Golf has been played in Scotland for more than four centuries, and the links, a course of dunes and fescue laid between land and sea, remains its benchmark. East of Edinburgh, East Lothian lines up some ten miles of coast with Muirfield, host of sixteen Open Championships, Gullane, North Berwick and Craigielaw; further north, Angus has Carnoustie, an eight-time Open venue, and its neighbour Panmure. Around Inverness, at the gateway to the Highlands, Castle Stuart and Nairn run along the Moray Firth, and Royal Dornoch makes a day trip.
Inland, Perthshire changes register with heathland courses framed by heather, from the King's Course at Gleneagles, designed by James Braid, to Blairgowrie. The season runs from May to September, with very long days around June. Wind is part of the game whatever the month; April and October remain playable, quieter but cooler. We arrange tailor-made trips there: reserved tee times, chauffeured transfers, carefully chosen hotels and tables for the evening.
Angus, on the east coast of Scotland between Dundee and Montrose, gathers a run of historic links around Carnoustie: the Championship Course, which has hosted the Open eight times, Panmure, where Ben Hogan prepared before his 1953 victory, then Monifieth and Montrose. Golfers come for demanding, authentic seaside golf, away from the crowds of St Andrews. The best season runs from May to September.
Edinburgh is the base for the East Lothian links, strung along the Firth of Forth 35 to 45 minutes' drive east of the city: Muirfield, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and sixteen times host of the Open, Gullane No.1, North Berwick's West Links and Craigielaw. Golfers come to play great links by day and enjoy a city of stone by night. The best season runs from May to September.
Inverness, capital of the Highlands at the head of the Moray Firth, is the base for three first-rate links within half an hour: Cabot Highlands, with Castle Stuart (Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen, 2009) and Tom Doak's Old Petty, and the Championship course at Nairn, founded in 1887. Royal Dornoch makes a day trip, about an hour to the north. The best season runs from May to September.
Perthshire, in central Scotland an hour from Edinburgh, brings together three great heathland courses: James Braid's King's Course and Jack Nicklaus's PGA Centenary at Gleneagles, and Blairgowrie Rosemount, laid out by Alister MacKenzie and reworked by Braid. Golfers come for heather-and-pine golf sheltered from the links wind, for a two-Michelin-star restaurant, old inns and the whisky. The best season runs from May to September.
