The best golf courses in Scotland

The story of Scotland and golf is as old as the sport itself. Its here, in this overachieving nation, that the game was invented after all. It is, and always will remain, both golf's physical and mental home.

Countless articles, books and even documentaries have been devoted to this most hallowed of golfing destinations, and as such, there's very little to say about Scotland's great courses that hasn't already been opined on at length. But the fact remains that Scotland, renowned as it is for its ancient links courses and rugged coastal tracks remains the home of golf at its absolute purest.

With over 600 courses dotting the nation, it's also perhaps the richest nation on earth for golfing experiences in terms of sheer density. Many of these, of course, are among the oldest golf courses in the world. Starting any list of this nature is resoundingly tough as a result, with only the very finest of Scotland's abundance of courses making it on.

To present a true bucket list guide of courses in Scotland, we've put together an area-by-area list of Scottish Golf's true icons, as well as some newer up and coming courses that truly represent Scottish golf in all its historic majesty and diversity. We'll also be adding to this list periodically, so be sure to check back often.

The best golf courses in St Andrews & Fife

St Andrews (Old Course)

Location: St Andrews, Fife

Green fees (weekday): £355

Golf's inarguable spiritual home (and, of course, home to the R&A), St Andrews and The Old Course will forever reign supreme as the sport's most historic links.  Most lists should really feature an asterisk and the words 'without St Andrews'. It's almost impossible to compile a Scotland Top 10 and not have the Old Course on top of the tree. Some of it is almost nonsensical eg the tee shot on 17 but it all adds up to a remarkable experience from start to finish. 

While The Old Course has garnered and unwarranted reputation for being overly simplistic in a world where golf course architecture has become far more elaborate, St Andrews still has more than enough to keep you engaged beyond the sheer thrill of playing there.

The opening tee shot is one of the most iconic in golf, while double greens, short and reachable par 4s, the playability, the different angles, the out-and-back routing, the wind, the town in view all the way home and multiple famous bunkers make for a memorable full-18. The fact that it begins and ends on a shared fairway in the middle of the greatest golfing town on the planet also helps its case. 

You can pick holes in anything, but if you can cross the Swilcan bridge at the end of your round and not have enjoyed every single second, then you're missing something. 

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Kingsbarns

Location: Kingsbarns, Fife

Green fees (weekday): £486

If you’ve played Kingsbarns, there’s a very good chance that it’s in your top three and it will likely be your answer if asked where you’d like to play your final 18 holes.

This is as fun as golf gets, with sea views from everywhere and a whole host of holes to pick out as your number one. The par-5 3rd is pretty amazing, my personal favourite back-to-back holes would be 5 and 6 and then you have 12.

Here you have the most spectacular par 5 that runs around the coastline and, though you won’t find it in two, you’ll give it a go. Once upon a time I caddied in the Dunhill Links and one of the pros, Kurt Barnes from Australia, hit driver/1-iron for an eagle which is the best piece of single ball striking that you could witness.

The par-3 15th is spectacular, indeed all of it is. We’re lucky enough to get to see Kingsbarns once a year and, if you ever get the chance to play it, take it.  

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North Berwick

Location: North Berwick, East Lothian

Green fees (weekday): £320

Many will have this much higher up this list but that probably says more about the strength of these courses than any personal preference. The West Links is copied all over the world, none more so than the 15th Redan.

The course is on raised ground and therefore throws up some brilliant views and it’s often described as a version of the Old Course as it runs out and back away from the town.

The 13th, which features an ancient stone wall in front of the green, is another that is recognised around the world and then you have the 16th which has a swale running through the middle of it.

To finish you face a short par 4, with a lot of cars down the right-hand flank, and the perfect finale to a round that you will never struggle to relive. 

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The best golf courses in Edinburgh & Lothian

Muirfield

Location: Gullane, East Lothian

Green fees (weekday): £395

The home to 16 Opens and one of the great layouts in the world, Muirfield remains a golfers' golf course through and through and is generally interchangeable with the Old Course in conversations about the country's finest course. St Andrews, of course, has its claim as the home of golf, while Muirfield is widely cited as the place to come if you want to experience true links golf at its absolute best. 

