Britain & Ireland

Scotland

Ayrshire & Arran

Turnberry was the last venue to be added to the Open Championship rotation. It may have hosted only four Opens but it has become a firm favourite.

The Ailsa course at the Turnberry Resort is probably the most scenic Open Championship golf course. Situated on a craggy headland overlooking the small granite island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde, with superb views across to the Mull of Kintyre and the Isle of Arran, the course is located in an ideal spot for playing golf.

Turnberry Golf Club was established in 1902 and Willie Fernie of Troon was commissioned by the third Marquess of Ailsa to lay out a championship length course on part of the former Culzean Estate. In 1906, the Turnberry Hotel opened and, in those days, there was even an impressive covered link-way which connected the hotel to the railway station. Wealthy Edwardian guests would not arrive at this hotel wet and bedraggled.

At this time, a 9-hole ladies course and an improved 18-hole course was laid out by A. N. Weir (former head professional at 

) for the Glasgow & South Western Railway Company, but three years later, in 1909, the ladies course had disappeared, replaced with holes 1 to 4 of Mr Weir’s new No.1 course. This layout changed its name to the Ailsa in 1926 and a redesign by Major Cecil Hutchison was completed in 1938, when he combined the old 6th and 7th and introduced the famous par three 15th hole.

Turnberry twice came close to extinction; it was requisitioned during both World Wars and used as an airbase. During the Second World War, a number of holes were flattened and turned into expansive concrete runways. It was the tenacity of the then owners that saved the course. Philip Mackenzie Ross was given the task of returning the flattened land back to its former glory. It was a huge task, but in 1951, after two years of intensive work, the links reopened.

Mackenzie Ross did a great job; the highest compliment being paid when, in 1977, the Ailsa course hosted its first Open. The 1977 Open was a classic, notorious for the famous battle between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Watson hit an amazing 65 in the last two rounds to beat Nicklaus by one shot. To commemorate this incredible head-to-head tussle, the 18th hole has been renamed the Duel in the Sun.

In the 1986 Open, Greg Norman had an amazing second round in windy conditions. He went out in 32, despite two bogies and had a putt on the 18th for a back nine score of 29. Unfortunately he three-putted, but his round of 63 is still considered to be one of the very best in Open Championship history. He went on to win by five clear shots. The Open returned to Turnberry in 1994 and the Claret Jug was claimed by Nick Price.

The Ailsa course underwent a number of changes under the watchful eyes of design team Mackenzie & Ebert ahead of the 2009 Open Championship. Extensive alterations were made to the 10th, 16th and 17th holes with tweaks made to several other holes. 

The 2009 Open Championship was perhaps one of the most exciting events in modern-day history. The whole world focused on 59-year-old Tom Watson who led going into the final round. Watson required a par four on the 72nd hole to win the Open but sadly he couldn’t get up and down from just off the green and made bogey. Watson went on to lose the 4-hole play-off with fellow American Stewart Cink who gladly claimed his first Major title.

Essentially, the Ailsa’s an out and back layout with the prevailing wind usually at your back for the outward nine. The stretch of holes from the 4th to the 11th is thrilling and the scenery breathtaking. The par three 9th begins a genuinely world-class sequence of three holes laid out along the water’s edge where the tee shot at #9 plays across the bay at Turnberry Point to a green beside the lighthouse which serves as a fabulous halfway house grill.

The last four holes are as demanding as you will find anywhere, beginning at the short 15th, which falls away sharply to the right of the green. Wilson’s Burn winds round the front of the next hole, catching anything short of the putting surface, and it's followed by a remodelled par four that replaces the former long, narrow par five hole. The hotel then forms an imposing backdrop to the 18th hole—renamed "Duel in the Sun"—where many a dramatic moment has unfolded in Open championships.

Architect Martin Ebert returned to Turnberry in 2015 to conduct a major update to the Ailsa course: 

The Ailsa course undergoes a major facelift

. Every single hole was upgraded to some degree, primarily involving greens and bunkers. The result of this work has since been met with universal approval, elevating the Ailsa’s already high profile to an entirely different level.

It’s never an easy proposition to play second fiddle to a layout ranked near the summit of the World Top 100, but the new 

 course (formerly known as the Arran and later renamed the Kintyre) re-opened for play in June 2017 after a multi-million pound renovation and it does very well in supporting the illustrious Ailsa at Trump Turnberry.

Trump Turnberry (Ailsa)

The Ailsa course at the Turnberry Resort is probably the most scenic Open Championship golf course. Located right next to the Firth of Clyde, with craggy rocks and superb views across to the Mull of Kintyre...

