0:00:10 > 0:00:15The rugged and remote coast of the Outer Hebrides.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22A coast of islands, skerries, and lochans.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Nowhere else in the British Isles can match this wonderland of stacks,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29secret inlets and windswept shell sand beaches.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35The Vikings called them Havbrodoy - "islands on the edge of the sea".
0:00:35 > 0:00:38And the edge is exactly what it feels like.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40To my east are the islands of the Inner Hebrides
0:00:40 > 0:00:42and mainland Scotland itself.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Over there to the west
0:00:44 > 0:00:48there's nothing but 2,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51This island-hopping journey takes us over 120 islands
0:00:51 > 0:00:56and thousands of miles of spectacular Hebridean coastline.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Welcome to the Island Coast.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Odd things get washed up on islands.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Places like this are great for digging around
0:01:37 > 0:01:42in the undisturbed past - hog heaven for someone like me.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46As an archaeologist, I've found some strange things in some unexpected places.
0:01:46 > 0:01:52I once found a chamber pot dropped by Zulus after the Battle of Isandlwana in South Africa,
0:01:52 > 0:01:58but here on South Uist, someone has found an entire lost golf course!
0:01:58 > 0:02:04Concealed for more than 70 years by a blanket of wild flowers and grassland, the discovery
0:02:04 > 0:02:09of this course is the golfing equivalent of stumbling across a forgotten Picasso masterpiece.
0:02:09 > 0:02:15But the artist here was golf legend Old Tom Morris.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18To find out about Old Tom's forgotten masterpiece,
0:02:18 > 0:02:24I'm meeting up with green keeper Gordon Irvine, and local golfer Donald MacInnes.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29So, tell me more about what Tom Morris did. Why's he such a name?
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Well, he was the original golf professional at St Andrews.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36He won the Open Championship on four occasions.
0:02:36 > 0:02:43His most famous work would undoubtedly be his work on the Old Course, as we know it, at St Andrews.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Prestwick, Carnoustie, Royal Dornoch.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50For decades after, people came and studied his work,
0:02:50 > 0:02:55and that then went to other parts of the world - to help design courses there.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59There had long been rumours of a lost Tom Morris course here on South Uist,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03but until now, no-one believed it existed.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08The discovery of a 19th century golf almanac proved that Old Tom created a course
0:03:08 > 0:03:13here at the behest of Lady Cathcart, the owner of the island.
0:03:13 > 0:03:20After some careful detective work, Gordon and Donald located the exact site of the original course.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25Now, Gordon, my idea of a golf course is something carefully manicured.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Where is the golf course?
0:03:27 > 0:03:33This is golf in its sheer, raw state, and here it's as much about playing against
0:03:33 > 0:03:35the harsh elements as it is about hitting the golf balls.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40You've got your classic dune system created by the Atlantic swell,
0:03:40 > 0:03:46as they had no earth-moving machinery back then, so they found and plotted the golf courses
0:03:46 > 0:03:50- through the natural terrain rather than trying to move anything.- Right.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54This is the Holy Grail of golf. This is the one we've been searching for.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59It was lost for so long because it fell into disuse and became
0:03:59 > 0:04:03overgrown after the island was sold in the early 1900s.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08But Donald and the local club plan to restore the course to its former glory,
0:04:08 > 0:04:15and with Gordon's know-how, they have already worked out old Tom's original layout.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18I see you've got a flag in there.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21If that's the green, are we on the tee for that?
0:04:21 > 0:04:25As far as we can tell, this would be the teeing area. It would be somewhere in this location.
0:04:25 > 0:04:31What you're looking at here is that classic short par four links hole.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Donald, you've played it.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- How does it play?- It's hard to believe, when you see the flag
0:04:37 > 0:04:44so close to you, that you can hit a fantastic shot, good clean contact and still only about 210-215 yards.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45What club would you recommend?
0:04:45 > 0:04:50Today? Probably a low flying rocket just to assist the flight of the ball.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53This is raw golf.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57For adventurous players, this is as exciting as it gets.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02What are the chances?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04You think a wide, low stance?
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Absolutely, keep your balance.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15You dancer! Look at that!
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Not too shabby.- That was a cracker. - A disaster obviously!
0:05:20 > 0:05:22You wanted to play off the beach for your second shot!
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Oh, I'm great on the beach.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30This is going to be the best golf course in the world, mark my words.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33It's my tee.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Is the secretary in?
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I tried the clubhouse, but it seems to be shut.
0:05:44 > 0:05:52Our journey up the Outer Hebrides continues along North Uist to Balranald.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55The coast here is dramatic and unspoilt.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59These fertile plains are one of the rarest habitats in Europe.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02This sandy grassland is known as machair.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05The machair forms on the coast as wind-blown sand
0:06:05 > 0:06:11settles like a dusting of pepper over the peaty land and nature blooms.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28There's an abundance of wild flowers, from humble daisies,
0:06:28 > 0:06:33through buttercups, to the more exotic-looking orchids and ragged robin.
0:06:33 > 0:06:39The flowers attract insects and birds, making the Balranald Nature Reserve a haven for wildlife.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Leaving behind the low-lying plains of North Uist,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01we're heading north over the water to the mountainous terrain of Harris.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Most of us do the majority of our travelling overland,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12but long before there were any roads,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16the fastest and most efficient way of getting around the place was by boat.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25I'm John MacAulay
0:07:25 > 0:07:31or Seonaidh MacAmhlaigh, as I prefer to be known in my own language.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35I was born and brought up here on the island of Harris.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40I'm a boat builder, traditional boat builder, working with wood all the time.
0:07:43 > 0:07:52I started an apprenticeship when I was 16, building steel ships in a Glasgow shipyard,
0:07:52 > 0:07:58but...I always preferred smaller boats.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01I came back to Harris about
0:08:01 > 0:08:0330 years ago,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06and have been working here ever since then.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11There's been a shed on this site
0:08:11 > 0:08:19as far back as I remember, and I built my first ever boat in here.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I was probably about 20 or 21.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Just a small boat - 12-foot rowing boat.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32So, strong feelings for this place.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40I think it's important with all craft skills, that these are passed on from generation to generation.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42They're basic survival skills.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47It doesn't matter what sphere of work you're in - the skills should be passed on.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006