Whiskey, haggis, poet Robert Burns, designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the windswept moors — and, of course, golf. These were the images I had of Scotland before visiting for the first time this spring, and the reality did not disappoint. What I discovered in a whirlwind tour that took in fabulous hotels in and around Edinburgh, the Glasgow countryside, and St. Andrews, fulfilled those expectations and showed me why this beautiful country remains a golfer's paradise.

Dramatic and demanding classic golf courses, many at high-end resorts, can be found throughout Scotland. Among them is the famous Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire, about 50 miles north of Edinburgh, whose three championship golf courses appear to be carved out of the wilderness that's part of this 850-acre estate. With 232 guest rooms, the chateau-style Gleneagles has 20,000 square feet of function space and a new spa with 20 treatment rooms — part of a propertywide redo that will be completed before the property hosts the Ryder Cup matches at its Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course in 2014. The course also serves as the annual venue for the Scottish PGA championships and the Johnnie Walker Championship.

But it's at the picturesque and legendary St. Andrews where the mystique of the Scottish fairway is revealed, even to duffers like me. St. Andrews, in the seaside Kingdom of Fife about an hour's drive from Edinburgh, wears two important hats: it is Scotland's oldest university town and it is where the game of golf began about 500 years ago.

I stayed at the lovely, 144-room Old Course Hotel, which borders the famous 17th “Road Hole” on St. Andrew's legendary Old Course. My room had views to die for — a panorama that overlooked the Old Course and the sea and cityscape beyond — and at 6 a.m. on a chilly morning the golfers were already teeing up. “For many of our guests, it's been a lifelong dream to play St. Andrews,” said the hotel's general director Debbie Taylor.

Also affiliated with the hotel is another historical and challenging course about five minutes inland from the property, called The Duke's. The par-71 course reopened in summer 2006 after a redesign by golf architect Tim Liddy.

The hotel itself is well equipped for groups, with meeting space that can accommodate 500 people theater-style (in The Hall of Champions) or 300 for a banquet (in The Ballroom). And the conference wing, opened in April 2006, has eight flexible breakout rooms, each with its own dedicated audiovisual equipment. (In 2004, Kohler Co. purchased the resort, and undertook a comprehensive renovation that is now complete.) The beautiful Kohler Waters Spa, an oasis of “bathing experiences” also opened in 2006.

Another incentive-quality meetings hotel for groups that love to golf is the 209-room Fairmont St. Andrews, a grand oceanfront resort that sits high on the cliffs and has two championship golf courses, The Devlin and The Torrance. The Torrance is undergoing renovations, including rebuilding every tee, the relocation of certain tees to enhance playability, and new drainage. It is scheduled to reopen in spring 2009, and will be the final qualifying course for the 2010 Open Championship.

The Torrance redo is part of a comprehensive renovation throughout the Fairmont, where interior spaces reflect warm, earthy colors with signature Scottish touches. The hotel has more than 15,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including the 6,179- square-foot Robert Burns Ballroom, and a luxurious new spa and fitness facility.

The other big golf news from the St. Andrews area: the opening in June of the first new tournament-standard course in 100 years, The Castle Course. The 7,200-yard, par-72 layout, designed by David McLay Kidd, features five sets of tees, large greens, and wide fairways.

For golfers and nongolfers alike, the fitness facilities and lap pools typically found at Scottish resort hotels come in handy for visitors who wish to work off the tasty cuisine. A plethora of fresh seafood includes not only Scottish salmon, but local mussels, oysters, halibut, and haddock. Scottish beef, game, lamb, and cheeses are also delicious, and planners can work with banquet chefs to create menus that highlight regional specialties.