Scotland’s Best Kept Secrets

These courses are not as famous as St. Andrews, but they retain their Scottish charm and appeal. Highly recommended if for the golfing connoisseur in Scotland.

  • Royal Dornoch: One of the best golf courses in the world, you don’t get the feeling that you are there to play golf – it is more like being in a quaint, seaside town. Sadly, it has never hosted an Open championship, although it hosted the British Amateur Championship 1985 and the Scottish Amateur Championship in 1993.
  • Kingsbarns: This is another 18-hole golf course with a great view of the sea. The course doesn’t look natural, because it isn’t – it was specially laid out as a links course in 2000, and the very next year, it was a co-host on the European Tour.
  • Loch Lomond: The world ‘loch’ in Scottish translates to lake in English, and you can indeed see the picturesque lake here. This course makes use of natural hazards like marshy areas and streams, and they are aplenty. It hosted the Scottish Open from 2001-10, and was a co-host on the European Tour for five years before that.
  • Machrihanish: The first hole here has been voted the best in the world, and the club’s tagline for it is ‘Tee off across the Atlantic’. There is a commanding view of the sea, and like with all seaside golf courses, golfers must deal with the sea breeze.
  • Western Gailes: It is sandwiched between the sea and railway line, but that is also what makes it all the more exciting. The challenge is exacerbated by a course that doesn’t look welcoming, to say the least. Apart from the winds, there can also be rain to deal with at times (the course was once almost washed away in 1926), but the biggest threat is that of a solitary train whistle breaking your concentration when you are least prepared. A true example of Scottish golf traditions at their finest, including not teeing on Sundays.
  • Prestwick: This course was the original host of The Open Championship, one of golf’s four major championships. Spectators turned up in large numbers for the championship, and with only a limited number of marshals to control them, the audience was so frequently hit with balls that the tournament was subsequently moved over to St. Andrews.
  • Nairn: The views of the sea are spectacular from every hole here. This is a must-visit for any golf enthusiast touring because of the distinct un-international feel to the course – it actually gives you the feeling that you are indeed teeing off in Scotland. It is not just the sea – you could bring a camera along with your golf accessories and random clicks alone will generate some awesome pictures. Voted one of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the British Isles.

If you would like to tee off at these courses, contact us. We can customize a golf tour to Scotland just for you. You will be chauffeured around in luxury vehicles, so that you can enjoy your trip to the fullest.

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