Scottish Golf Courses For Under £100
5 MIN READ
There are plenty anecdotal stories exchanged on the tee about playing golf in Scotland, and the value which some of the country’s best courses deliver to the visiting golfer. But what is the definition of value when it comes to planning an outing? Put simply, it needs to feel like you’ve had more fun for your green fee than you would have had if you’d spent it on something else at the same price. It’s a big ask, with lots of variables.
Thankfully, Scotland’s wealth of golf clubs offer a rich variety of options from which to pull together a package that will suit all budgets. A couple of rounds can be paired up with overnight accommodation to create some truly memorable experiences on quality courses. Sure, they may not be those Championship box-tickers, but they’ll give you every reason on the way home to congratulate yourself for making the trip.
Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC
If you’re inclined to seek out the magic of the Scottish Highlands, you can choose from a rich pocket of courses in and around Inverness. For a true links experience, choose from either the sea-surrounded peninsula of Fortrose & Rosemarkie with its local pod of dolphins, the sheep-nibbled ribbon of coastal dunes at Golspie with its three par-5s, or perhaps Old Tom Morris’ challenging course set amongst the old dunes at Tain. Mixing it up with a parkland course on your trip is always fun, and two courses within the Inverness city boundary will happily deliver: Braid’s immaculately presented course at Inverness Golf Club features water and bunkers in equal measure, a challenging tree-lined par-69 with views across to the mountainous north and south. Equally, The Kings Golf Club is a new 18-hole championship course with substantial practice facilities and has already been rated 12th in the north of Scotland.
Duff House Royal GC
Along the coast, consider pairing a lush, MacKenzie parkland experience (complete with its very own mansion on the banks of a river) at the glorious Duff House Royal course with a testing game amongst the ancient hillocks and dunes of the seventh oldest Club in the world at Fraserburgh: championship and history in two days of golf. Further south, options exist at Murrayshall Country Estate and Golf Club near Perth with its two stunning heath/parkland courses and onsite accommodation. From here it’s a very short journey to Pitlochry Golf Club, which rises and falls through pine- and birch-forested hillsides offering jaw-dropping views of the valleys and mountains stretching away on all sides. Alternatively, head over to the picturesque, and famously challenging, Blairgowrie Landsdowne, the sister course to the championship Rosemount. Each hole cleverly funnels you between high forest pines, birch and heather, quietly transporting you away from every other golfer on the course.
Options exist in the southwest too with the seaside par-69 Prestwick St Nicholas, founded by Old Tom and his friends in 1851 and famous for its formidable 18th hole. The 27 holes at nearby Kilmarnock Barassie are a good option for some testing links golf over a couple of days, and the traditional links qualifying course of The Irvine Golf Club found a few miles beyond retains much of Braid’s original designs.
Craigielaw Golf Club
Finally, the historic golfing coastline around Edinburgh offers the visiting golfer a great selection of quality courses with impeccable presentation. Furthest east lies Dunbar, a Morris/Braid course which squeezes itself between the sea’s low dunes and the ever-present 8ft high deer wall of a neighbouring ancient estate. A prevailing wind here will often send your ball into the sea, which is also the case on the links of Kilspindie, in Aberlady, further to the west. Looks easy on the card, but never out on the course and their traditional, welcoming clubhouse is the ideal spot to analyse your score afterwards. Across the bay from Aberlady lies Gullane’s No.2 course, which makes full use of the tricky slopes, tight fairways, and wind on the gently conical hill to sweep you to the coast and back to the town. Alternatively, try Craigielaw, a relative newcomer to the area and with old farm walls and deep rough defining tricky greens and a distracting view across to Fife.
If the definition of value is the sum of your experiences and memories, divided by the time spent collecting them, then these diamond destinations will definitely deliver the very best.
RATES WERE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PUBLISHING - OCTOBER 2022