Golf in Scotland

Occupying the northern third of Great Britain is Scotland, a land of dramatic landscapes, turbulent history, and of course the home of golf. Though small in size and population (approximately 5 million people) the country’s capital Edinburgh is one of the largest financial centres in Europe. Scotland itself has a spectacular array of landscapes, from the gentle rolling hills of Dumfries and Galloway to the breathtaking peaks of the Cairngorms, and from the rugged coastlines of the north east to the sub-tropical gardens of Wester Ross. Scotland's dramatic history spans 8,000 years marked by invasions, wars, religious upheavals, and famous historical figures. According to the most widely accepted account, the modern game of golf originated in Scotland around the 12th century, with shepherds knocking stones into rabbit holes on the current site of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Today, more than 550 golf courses (many of which are considered to be amongst the best golf courses in the world) populate the country from head to toe!

The East Coast

The Old Course, St Andrews originally consisted of twenty-two holes, eleven out and eleven back. In 1764, the Society of St Andrews Golfers, which later became the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, decided that some holes were too short and combined them. This reduced the course to eighteen holes and created what became the standard round of golf throughout the world. The track through the whin bushes on which the Old Course evolved was so narrow that golfers played to the same holes going out and coming in.

As the game became increasingly popular in the nineteenth century, golfers in different matches would find themselves playing to the same hole, but from opposite directions. To relieve the congestion, two holes were cut on each green; those for the first nine were equipped with a white flag and those for the second nine with a red flag.

The Open Championship was first played on the Old Course at St Andrews in 1873. With the 27th staging of the world's premier golf event taking place again on the Old Course in 2005, St Andrews has held the event more often than anywhere else.

Muirfield is the course of “The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers” (HCEG), the world’s oldest golf club, formed in 1744. The design layout is a masterpiece and highly unusual for links courses of this era. Most courses were laid out simply, nine out and nine back.  Muirfield is different; it was the first to be designed with two concentric rings of nine holes.  The outward nine holes run clockwise around the edge and the inward nine run anti-clockwise, sitting inside the outward nine. 

Host to fifteen Opens, most recently in 2002, Muirfield is considered by many of the top professionals to be one of the fairest Open Championship golf courses. Muirfield is an eccentric but traditional golf links of the highest calibre.

Golf has been played over the links at Carnoustie Golf Club since the 1500’s but the present course came into being in 1850 when it was designed by Alan Robertson of St Andrews. Some 20 years later the legendary Old Tom Morris improved and extended the course to 18 holes and in 1926 the famous architect James Braid redesigned the Championship course extensively. Carnoustie’s contribution to golf has not just been the Championship course, but also its people. In the early 1900’s many young men from Carnoustie emigrated to the United States of America and took with them not only club making skills but golfing talent in abundance.

Many golf clubs in the United States can trace a direct line to Carnoustie through the contribution given by these immigrants from Scotland. The most famous coach was Stewart Maiden from Carnoustie who was the first and only teacher of the incomparable Bobby Jones. Carnoustie Championship course is now in the finest condition it has ever been. Not only does it offer the ultimate challenge to every golfer but it provides a playing quality second to none.

The purity of the Kingsbarns Golf Links is complemented by a dramatic seaside setting and a welcoming staff dedicated to the highest standards of service and comfort. The course offers sea views from every hole as the routing serpentines along almost 2 miles of varying coastline. Sandy beaches, a rocky foreshore and the bay beyond Cambo Ness all reinforce the immediacy Kingsbarns enjoys with the North Sea. The traditional links fescue turf results in fast greens and almost equally quick running fairways.

Cruden Bay Golf Course creates unique challenges demanding the skills of power, placement and fine judgement upon the discerning golfer. Set against a backdrop of subtly contoured greens and magnificent panoramic views, a visit to Cruden Bay will be a most memorable one. It is claimed that golf was played in the village of Cruden Bay as early as 1791.

The original course, on the present site, was commissioned by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR), designed by Old Tom Morris of St Andrews, and opened in 1899. Cruden Bay offers an internationally famous golfing experience - old fashioned links golf at its best - on one of the best links courses in Scotland, and placed at No 52 in the world by Golf Magazine.

Described by Tom Morris as, 'The most beautiful inland green I have ever seen', the Rosemount course at Blairgowrie Golf Club certainly lives up to its reputation. Designed by James Braid with influences from Dr. Alistair McKenzie, Rosemount has played host to a number of prestigious professional and amateur tournaments. It was the scene of Greg Norman's first European Tour victory in the 1977 Martini event. The Lansdowne course is more modern than the Rosemount course in layout, and offers a more challenging test. It was designed by the respected partnership of Peter Allis and Dave Thomas and was officially opened in 1979. Also set in avenues of pine and silver birch, most fairways are lined with heather, and the course provides a challenging but pleasurable test for all levels of golfer.

