connect places, people and experiences that would otherwise sit several hours apart. A morning whisky tasting in Speyside can precede an afternoon round at Royal Dornoch; a day on Islay can finish with dinner in the Trossachs.
It isn't simply about travelling faster. It's about what becomes possible with the time that is saved.
Below are a few profoundly memorable adventures where we have used helicopters to save time, fold the map and unlock places that would otherwise be difficult, or even impossible, to reach.
Our helicopter network currently spans the UK (Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales), as well as the Republic of Ireland, France and Norway.
From East Lothian to Speyside, Royal Dornoch and a castle dinner
One BWG adventure began in the grounds of Fenton Tower, close to North Berwick, where two AgustaWestland AW109s were waiting for our guests.
Flying north across Scotland, we landed near Elgin in Speyside to meet Stephen Rankin of Gordon & MacPhail. A private whisky tasting at the company's Elgin headquarters was followed by a guided visit to Johnstons of Elgin, before Stephen joined us aboard the helicopters for the flight north.
Our destination was Royal Dornoch. Few arrivals in golf compare with descending towards the Dornoch Firth before an afternoon on the Championship Course.
As the autumn light began to disappear, we lifted off again and headed south, landing beside Wormistoune in Fife in time for dinner in the castle.
One of our guests was celebrating his 70th birthday, and Stephen had brought something rather special with him. Instead of a conventional tasting, he had selected rare malts corresponding to significant years throughout our guest's life. Bottles were opened, stories told and seven decades were revisited through whisky.
It was precisely the sort of evening that could never really be reproduced.
Across Scotland to Islay – and back before dark
On another morning at Wormistoune, two AW109s lifted away and turned west. Crossing Scotland by helicopter is an experience in itself. The Lowlands give way to lochs and mountains before the Atlantic appears and the islands of the Inner Hebrides emerge below.
Our destination that morning was Islay. We landed at The Machrie, beside one of Scotland's great island links. The weather was suitably Hebridean (wild, wet and occasionally horizontal) but golf was followed by lunch before we climbed back aboard for perhaps the shortest flight of the adventure.
Rather than drive around Loch Indaal, we flew across Machir Bay to Bruichladdich. Waiting for us were former owner Simon Coughlin and Production Director Alan Logan. There was little ceremony and no scripted visitor experience. Instead, the afternoon was spent moving through the warehouses, tasting whisky directly from the cask. Among the highlights was the opportunity to taste from the last remaining 1986 cask — the sort of encounter that explains why, at BWG, the people we meet are every bit as important as the places we visit.
Leaving Islay, we crossed back to the mainland and landed at Monachyle Mhor, deep amongst the mountains of the Trossachs, for dinner.
With daylight running out, the helicopters lifted for the final flight east, landing back at Wormistoune with just enough light remaining.
There was really only one appropriate conclusion to the day: a well-earned nightcap.
Ireland – from Dublin to Donegal and the Antrim Coast
Ireland offers the same opportunity to redraw the conventional golf-tour map.
On one BWG adventure, four guests left The Merrion in Dublin by chauffeur-driven car for Weston Airport. From there, a helicopter carried them north-west across Ireland to Donegal and Rosapenna, where they were met by brothers Frank and John Casey, whose family has owned and operated the resort since 1981.
The reason for making the journey was St Patrick's Links, Tom Doak's modern links laid out amongst the dunes overlooking Sheephaven Bay.
After 18 holes, there was no lengthy road journey across the country. The guests simply returned to the helicopter and flew east towards the Antrim Coast.
At Portrush, the timing provided an unexpected moment of theatre. It was less than a week after Rory McIlroy's victory at The Masters and, as the helicopter arrived, a small gathering of locals appeared, evidently hoping Northern Ireland's newly crowned Masters champion was returning home. Their anticipation was followed by some good-natured disappointment when four BWG guests stepped out instead.
A short drive took the party to Dunluce Lodge, overlooking Royal Portrush. While the guests had travelled across Ireland by air, their luggage had quietly made the journey from Dublin by road and was already waiting in their rooms.
Cocktails were followed by dinner with Colum Egan of Bushmills, with conversation naturally turning to whiskey, the North Coast and the people and stories behind one of Ireland's great distilling traditions.
In a single day, our guests had breakfasted in Dublin, crossed Ireland by helicopter, played at Rosapenna, flown on to Portrush and finished over dinner with Bushmills.
Trying to make the same journey by road would be difficult enough, but retaining the same sense of occasion would be impossible.
The aircraft that make it possible
BWG works with experienced operators in Ireland including Executive Helicopters, whose twin-engine AS355N Twin Squirrel is particularly suited to this type of journey. In Britain, operators including Apollo Air Services provide aircraft such as the twin-engine AW109SP GrandNew.
The practicalities are carefully managed behind the scenes. Landing permissions are arranged in advance, weather and daylight are monitored, passenger weights calculated and, where appropriate, luggage and golf clubs travel independently by road.
Helicopters are never allowed to compromise the adventure. They are there to unlock it.
More than a faster way to travel
For BWG, golfing by helicopter has surprisingly little to do with saving time. It is about what becomes possible with the time that is saved.
It can mean leaving a castle in East Lothian in the morning, drinking whisky with one of Scotland's great whisky families in Speyside and standing on the first tee at Royal Dornoch that afternoon. Or playing golf on Islay, tasting whisky from the cask at Bruichladdich, dining amongst the mountains of the Trossachs and returning to Fife as the last light disappears.
In Ireland, it can mean connecting Dublin, Donegal and Portrush in a single day.
Most importantly, it allows us to dispense with the conventional golf-tour map.
We can start instead with a blank sheet of paper and ask a rather more interesting question:
Where would you like the adventure to take you?
Every one of our heli golf adventures is different, with each element carefully tailored to you. To start your journey, contact us for an informal chat.