Eight times an Open Championship venue, Royal Troon was the fifth Scottish course after 

Troon was founded in 1878 as a five-hole golf course following a meeting in the local pub by a group of golf enthusiasts. It was Charlie Hunter, Keeper of the Green at 

, who laid out the original course and a few of his greens are still in play today. George Strath, Troon's first professional, later extended the course to twelve holes and then to eighteen by 1884. Willie Fernie and James Braid later modified and lengthened the layout. In 1923, Royal Troon Golf Club hosted its first Open and finally moved out of the shadow of its famous neighbour, Prestwick. (By 1923, Prestwick had already hosted 23 Open Championships).

"The course at Troon is perhaps a little overshadowed by its more famous neighbour," wrote Bernard Darwin in his 1910 book, 

, "but it is a very fine course nevertheless, especially since it has been lengthened of late years. It has, moreover, one of the finest short holes to be found anywhere."

In 1978, Troon’s centenary year, royal patronage was bestowed. Royal Troon Golf Club remains the first (and last) club in Great Britain to have been granted Royal status under the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Royal Troon is a traditional out and back links course. The opening few holes are relatively gentle, with a series of short par fours running along the Firth of Clyde. It’s from these early holes that you get the chance to soak up the views. On a clear day, you can see the distant Ailsa Craig in the south, and to the west, the majestic mountains on the Isle of Arran.

The course measures 7,208 yards from the championship tips but line is more important than distance from the tee. Bunkers are everywhere, the majority of which are not visible from the tees. There’s plenty of deep rough and a smattering of gorse and broom to punish the wayward shot. Make your score on the outward nine holes; the inward holes are severe, often playing into the prevailing northwesterly wind. The stretch of holes from the 7th to the 13th provides an interesting and varied challenge.

The 6th is the longest par five in Open Championship golf and the 8th the “Postage Stamp” is the shortest par three on the Open circuit (123 yards). The name stuck after Willie Park referred to the hole in an article for 

: “a pitching surface skimmed down to the size of a postage stamp”. It was here, in the 1973 Open, at the age of 71, Gene Sarazen holed out in one. The following day, he holed his bunker shot for a two at the same hole. It was an amazing return for Sarazen, who had played in Troon’s inaugural Open in 1923.

The 11th is a brutal 490-yard par four for the pros and was rated the most difficult hole of the 1997 Open Championship – out-of-bounds and the railway line runs along the right hand side.

Mackenzie & Ebert made minor adjustments to every hole for The 145th Open in 2016, along with more major changes to the 9th, 10th and 15th holes. A backdrop of trees behind the 9th green was replaced with dunes, the former bunker in the carry of the 10th was restored, and both tees and early portion of the 15th fairway were moved to the left of the 14th hole, reinstating the old line of the hole.


The Open Championship returns to Royal Troon in 2024, just over 100 years since Arthur Havers lifted the Claret Jug at Troon for the first time.

Royal Troon (Old)

Royal Troon is a traditional out and back links course. On a clear day, you can see the distant Ailsa Craig in the south, and to the west, the majestic mountains on the Isle of Arran.

Prestwick Golf Club hosted its 24th and last Open Championship in 1925. Only 

 has hosted more Open Championships than Prestwick.

In 1851, a 12-hole course was founded at Prestwick Golf Club with Old Tom Morris as “Keeper of the Green”. Nine years later in 1860, the British Open Championship was born and didn’t move away from Prestwick until it went to 

 in 1873. The Open has been hosted here no fewer than 24 times, although the most recent championship was held in 1925. St Andrews is the only venue to have hosted more Opens than Prestwick and obviously the Old Course is still on the Open circuit.

The first eleven Opens were contested for a red Moroccan belt, which was won outright by Young Tom Morris after he successfully won three consecutive titles between 1868 and 1870. There was no Open Championship in 1871 because there was no trophy to play for until the Claret Jug was purchased for £30 and offered for annual competition in 1872. Ironically Young Tom Morris was the first winner of the Claret Jug. Six more holes were added to Prestwick’s original 12-hole layout in 1883.

The course is a traditional monument, an authentic affair with a layout of holes that snake to and fro through rugged dunes and rippled fairways. There are numerous blind holes and cavernous sleepered bunkers with wooden steps to take you down to the bottom. The greens are notoriously firm and fast – some are hidden in hollows whilst others are perched on raised plateaux. The majority are quite small and all of them have wicked borrows to negotiate.

One of Prestwick’s great strengths is the quality and variety of the holes. The 1st is one of the most intimidating holes in golf, a par four called “Railway”. The railway tracks run all the way down the right-hand side of the hole, waiting to gobble up a right-hander’s slice. The 3rd is a short par five (stroke index 1) called “Cardinal” and is famous for its deep, deep bunker, propped up by railway sleepers. The 5th is a blind par three called “Himalayas” – your tee shot must carry over a huge sand dune.