Royal Aberdeen Golf Club is very much a traditional old Scottish links. Well bunkered with undulating fairways, it is an excellent balance of holes, strong par 4's, tricky par 3's and two classic par 5's, with the 8th protected by 10 bunkers. The ever changing wind, tight greens and a magnificent finish makes Balgownie a test for the very best.

The course runs essentially out and back along the North Sea shore. The outward nine, arguably acknowledged as one of the finest in links golf anywhere in the world, cuts its way through some wonderful dune formation and the inland nine on the plateau.

Even in the glittering array of Scotland’s seaside golf courses, North Berwick Golf Club’s West Links stands out as a rare gem. Golf has been played on North Berwick links land, as in other parts of the country, since the early years of the seventeenth century, and possibly earlier than that. But it was the formation in 1832 of North Berwick Golf Club that marked the beginning of organised golf over terrain which in time would be expanded to become the West Links which we know today.

In recent years the Club has regularly played host to a Final Qualifying competition when the Open Championship is held at neighbouring Muirfield, and in that context many of today’s leading players have met with triumph or disaster on the West Links.

The eighteen holes of Gullane Golf Club’s No.1 Course were established in 1884. The well maintained greens, links grasses, numerous bunkers and sea breezes make a unique challenge for the serious golfer. The 3rd hole was recently voted one of the top 500 holes in the world by Golf Magazine. The world famous view from the highest point of the Course on the 7th tee across the course and over to Edinburgh, Fife and way beyond is worth the green fee alone.

The West Coast

Prestwick Golf Club was founded in 1851 by a group of members who met at the Red Lion Inn, Prestwick. The first Open championship was held at Prestwick in 1860, which was won by Willie Park of Musselburgh with a score of 174 over 36 holes. The Amateur Championship has been held at Prestwick on ten occasions from 1888 to 1987.

A stone cairn to the west of the Clubhouse marks the first tee of the original 12-hole course, from which the first Open was played. The 1st hole measured 578 yards to what is now the 16th green, where in 1870 Tom Morris Jr holed out in three strokes using hickory shafts and a gutty golf ball.

Long regarded as one of the finest courses in the world, The Ailsa Course, Turnberry came to international prominence with the famous duel between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson over the four days of the 1977 Open. Scene of some of the most memorable moments in Open history, the Ailsa Championship course is a legend in the world game.  Watson, Norman, Price; they’ve all won golf’s most coveted trophy here on the Turnberry links.  And the Open was once again hosted on the Ailsa in 2009. 

Perhaps the 9th hole is Turnberry's trademark, the remote tee set on a rocky premonitory on the edge of the sea, the drive across the corner of the bay and a glimpse of the site of Bruce's Castle. With the sea by your side and that famous lighthouse in the distance, there are few courses in the world that can match Turnberry for beauty.

Royal Troon Golf Club was formed on the 16th March 1878, at a Meeting of enthusiasts, in the Portland Arms Hotel in Troon. By 1880 the Club had six holes, and by 1888 these had been extended to eighteen holes. By the time of the 1997 Open Championship the Course stretched to over 7000 yards. In the Centenary Year, 1978, the Club was proud to receive the Royal Accolade and, to date is the most recent Club to be so honoured.  

One of the great links courses in Scotland, the Old Course is a challenging test of golfing ability. With the wind to contend with, and deep rough interspersed with gorse and broom, accurate shot making is essential. Players should make their scores on the outward nine, as the prevailing north-westerly wind can make the back nine extremely difficult.

Western Gailes Golf Club, founded in 1897, is situated on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland alongside many of the finest Scottish golf links courses. It is recognised as one of the finest and true links courses in Scotland measuring 6899 yards from the championship tees. In 1903 the great Harry Vardon won the first major championship at “Western” and in 1923 its attractions were being lauded by the then US Open Champion Gene Sarazen.

The course, as the standard scratch score rating of 74 indicates, is always an excellent test of true links golf. Any change in the strength or direction of the wind, that usually varies between south-westerly and north-westerly off the adjacent Firth of Clyde, provides new challenges that are compounded by the undulating terrain and finely contoured greens cleverly located and set in the folds of the surrounding sand dunes. The course has played host to the Curtis Cup, PGA Championship, seniors and prestigious Scottish Amateur Championship. It is also one of the final qualifying courses when The Open is played at Turnberry or Royal Troon.

