Golfing in the Highlands & Islands

What are the things that make life worth living? Each of us would come up with a different answer. But for many, the list would include fresh air, beautiful views, excitement and companionship – all of which are part of golf’s special appeal.

In Scotland, where the game was born, there are more than 550 courses, making this the best-provided country in the world for a sport whose popularity goes on growing year by year.

The variety is endless. Landscapes range from the lush parkland of the Carrick course on the banks of Loch Lomond to the windswept links of North Berwick in East Lothian. Many courses are municipal marvels open to anyone with a few clubs and a ten pound note, while the Skibo Castle course in Sutherland is only for members of the Carnegie Club, who pay £7,660 a year after their £24,000 joining fee. Accessibility varies, too, from the many suburban courses that fringe our cities to outposts such as the rugged nine-holer on North Ronaldsay, Orkney, or the even more remote six holes on Fair Isle.

Now, as never before, golf in Scotland is front page news. Rarely does a week go by without another scene in the drawn-out drama of Donald Trump’s £750m battle to develop the world’s greatest golf resort at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire. It has everything – the clash of corporate power and the resourceful individuals who find themselves in the way and feel disinclined to move, the classic jobs v conservation debate, and at the back of many a weekend golfer’s mind, one question: just how amazing is this course going to be?

In 2014, the magic of the Ryder Cup, with its unique blend of camaraderie and intense transatlantic rivalry, comes to Gleneagles – the venue where it all began with an informal Britain versus America competition in 1921. But that, along with Mr Trump’s bold vision, is for the future. Right now, thoughts are focused on an exciting new course just a lusty blow with a two-iron from Inverness Airport.

Castle Stuart Golf Links was unveiled in January as the venue for this year’s Barclays Scottish Open. The competition, which attracts many of golf’s biggest names, has been held at Loch Lomond for the past 15 years, so the decision was a massive tribute to the quality on offer beside the Moray Firth at a course that only opened in 2009.

What better time, then, to take a whimsical wander across a selection of Scotland’s golf courses? To include all those deserving a mention would take up the whole magazine – so if your own favourite is not here, worry not. We’ll return to the subject before too long.

Northern delights

If you’re planning a trip to see the Barclays Scottish Open, there are some fine courses within easy reach of Inverness that you might care to try yourself while you’re in the area.

Royal Dornoch championship course, opened in 1877, is the third oldest in the world after St Andrews and Leith (now a public park). It offers links golf at its most delightful, especially in early summer when the gorse is in flower and the sun glints off the Dornoch Firth, just the other side of the endless white sandy beach. Golfers with a love of history will like the fourth tee, where you line up your drive with the giant hilltop statue of the Duke of Sutherland, the landowner most associated with the infamous Highland Clearances.

To feel the wind in your hair, try Brora golf club, just 20 miles further north. Founded in 1891, the course is a lot more demanding than its 6,110 yards might suggest. With no dunes between you and the North Sea, expect blustery conditions.

If you prefer somewhere with a newer feel, the Loch Ness golf course, opened in 1996, puts the emphasis on informality and relaxation. The 18-hole course, at 5,900 yards, is shorter than many and offers the weekend golfer the chance of a decent score amid great views over Inverness and the Moray Firth. Youngsters or occasional golfers may prefer the nine-hole course or even a session at the driving range. Chances of being asked to put on a tie in the bar: nil.

Players who feel at home with the sand wedge should head for Nairn golf club, a spectacular links course on the Moray Firth. There is an unusual profusion of bunkers here, as well as raised greens, narrow fairways and heathery rough.

Island gems

There’s something appealing about playing golf on an island, certainly from the visitor’s point of view: you may be surrounded by sea, but the pleasures of the mainland carry on.

The Western Isles boast five courses, and many a holidaymaker has risen to the challenge of playing them all. The flat Benbecula golf course has nine holes but 18 tees, so that you can play a full round without repeating yourself entirely. The Isle of Barra golf course, another nine-holer, has a lovely undulating machair surface and a special claim to fame: it’s the UK’s most westerly course – and yes, that does include Northern Ireland. Nine holes is all you get at the Isle of Harris golf course, too, but they are magnificent: overlooking the Sound of Taransay and the awesome Scarista beach. There’s even a brand new clubhouse.

Askernish golf course, on South Uist, has had a chequered history since its foundation in 1891. It was laid out by the legendary Old Tom Morris, but fell into disuse and was turned over to crofting before becoming an airfield in the 1930s. Golf made more than one comeback but the course’s revival really took off in the last few years and it now has many ardent fans, not least among them honorary president Kenny Dalglish.

On Lewis, Stornoway golf course offers fine parkland golf in the grounds of Lews Castle, with great views of the harbour and across the Minch. With a less rustic feel than the other Western Isles courses, it has regular competitions and a lively clubhouse.

Few would call the Northern Isles a stronghold of golf, but there are plenty of opportunities to play there – and, in summer, very long days in which to do so. Orkney has six options, ranging from the well-established course overlooking Kirkwall, with its modern clubhouse, to the rugged nine holes of North Ronaldsay. Given that the island’s population is only 60, golf provision there is perhaps the most generous in the UK.

Shetland, likewise, is no golfing desert, with three courses including one on Whalsay, Britain’s most northerly. No mere curio to be ticked off by golfing map buffs, this is a serious course with wonderful views often populated by a wealth of wildlife.

No look at island golf in Scotland would be complete without a mention of the Machrie course on Islay. A superb links course alongside the glorious expanse of Laggan Bay, it has few bunkers but trickily positioned greens. Attached to the splendid Machrie Hotel and right beside Islay Airport, it is ideal for a short trip.

Western wonders

Machrihanish, on the Kintyre peninsula close to Campbeltown Airport, is renowned for its spectacular layout and the first hole in particular, calling for a daring drive across the beach, rightly appears in no end of “greatest holes in golf” articles.

Only the very finest courses get to host the Open, and Royal Troon is right up there in the world’s top drawer. Legends including Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson have triumphed there, and the most recent Troon winner was Todd Hamilton in 2004. As well as the very challenging Old Course, there’s the more sheltered Portland course and a nine-holer for junior players.

Southerness, a classic natural links course hidden amid the flatlands of the Solway Firth, is a joy to play. But be warned: errant drivers will be punished amid the gorse and heather, and the greens are well defended.

Eastern treasures

Angus and Fife contain perhaps the densest concentration of great golf courses anywhere. Carnoustie’s championship course, considered by many to be Britain’s toughest, will always be remembered for Jean Van de Velde’s wince-inducing paddle in the Barry Burn at the 1999 Open, when he saw his dream of victory disappear and the prize go instead to Paul Lawrie, the last Scot to win. See if you can clear the burn yourself.

The medal course at neighbouring Montrose Links, with its unusual T-shaped layout, is an ancient and attractive venue for a sport first recorded here in 1562.

St Andrews has all but made “the home of golf” part of its official name. And the Old Course, with its glorious history, scenic charm and massive double greens, lives up to the label. It is owned, like the town’s other six courses, by a charitable trust, and getting a tee time is not as difficult as you might assume.

On the strength of the town’s global reknown, some of the country’s finest modern golfing developments have sprung up in the surrounding countryside.

Kingsbarns, which along with the Old Course and Carnoustie, each year welcomes stars galore for the Alfred Dunhill pro-am championship. Last year’s hopefuls included Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Hugh Grant and Samuel L Jackson.

Golf on the map

You can view a google map listing many of the golf courses mentioned above here:

View Scottish Golf Courses in a larger map

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