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Table of Contents
- Hazlehead, Aberdeen - from £31.50
- Balnagask Links, Aberdeen - from £31.50
- Dunaverty, Kintyre - from £25
- Darley at Troon - from £40
- The Strathyrum, St Andrews - from £43 (winter)
- Nine-hole courses: the lifeblood of Scottish golf
- Dressing well costs the same everywhere
There is a widely held belief, particularly among visiting golfers, that playing great golf in Scotland requires a great budget. The Old Course, Royal Dornoch, Muirfield: these are superb courses, and their green fees reflect it. But the truth about Scottish golf is that there is no reliable correlation between the price of a round and the quality of the experience. Some of the most memorable days on a golf course cost less than a decent bottle of whisky.
Scotland has over 550 golf courses. Of the 247 true links courses in the world, 85 are here. And a significant number of them charge green fees that would barely cover a sleeve of Pro V1s south of the border. Here are courses that prove the point.
Hazlehead, Aberdeen - from £31.50
Tucked into the western edge of Aberdeen, Hazlehead (pictured above) is a course that most visitors have never heard of and most locals take for granted. It was designed by Alister MacKenzie, the same architect responsible for Augusta National and Royal Melbourne. MacKenzie laid out the course in 1927, and while it has evolved since, the strategic principles remain: thoughtful bunkering, green complexes that reward the right approach angle, and a routing that uses the natural terrain rather than fighting it.
The course is run by the local authority through Sport Aberdeen. The green fee is £31.50. That is an Alister MacKenzie design, maintained to a good standard, for the price of lunch.
Balnagask Links, Aberdeen - from £31.50
A ten-minute drive from Hazlehead, Balnagask occupies a spit of land jutting into the North Sea at the mouth of Aberdeen Harbour. It is one of the 247 true links courses recognised by the Links Association, and it plays like one: firm fairways, coastal wind, genuine links turf. The views across to the harbour and the open sea are striking.
Also run by Sport Aberdeen, also £31.50. On a clear day, with the wind up and the greens running true, this is a round that can stand alongside courses charging five or six times the price. The last time Dave Kerr, a St Andrews-based golf tour operator, played there, he described the greens as being among the truest he had played all year.
Balnagask Golf Course, Aberdeen - Sport Aberdeen
Dunaverty, Kintyre - from £25
At the southern tip of the Kintyre Peninsula, Dunaverty sits in one of the most dramatic settings in Scottish golf. The course overlooks the sea towards Ireland, with Sanda Island and the Mull of Kintyre as a backdrop. It is the kind of place that makes you stop and stare before remembering you have a shot to play.
Jim Hartsell, an Alabama-based architect who has made seven trips to Scotland and played 82 courses, discovered Dunaverty on his first visit. The gentleman at his accommodation told him to drive over and play one afternoon. The green fee was £5. Hartsell has been back on every trip since. The fee has risen, but it remains one of the most affordable rounds of genuine links-style golf in Scotland, and one of the most beautiful.
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Dunaverty Golf Club, Southend, Scotland
Darley at Troon - from £40
Sitting in the shadow of Royal Troon and the Portland Course, the Darley course at Troon is one of Scotland’s most underrated. It is a municipal course, open to all, and it occupies links terrain that would cost several hundred pounds to play a few hundred yards further along the coast. The views are identical. The turf is the same. The wind does not discriminate by green fee.
At around £40, it is a fraction of the price of its famous neighbour and provides an excellent warm-up round for golfers who are playing the Open venues in Ayrshire.
The Strathyrum, St Andrews - from £43 (winter)
Most visiting golfers come to St Andrews for the Old Course. Those who stay longer discover that the seven courses managed by the Links Trust include several that are outstanding in their own right. The Strathtyrum, a shorter and more accessible layout, consistently ranks in visitors’ top two or three experiences. It sits on the same linksland, enjoys the same views, and in winter costs less than £50. The Jubilee, widely regarded as a favourite among locals, is similarly affordable outside peak season.
Nine-hole courses: the lifeblood of Scottish golf
One in five Scottish golf courses is a nine-hole layout. Since changes to the World Handicap System, nine-hole scores now count towards a handicap, which has given these courses renewed competitive relevance. But their real value has always been elsewhere: they are the courses where communities come together, where children learn the game, and where a round of golf fits into a weekday evening after work.
Courses like Shiskine on Arran (twelve holes, with views across to Ailsa Craig), the Isle of Skye Golf Course (nine holes overlooking the ferry and the Cuillin), and Colonsay (an honesty box and sheep for company) offer golf experiences that money genuinely cannot buy at grander establishments. Green fees are typically £10 to £25.
Dressing well costs the same everywhere
One of the quiet pleasures of playing these courses is that the dress code, while less formally policed than at championship venues, still rewards thoughtful dressing. A well-fitted golf shirt, a merino sweater, and a pair of tailored golf trousers look just as good on the first tee at Dunaverty as they do at the Old Course. Quality golf clothing is not reserved for expensive rounds. If anything, it matters more at an unfamiliar club, where first impressions are all you have.