Part of this comes down to the less conventional routing, with one nine running in a clockwise direction and the other anti-clockwise so there are plenty of wind directions to consider – no three holes follow the same direction at any point.

It's an easy statement to say that there are no weak holes but this is probably never true than in this corner of East Lothian. Personal favourites are the par4 14th and the better-known 5s at 9 and 17. 

There is, of course, plenty of history to soak up here as well. The club dates back to 1744 and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, now based at Muirfield, holds the claim of being the oldest verifiable organised golf club in the world. The winners at Muirfield Opens are maybe better than anywhere; in the modern era Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo (2), Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson are the most recent winners here. A quite ridiculous list of successive champions. 

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The best golf courses in North East Scotland

Carnoustie

Location: Carnoustie, Angus

Green fees (weekday): £360

Carnoustie is one of many courses you'll find on this list that may well be far older than it officially states. While the golf club we know was founded in 1839, there are records of golf being played somewhere in the town as early as 1527. The problem is that this likely didn't take place on the grounds where this world-renowned course now lies, but rather on the nearby Barry Links.

Home to one of the UK's greatest and most fearsome finishing holes, it was at Carnoustie, in the depths of the Barry Burn that snakes twice across its 18th, that Jean Van De Velde's Open Championship hopes famously evaporated in 1996. Countless other great rounds have met their doom here over nearly two centuries, and Carnoustie remains one of the world's most revered links as a result. 

The 6th, Hogan’s Alley, is the highlight of the front nine as burns, out of bounds and some brilliant bunkering all play their part in making it a fantastic test and it is more playable than many think if you play off the correct tees and the weather behaves itself.

But it is the finish where it moves to another level. The 15th is good enough but the last three are as good as anywhere; the 16th, Barry Burn, is a brute of a par 3 and where Sergio Garcia somehow hit the pin in his play-off with Padraig Harrington.

Then you have the 17th, which needs manufacturing between more burns and then one of the best finishing holes in golf. Don’t go left, bunkers right, the burn short, more out of bounds left and a huge bunker make this a brutal climax.

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Cruden Bay (Championship Course)

Location: Peterhead, Aberdeenshire

Green fees (weekday): £265 

Some might be surprised to see this rank so highly but, if you’ve been, hopefully you’ll nod sagely. It is quirky but it’s also a fantastic golfing experience – an old-fashioned links that sits 20 miles north of Aberdeen and part of a brilliant golfing region.

Huge dunes dominate the scenery in places and, if anywhere can be described as rugged, it’s here. The par-3 4th is rightly well photographed and is another of the world’s very best short holes and then you have 14.

The tee shot is played from a raised tee and then you have one of the all-time blind approaches to an almost rectangular green which is appropriately named ‘The Bathtub’. Try and think of anything like this and you might come up short. This is one of those great moments where you’re so pleased with yourself for making the trip here.

Then you have back-to-back par 3s before things return to something like normality on the last two holes.

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Royal Aberdeen

Location: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire

Green fees (weekday): £109-£265

Royal Aberdeen is the place to come if you want to enjoy some truly classic links golf with a coastal view, the Balgownie Course playing home to one of the most acclaimed opening nine holes anywhere in the game.

While Aberdeen has a reputation as one of the most rewarding links experiences in Scotland, it might also be one of the toughest, with endless tall grass to get lost in and challenging winds that only worsen as you approach the turn along the coast. Indeed, so many balls have been lost amid its abundance of fescue that the five-minute rule for searching for your ball was actually invented here.

Even so, with its gentle, undulating dunes and out-and-back links, it straddles the line between a traditional links experience and something altogether more scenic magnificently.

Trump International Golf Links Scotland (Old & New Course)

Location: Balmedie, Aberdeenshire

Green fees (weekday): £230-£560

The more affordable of the sitting President's two golf properties in Scotland, Trump International now spans two truly world-class courses that hug the Aberdeenshire coast. 

The Old Course, which opened six years after the property magnate acquired the course in 2006, is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular anywhere in the British Isles and easily one of the world's 100 best, comprising a coastal links that threads its way through towering dunes, many of which have been been a landmark of this stretch of coast dating back more than 4,000 years.