Perhaps Prestwick's most famous hole, which C.B. Macdonald replicated at the 

, which Darwin described as; "The most spectacular blind hole in all the world."

There are so many great things to say about Prestwick. The best thing to do is to play the course and judge it for yourself. Every student of golf course architecture simply has to tick this one off their list.

Bernard Darwin brought Prestwick to a close much better than we ever could in his book, 

: “So ends Prestwick, and what a jolly course it is, to be sure!”

Prestwick

The course at Prestwick Golf Club is a traditional monument, an authentic affair with a layout of holes that snake to and fro through rugged dunes and rippled fairways.

Western Gailes Golf Club is wedged between Irvine Bay and the railway tracks on one of Ayrshire’s narrowest strips of links land. Western and its next-door neighbour, Glasgow Gailes, are the northernmost of the exceptional links courses located on this prodigious stretch of Ayrshire coastline.

Four Glaswegians who were fed up with playing on muddy parkland founded the club in 1897. They recruited the first keeper of the greens, Mr. F. Morris, to lay out the course on land leased from the Duke of Portland. Western Gailes is listed in the catalogue of Simpson & Company Golf Architects, but we don't know what work Tom Simpson may have carried out prior to Fred W. Hawtree developing four new holes in the mid 1970s to accomodate a new road.

Western is an unusual layout in that the clubhouse is more or less centrally located. The first four holes head north, parallel to the railway tracks. The next nine holes head straight back along the coastline in a southerly direction, passing the clubhouse along the way, and then the closing five holes head northwards, back towards the clubhouse and once more along the railway line.

Whilst the layout, as we have already mentioned, is unusual but ostensibly nine out and nine back, the holes are wonderfully varied. The fairways undulate gently, interrupted occasionally by three meandering burns that dissect this thin strip of land. The greens sites are cleverly located in naturally folded ground; some are protected by burns whilst others, like the 6th, are in hollows guarded by sand dunes. All the greens are fast, firm and subtly contoured. The 14th hole, a wonderful par five which often plays downwind, provides a huge temptation for big hitters, but numerous bunkers lie in wait.

Be prepared for a westerly wind that can be undeniably ferocious and cunning as it switches direction from south-westerly to north-westerly. On occasions it can be soul-destroying. Western Gailes is a suitably fitting name for this golf course.

Western is a very stiff golfing test – expect to use every club in the bag. The layout measures 6,714 yards from the back tees and Western has hosted a number of important events, including the 1972 Curtis Cup, narrowly won by the USA and the 1964 PGA Championship, won by AG Grubb. Additionally, the course is used for final qualifying when the Open is played at Troon or Turnberry.

Architect Tom Mackenzie sent us this exclusive quote in August 2020 regarding the work his firm was undertaking at Western Gailes:

“Mackenzie & Ebert’s work focuses on the bunkering with drive bunkers re-sited and re-styled to make them less severe but more visually stimulating. Tee positions are being adjusted with forward tees being added on some holes to make the carries more consistent in different wind conditions.

Some green surround reshaping is being undertaken on holes such as the 5th, 9th and 18th. The first phase was completed in early 2020 with a second phase completing the bunker work in the autumn of 2020. Further phases may well follow. This makes the course more forgiving for the shortest players and more challenging for the better players.”

Western Gailes

The holes at Western Gailes Golf Club are wonderfully varied. The fairways undulate gently, interrupted occasionally by three meandering burns...

Dundonald Links originally set out to be part of a golf and residential complex called Southern Gailes but when that didn’t happen, Loch Lomond Golf Club stepped in to snap up the course for its members in 2003, commissioning Kyle Phillips to put the finishing touches to the design.

Dundonald translates to “Fort Donald” and fortifications have been located near here dating as far back as 200 BC. A golf course existed on the site in the 1900s but this was later turned into a military station named Dundonald Camp. It was here that D-Day landings were rehearsed during the Second World War.

Lying next to the long established courses of Kilmarnock Barassie, Glasgow Gailes and Western Gailes, Dundonald is obviously situated in prime golfing country. The course yardage can vary from 6,415 to 7,300 yards so it can be played as a comfortable member course or as a championship venue.

Only opened in 2005, Dundonald has since proved to be a links of some repute and was the proud host venue for the 2017 Scottish Open, which Rafa Cabrera-Bello won in a play-off. If you like the pampering that goes with golf at the top tracks then this is the place to enjoy such millionaire’s golf for a relatively modest green fee.

