Course Guide
Our Courses in 2025
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: June 15 - 22, 2025 The Highlands – Coming Home: June 28 – July 5, 2025
Scotland's Top Courses
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: Dumbarnie I Crail I Elie I Eden I Castle The Highlands: Royal Dornoch I Nairn I Cruden Bay I Forres I Boat of Garten
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: Dumbarnie
#17 – Top 100 Best Courses in Scotland
At first glance Dumbarnie Links may have the appearance of the style of the classic links courses where The Open Championship has been played since 1860. However, theextensive 345-acre site at Dumbarnie is particularly special.
Its dual elevations, which are connected by a flowing escarpment, have provided the opportunity to create a number of elevated tees where holes play directly towards panoramic views of th expansive Firth of Forth. A further outstanding feature is that a number of tees and greens are in close proximity to the water.
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: Eden
# 79 – The 100 Best Golf Courses in Scotland
In 1914, the Eden was built in response to a turn-of-the-century golf boom that put pressure on the three St. Andrews courses then in play. The town leased a stretch of linksland smack beside the Old Course and commissioned an R&A member and fine golfer—Harry Colt—who had established impressive credentials with his work at Sunningdale and Swinley Forest in England and as advisor to George Crump in the creation of Pine Valley.
Colt took full advantage of what he was given, using every ravine, rise, and rumple to craft a series of beguiling, sometimes quirky holes, and in short time the Eden became a favorite of locals and visitors alike.
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: St. Andrews – The Castle Course
#29 - Top 100 Best Golf Courses in the Scotland
At 6,759 yards and par 71, the Castle Course is the seventh course in the St Andrews Links family. Opened in 2008 by HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the Castle Course sits on a rugged cliff top and delivers spectacular views across the North Sea, Angus coast and spectacular Grampian mountain range.
And it delivers an exceptional golfing experience. If you’re up for a tricky challenge, it’s perfect – Today’s Golfer magazine nominated the 17th hole Britain’s most spectacular par 3. Laid out on a cliff top with more than a mile of waterfront overlooking the town, the Castle was constructed by David McLay Kidd and his DMK design company.
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: Elie
#27 Golf Digest Top 100 Golf Courses in Scotland
Elie is one of the most highly regarded courses in Scotland and the historic links terrain effortlessly combines undulating fairways with large, fast, and firm greens.
It also has some sensational views for golfers to enjoy and these play an important part in creating what is one of the most wonderful golfing experiences not just in Fife, but also in Scotland.
At 6,273 yards the course is not long, but its bunkers are beautifully placed to catch those that stray offline or misjudge their distances. This can be all too easy to do, especially as the prevailing south westerly breeze slackens or stiffens during the course of a round.
Fife – Golf in the Kingdom: Crail
# 34 – Golf Digest The 100 Best Golf Courses in Scotland
Balcomie Links is one of the best-kept secrets in golf, the world’s seventh-oldest golfing club, the favorite of a host of golfers, with a loyal and devoted following. Expect an unusual golf course, a seriously testing game, a roaring gale much of the time, and plenty of terrifyingly tricky tees.
When you walk the splendid Crail Balcomie links, you’re following in the footsteps of thousands of golfers over the last two centuries. Balcomie is a beautiful course, not too long yet full of interest with magnificent views of the sea from every tee. This course is the setting for ‘Golf in the Kingdom’ by Michael Murphy.
The Highlands – Royal Dornoch
# 2 – 100 Best Courses in Scotland # 2 – Golf Digest Top 100 Golf Courses in the World
Royal Dornoch, designed by Old Tom Morris, was formed in 1877 and has been a Royal club for more than 100 years. The course has been the site of the Northern Open, the Scottish Ladies and the Scottish Professional Championships. If a course this good was in an accessible area that could handle the multitudes, Royal Dornoch would undoubtedly be in the British Open rotation and be mentioned (even) more frequently among the likes of Turnberry’s Ailsa course, St. Andrews and Carnoustie.
Winding along sinuous sandy shores and among the dunes behind, the fast-running course features humps, hollows, pot bunkers and gorse of a true links test, sandwiched between the sea and purple heather-clad mountains.
This is arguably the most beloved course of our Fairway to Heaven golfers.
The Highlands – Nairn
#17 – The 18 Best Golf Courses in Scotland - GOLF magazine #20 - Top 100 Golf Courses in Scotland
Nestling on the shores of the Moray Firth, this Traditional Scottish Golf Links Course was created from a Highland wilderness of gorse and heather, and tests the talents of professional and amateur alike. Founded in 1887, it is now one of the best courses in Scotland and has hosted a large number of important championships. The Nairn Golf Club’s truly remarkable feature is that from every hole you can see the Moray Firth and the golden coloring and changing lights of the Black Isle.
Home to both the Curtis Cup in 2013 and the Walker Cup in 1999, which has been played at the finest venues in the world including Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Portmarnock, Brookline, and St. Andrews.
The Highlands – Cruden Bay
# 11 – Top 100 Golf Courses in Scotland #21 – Golf Digest 100 Greatest Courses in the World
Cruden Bay is an inspirational golf course, regarded by some as quirky and considered by others as a masterpiece. Either way, this is a thrilling place to play golf because the designers used the original lie of the land to fantastic effect.
Rugged linksland, pebble dashed with sand dunes as high as three-story buildings. Elevated tees cut high into the dunes, humped and hollowed fairways bumping their way along to punchbowl greens, nestling in attractive dells. And all set against the backdrop of the steely North Sea.
The Highlands – Boat of Garten
# 37 – The 100 Best Golf Courses in Scotland
Dubbed “the Gleneagles of the North”, this picturesque championship golf course is one of the best-known courses in the Scottish Highlands. Boat of Garten Golf Club was founded in 1898 and designed by one of the grand masters of golf course architecture, James Braid. He created 18 individual holes winding their way through birch trees, heather, and whins. He maximized the natural landscape to produce a beautiful and challenging course – not the longest by modern standards but it lures in the unwary.
“The Boat” is not only renowned as a demanding test of sporting skill but also a magnificent setting for the game. Always superbly presented, The Boat is renowned as a sporting test of skill and sets a most enjoyable challenge which only the most accurate golfer will match. Varied . . . and never, ever dull.
The Highlands – Forres
Back to Our Roots . . .
The home of Fairway to Heaven, the Forres golf course was designed by Open Championship winners James Braid and Willie Park. This delightful Par 70 course is just less than 6300 yards from the tips providing a good test for golfers of all abilities.
The course is full of memorable holes; none more so than the 16th, aptly named ‘Pond’. This is a spectacular hole where a watery grave awaits errant tee shots.
Forres Golf Course has hosted the Scottish Professional Championship, the Northern Open, Scottish Young Professionals Championships and The Scottish Woman’s County Finals – a testimony to its quality.
Well known for its spectacular views over Findhorn Bay and the Moray Firth, Forres Golf Course is always beautifully maintained and a joy to play.