Golf was born in Scotland, and playing its great links is a pilgrimage for golfers everywhere. The game has been played on the sandy coastal land known as links for more than five hundred years. Scotland has hosted the Open Championship more than any other country.
Tee times on the famous courses are sought after, so book well ahead, and some operate a ballot. Many require a handicap certificate, and some have set days for visitors. For each course, we have included what makes it special and how to play it.
1. The Old Course, St Andrews
The Old Course at St Andrews, in Fife, is known around the world as the home of golf. Golf has been played here since at least the fifteenth century, and the course has hosted the Open Championship more times than any other. It is a public course, owned by a trust for the people of St Andrews.
The course is famous for its features, including the Swilcan Bridge, a small stone bridge over a burn on the eighteenth hole, where golfers pose for photographs. The seventeenth, known as the Road Hole, is one of the most famous and difficult holes in golf. Hell Bunker, on the fourteenth, has swallowed many a championship hope.
Behind the first tee stands the grand clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, one of the most famous buildings in golf. The town of St Andrews is full of golf shops, pubs and history. A golf museum beside the course tells the story of the game.
Tee times on the Old Course are partly allocated by a daily ballot, which you can enter a couple of days in advance. The course is usually closed on Sundays, when it becomes a public park for walkers. A handicap certificate is required.
2. Carnoustie, Angus
Carnoustie, on the coast of Angus north of Dundee, is often called the toughest course on the Open Championship rota. Its Championship Course has tested the best golfers in the world. It has earned the nickname Car-nasty.
The course is famous for its difficult finishing holes, where the Barry Burn, a winding stream, crosses the fairways. In 1999, the French golfer Jean van de Velde famously lost the Open at the last hole after finding the burn, one of the most dramatic moments in golf history. Golfers still dread the final stretch.
Carnoustie has hosted the Open many times, and it is a regular venue for other big events. It has a large hotel overlooking the eighteenth green. The town has several other courses.
Visitors can book tee times on the Championship Course, and a handicap certificate is required. The wind off the sea can make it even harder. It is about twenty minutes from Dundee.
3. Muirfield, East Lothian
Muirfield, in East Lothian on the coast east of Edinburgh, is the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. The club wrote one of the first sets of rules of golf in 1744. It is one of the most respected courses in the world.
Muirfield has hosted the Open Championship many times. Its layout is unusual, with two loops of nine holes, one running clockwise and the other anticlockwise, so the wind comes from every direction. Golfers praise it as one of the fairest tests of the game.
The club is known for its traditions. Visitors can play on set days of the week, and tee times must be booked well in advance. Dress codes and etiquette are strictly followed.
East Lothian has many other excellent courses, including those around Gullane and North Berwick, and it is known as Scotland’s golf coast. It is about forty minutes from Edinburgh. A golf trip here can include several courses.
4. Royal Troon, Ayrshire
Royal Troon, on the Ayrshire coast south west of Glasgow, is one of the great links courses of the Open Championship. It has hosted the Open many times. It is a classic links, with sand dunes, gorse and the sea alongside.
The course is famous for the Postage Stamp, its eighth hole, one of the shortest holes in championship golf. It is only around a hundred and twenty yards long, but its tiny green is surrounded by deep bunkers. Many great golfers have come to grief here.
The course also has some of the longest and toughest holes in the Open, especially when the wind blows. The views across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran are wonderful. The clubhouse is grand and welcoming.
Visitors can play on certain days, and tee times should be booked well ahead. Ayrshire has many other famous courses, including Prestwick, where the first Open was played in 1860. Glasgow Prestwick Airport is nearby.
5. Turnberry, Ayrshire
Turnberry, on the Ayrshire coast, is one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. Its Ailsa course runs along the coast past a lighthouse and the ruins of a castle linked with Robert the Bruce. Out to sea, the rocky island of Ailsa Craig rises from the water.
Ailsa Craig is famous as the source of the granite used to make curling stones. The views from the course across the sea to the island and to Arran are breathtaking. On a sunny day, it is a magical place to play.
Turnberry has hosted the Open Championship several times. In 1977, it was the scene of the famous Duel in the Sun, when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus fought out one of the greatest finishes in golf history. The hotel on the hill above the course is grand.
Turnberry has more than one course, and tee times should be booked ahead. It is about an hour and a quarter from Glasgow. Culzean Castle, a spectacular clifftop castle, is nearby.
6. Gleneagles, Perthshire
Gleneagles, in the Perthshire hills, is one of the most famous golf resorts in the world. It has three championship courses, set around a grand hotel that opened in 1924. Unlike the coastal links, its courses are set among moorland and hills.
The King’s and Queen’s courses were designed in the early twentieth century, and they are among the most beautiful inland courses in Britain. The PGA Centenary Course, a more modern course, hosted the Ryder Cup in 2014, one of the biggest events in golf. The views across the hills are wonderful.
The hotel has a spa, restaurants and activities such as falconry, shooting and riding. It is one of the grandest hotels in Scotland. It is a popular place for golf holidays.
Gleneagles is about an hour from Edinburgh and Glasgow, and it has its own railway station. It makes a good base for exploring Perthshire. Tee times are available to hotel guests and visitors.
7. Royal Dornoch, Sutherland
Royal Dornoch, in the town of Dornoch in Sutherland, in the far north of Scotland, is one of the most revered golf courses in the world. Golf has been played in Dornoch for more than four hundred years. Its remote location makes a visit feel like a pilgrimage.
The Championship Course is a classic links, running along the coast of the Dornoch Firth, with dunes, gorse and wonderful views. It is famous for its raised, domed greens, which are very hard to hit and hold. Many great golfers have praised it as one of their favourites.
Despite its reputation, Royal Dornoch has never hosted the Open, largely because of its remote location. That adds to its mystique. The course is in superb condition.
The town of Dornoch is small and pretty, with a cathedral and sandy beaches. It is about an hour north of Inverness. Tee times should be booked well ahead.
8. Kingsbarns, Fife
Kingsbarns, on the Fife coast a few miles from St Andrews, is a modern links course that opened in 2000. It was built on land beside the sea, shaped to look as if it had always been there. It has quickly become one of the most admired courses in the world.
The course was designed so that the sea is in view from every hole. Several holes run right along the rocky shoreline. On a sunny day, it is spectacular.
Kingsbarns is one of the venues of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a professional tournament also played at the Old Course and Carnoustie. It is a favourite with visiting golfers. The clubhouse is welcoming.
Tee times at Kingsbarns are in high demand and should be booked well ahead. It is easy to combine with a round on the Old Course. The pretty fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife are nearby.
Getting the clubs there
Golf bags count as luggage when you book, and only cars that fit them are offered. An estate or a people carrier takes a four ball and their bags comfortably. For a golf trip with several courses, keep the car by the hour and let the driver wait while you play.
For a longer golf tour, you can book each journey between courses and hotels at a fixed price, so the whole trip is planned before you arrive.
Ride with ZeroLanes. A car booked ahead, at a price fixed before you confirm, with the driver and the car on your journey page before pickup. Book a car by the hour.