The Old Course was joined in 2025 by the aptly titled New Course, the two combining to form what Eric Trump hailed as the greatest 36 holes in world golf. That title remains very much up for debate, but there's no doubt that the scope of the golf his property provides is spectacular.

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The best golf courses in South-West Scotland

Trump Turnberry (Ailsa Course)

Location: Turnberry, Ayrshire

Green fees (weekday): £1000 (non-residents)

Turnberry was always something special – helped by hosting one of the best Majors ever when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus contested the Duel In The Sun in 1977 – but recent times (and a much-publicised change of owner) have seen the course moved to new levels. As such, the Ailsa now stands proudly as one of the most spectacular coastal links anywhere in the world – as well as the most expensive course in the world to play.

Martin Ebert oversaw the recent changes where greens have been brilliantly moved and the more eye-catching holes are now even more brilliant. The coastal holes are where Turnberry truly excels and you might be hard pressed to find a better run of links holes anywhere and the lighthouse now works as a halfway house.

Before the changes the 9th hole was always a strange one where the land didn't seem to fit the par 4, now we have a lengthy par 3 that is truly spectacular. Given what's just come before it, and what's to follow at 11 and 12, make an Open return, the owner aside, very eagerly anticipated.

Strangely we've only had four Opens at Turnberry (the crowds here are always the lowest of anywhere on the roster) but all four have been classics and now we have a course that, regardless of your thoughts on the new custodian, has improved immeasurably.

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Royal Troon

Location: Troon, Ayrshire

Green fees (weekday): £430

Just down the coast from Turnberry sits Royal Troon, which is every bit a match for its neighbour in terms of tournament heritage and the level of coastal links golf it provides. Six consecutive Americans won Opens here before Henrik Stenson got in the way of Phil Mickelson in one of the best weeks of golf ever played. The Swede somehow finished on -20, Mickelson was three back and then you had JB Holmes 16 adrift of Stenson in third.

Troon is criminally underrated and ranked in the Top 100s. The first six take you out in the same direction, then you have 7-12 and one of the great loops and the last six are straight back to the clubhouse with more undulating fairways and trickier greens.

The Postage Stamp 8th is short and very, very sweet with some horrific and brilliant bunkers ready to swallow up your wedge.

Then you have some nervy and dramatic tee shots at 10 and 11 along the railway line and the 17th is a brilliant penultimate hole at something like 240 yards off the back tees. This deserves more recognition and, along with Carnoustie’s 16th, is one of the true great long 3s.

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Prestwick

Location: Troon, Ayrshire

Green fees (weekday): £430

Revered by golfers as the birthplace of The Open Championship (indeed, the very first Open was held here all the way back in 1860). Prestwick these days enjoys a slightly different reputation among modern players. 

Prestwick hasn't hosted an Open since 1925, owing in large part to its rather remote location and compact size, but remains a stronghold of traditional, old-school links golf with an Old Tom Morris design widely hailed as one of his very best. 

The clubhouse underwent an extensive redevelopment in 2025 to modernise its facilities further for visitors, however the atmosphere at Prestwick remains distinctly old school. Think jackets and ties in the dining room.

Machrihanish

Location: Machrihanish, Campbeltown

Green fees (weekday): £430

Machrihanish has been a fixture of the Argyll & Bute coastline since 1876, but in recent years this magnificant seaside links has rapidly bloomed in stature. Talking to other journalists, you'd be surprised how often The Mach, as it's informally known, comes up in conversations around the best courses they've played in the country.

Golf at Machrihanish is as pure and unequivocally scottish as it comes, with rugged links winding their way through dunes buffeted by the North Atlantic winds. Morris described the land here as 'specifically designed by the almighty for playing golf' while Tom Doak wrote that it's the 'only course in Scotland that still seems just as raw and natural as the first time I was there 35 years ago'. 

The front of its three nines is widely regarded as one of the finest in golf, and Jack Nicklaus hailed its opening hole as the greatest on the planet.

It's also much more fairly priced than many other courses on this list, owing partly to its remote locale and lack of tournament history. But don't let either of those put you off: this is truly one of the most spectacular places to play golf anywhere in Scotland, and we wouldn't be surprised if it was spoken of as one of the nation's 10 very best in the years to come.