Machrihanish Golf Club is situated on the Kintyre Peninsula and is well known throughout the world. It was voted to have the best opening hole in golf by golf architects and players and listed in the top 100 golf courses outside the USA by the Golfer's Digest.

The course presents a spectacular opening hole, large sandy bunkers, neat fairways, tough rough and greens of the highest standard. Little has been changed to disturb the natural scenic beauty and inspiring challenge of this delightful links golf course. The outward nine follow the hills and hollows among the sand dunes, with the stunning clear waters lapping on the sandy beach by the opening hole. The inward nine holes are pleasant with the backdrop of the south Kintyre hills. The course plays differently every day with wind temperatures, strengths and directions changing quickly and regularly affected by the Atlantic currents and the coastal conditions.

There are many reasons why you have to come and play the Machrie Golf Links, not least to discover why so many golfers find it a bewitching and exalting experience. Laid out in 1891 by pioneering designer Willie Campbell, and respected among golfing cognoscenti, The Machrie is now getting a wider name for itself as one of the world’s top links courses. At 6250 yards long, The Machrie course is short, but shouldn’t be underestimated. In the natural sand dunes lie untold troubles, and wind and weather of a wide variety can turn it into a wild challenge.

The King's Course at Gleneagles opened in 1919, is a masterpiece of design, which has tested the aristocracy of golf, both professional and amateur. James Braid's plan for the King's Course was to test even the best players' shot-making skills over the eighteen holes. Selecting the right club for each approach shot is the secret on the King's.

It is certainly one of the most beautiful and exhilarating places to play golf in the world, with the springy moor land turf underfoot, the sweeping views from the tees all around, the rock-faced mountains to the north, the green hills to the south, and the peaks of the Trossachs and Ben Vorlich on the western horizon. All the holes have evocative and pithy Scots names such as Het Girdle and Warslin Lea.

Boasting a spectacular layout, Loch Lomond offers a truly memorable round of golf. Opened in 2007 and designed by acclaimed golf course architect Doug Carrick, the course is situated just 25 minutes from Glasgow and nestled alongside Loch Lomond. Nine holes stick to classic Scottish Lowland along the banks of Loch Lomond, while the other nine make you climb to tackle Highland heath and tee off on sloping fairways. The course has various challenges such as the various lagoons situated around the course as well as having 118 bunkers.

The Highlands

For a wild, woolly, and totally traditional golfing experience, Royal Dornoch Golf Club has to be on the short list. Set in the picturesque Highlands an hour north of Inverness, the Club is regularly rated in the World’s top fifteen courses, which is testament to its commitment to provide players with a pure, old-fashioned straight-out and straight-back game with plenty of challenges.

In its 130-year history, the 18-hole Championship Course has hosted many national events, plus the British Amateur Championship, and is enjoyed by its 1700 members, hosts of international golf tourists and pros who go there to get in some links practice for Open events. Praise from Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson contributed to placing Royal Dornoch high on US visitors “must play” lists. The Club also has a second 18 - hole links, The Struie.

Nairn Golf Club’s truly remarkable feature is that from every hole you can see the Moray Firth and the golden colouring and changing lights of the Black Isle. Even more extraordinary – only too easily you can strike the ball into the sea on every one of the first seven! What delights the visitor and member alike is the Scottish-ness of the links. Other than in a strong westerly, it leads you in gently before demanding accurate driving and precision second shots. Gorse is a hazard.

The par 4 holes tease and confound and all four short holes are cunningly angled, with the 4th a little gem and the 14th simply spectacular. As three of the par 5 holes are over 530 yards long, it is a test for all. Yet, even more challenging than the humps and hollows that lurk in the fairways, is the trickery of the greens.

Brora Golf Club was established in 1891. In 1923 James Braid, five times Open champion and prolific designer of golf courses visited the course and redesigned the 18-hole layout which has stood the passing of time and remains a fair and challenging test of a true traditional links course. As with all seaside links there are some very special places throughout this course; the panorama of seascape and landscape from the second tee, the proximity of the sea to the 9th green and the beauty of the 13th green, one of the jewels in Braids crown.

Tarbatness, the 17th, so called because of the lighthouse which gives you the line and with the elevated tee, is one of the best driving holes in all of Scotland. Brora golf course represents all the attributes of a traditional Scottish Highland links, with a classic layout, an easy opening hole, and a short hole facing each cardinal point of the compass, you will have to adapt and manufacture according to whether the course is running fast or slow.

Useful Facts and Figures