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The best golf courses in the Highlands & Islands

Royal Dornoch

Location: Dornoch, Highland

Green fees (weekday): £320

Make the pilgrimage to Royal Dornoch and you will be hugely rewarded for your efforts. Until last year when I played Royal County Down, this has been my favourite place to play golf anywhere.

The 1st and 18th are almost a bit ordinary in comparison to the rest of it but the other 16 holes are truly world class. A great piece on the 1st tee from the starter is to lay up on the par-3 2nd, then things truly open up as you walk round the corner to the 3rd tee. Then you point yourself to the far end, between the gorse, and enjoy the challenge.

My personal favourite run of holes comes at 3, 4 and 5 and, after the short 6th, you head to the higher ground and some rejigged new holes and, from the far end and the 9th tee, you head back home. 

The 14th 'Foxy' is generally regarded as a design masterpiece while 17 is a bit of a head-muncher with some players choosing to lay up to the higher ground.

A truly magical part of the world with Royal Dornoch the best part of it all.

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Cabot Highlands

Location: Dalcross, Highland

Green fees (weekday): £320

The Cabot collection now has a list of world-class courses spanning every hemisphere, but Cabot Highlands stands as one the luxury group's crowning achievement. The property spans a stretch of previously fairly baron coast along the Moray Firth, upon which the Castle Stuart Course offers a test of what it describes as '20th century links golf blended with contemporary playability. 

It opened officially in 2008, and has been widely hailed a triumph ever since, hosting numerous Scottish Opens and routinely challenging Dornoch for the mantle of the Highlands' most spectacular course.

Later this year, the Castle Stuart will be joined the newly opened Old Petty course when it opens for public, laid out by Tom Doak and already regarded among Scotland's 20 finest courses. Combined, they'll be sure sure to make for one of the great 36-hole golf experiences in Scottish golf.

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Loch Lomond

Location: 20 miles north of Glasgow

Green fees (weekday): Guest only

‘I consider Loch Lomond my lasting memorial to golf’ - Tom Weiskopf.

Loch Lomond is spoken of these days in reverent whispers. As it sounds, this Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design straddling the iconic loch north of Glasgow, the 'gateway to the Highlands, if you will' is spectacularly beautiful, one of the world's most pristinely manicured courses, and astonishingly exclusive.

Almost all the holes run away from the others and all pretty much make the most of the surrounds and backdrops. The 17th is often touted as the signature hole, a par 3 played over the wetlands, while the par-5 6th along the loch is another beauty.

There was a time when Loch Lomond was familiar to all of us, hosting the Scottish Open the week before The Open from 1996 to 2010, and Ernie Els would win twice here. 

Since then, however, Loch Lomond has become more private and revered as a haunt of the rich and famous, with joining fees widely cited at around the £100,000 mark. As such, unless you have particularly wealthy friends, tee time here is among the hardest in golf to acquire.

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Brora

Location: 20 miles north of Glasgow

Green fees (weekday): £80-£160

Brora was established in 1891 – it looks and feels a lot older than that – as initially a nine-hole course. Six years later that would become 18 and in 1910 there was the first redesign. But the course that we know now is the layout that James Braid put together in 1924. It would set the club back £25, plus his travelling expenses. 

If you've already made it to Brora, well done. If you haven't yet, then please try and rectify that. It takes a lot of getting to, sitting 20 miles north of Royal Dornoch, but there's plenty of brilliant golf in the area to make it highly worthwhile. Dornoch is the obvious attraction, and the most pricey, but you can very feasibly make Brora the highlight of any visit and add in others.

Brora is the type of course which you'll name as the type of place that you would happily play every day for the rest of your life. It's not long at 6,200 yards off the back tees, and there's been no push to look for any significant addition of yardage, but there is more than enough to keep your interest and test you. 

The front nine is the easier of the two, as you look to fade yourself into position, while there is more undulation on the back side. All of this fits into less than 200 acres.

This is somewhere that I've made my way to a couple of times over the years and, given its relatively approachable green fee by the standards of top Scottish courses, really is a magnificent accompaniment to whatever you are doing in the Highlands.