The Dundonald experience begins at the gatehouse when the security man lifts the barrier to let you in – everyone from then on seem to know your name. It’s a mirror of the treatment you get at Loch Lomond, but the course here on the Ayrshire coast is a true links layout and the polar opposite of the private layout on the shores of the famous loch.

In 2019 Loch Lomond Golf Club sold Dundonald Links for £4.5 million to Darwin Leisure. Work began on a new clubhouse and lodge accommodation in 2020, to be delivered in two phases. Phase one will see the clubhouse built, eighteen lodged developed and twenty-two private rooms constructed next to the clubhouse by the end of 2021. Phase two will result in the expansion of the lodge accommodation up to a further seventy-nine lodges.


Dundonald

Dundonald Links originally set out to be part of a golf and residential complex called Southern Gailes but when that didn’t happen, Loch Lomond Golf Club bought the course in 2003 and commissioned Kyle Phillips to finish the design.

Golf has been played at Turnberry for well over a century now, starting when Lord Ailsa commissioned Willie Fernie, the professional at Troon, to lay out the first course for Girvan Golf Club in 1901. This 18-hole layout became the No.1 course when the No.2 arrived eight years later.

 between the two World Wars then the Arran appeared in 1954, shortly after Philip MacKenzie Ross rebuilt the war-ravaged Ailsa.

Almost half a century then elapsed before Martin Ebert, working at the time with Donald Steel, reworked part of the old Arran course to form the 18-hole Kintyre layout, with this new course opening at the start of the new millennium.

The acquisition of Turnberry by Donald Trump in July of 2014 would then propel golf at the resort to an altogether different level over the next three years and by far the smartest move the new owner made was appointing Martin Ebert to oversee the wholesale redesign of the golf operation.

The pitch & putt course in front of the hotel was recreated, the links academy and practice facility was refurbished, a new Cairngorms putting green was installed and the clubhouse was completely renovated before the Ailsa underwent an extensive upgrade.

The last piece of the jigsaw to fit into place was the relaunch of the former Kintyre track as the King Robert the Bruce course, named in honour of the man who, raised as a boy in Turnberry Castle (where the lighthouse now stands) at the end of the 13th century, became King of Scots in 1306.

Significant modifications were made by contractor SOL Golf to many of the holes – the burn on the 1st was removed, sandy waste areas were established on several holes, a large wetland area was created between the 5th and 13th, trees were toppled to the left of the 7th, and the home green was lowered in front of the clubhouse.

As if that wasn’t enough, all the bunkers were overhauled, with fairway traps given a rugged marram-fringed look and greenside sand hazards shaped as traditional revetted pots.

Four new holes were introduced on Bain’s Hill, largely reversing the routing of the holes that were once located there. The elimination of the short par four 8th down to the cove by the water’s edge will be a regret to some, while others will rejoice that this blind hole has been abolished.

The new par five 8th heads towards the lighthouse, playing to a green that sits above the 12th fairway on the Ailsa. The 9th then returns in the opposite direction and the approach shot requires a heroic carry across the old 8th greensite to a green perched high on the headland.

The par three 10th begins a back nine which is now configured with three par fives, three par fours and three par threes. Measuring between 142 yards and 166 yards, this short hole calls for an all-carry tee shot across a sandy waste area to a tricky little green on the other side of a gully.

The 11th hole (formerly a par four on the Kintyre but now lengthened to a par five) then heads down the side of the hill – on the same compass bearing as the 8th fairway but never interfering with it – to the flatter part of the property where the closing holes are located.

It’s never an easy proposition to play second fiddle to a course ranked near the summit of the World Top 100 but the new King Robert the Bruce course (opened in June 2017) does very well in its support role to a more illustrious sibling. Suffice to say, Trump Turnberry is now a 36-hole golf destination of real substance.


Trump Turnberry (King Robert the Bruce)

The exhilarating King Robert the Bruce course at Trump Turnberry opened for play in 2017 after Martin Ebert returned to redesign the Kintrye course which the architect laid out in 2001.

“As one approaches Prestwick,” wrote Bernard Darwin, in his 1910 book, 

, “the train seems to be voyaging through one endless and continuous golf course – Gailes, Barassie, Bogside – I write them down pell-mell as they come into my head – Prestwick, St Nicholas, St. Cuthbert, Troon, and several more beside.” Add Turnberry, to Darwin’s list, and you can see why this prodigious stretch of Ayrshire coastline is so special. Glasgow Gailes, and Western Gailes, its next-door neighbour, are the northernmost of these exceptional links.

Glasgow Gailes Links is home to the Glasgow Golf Club, founded in 1787 and the 10th oldest golf club in the world. In those days, golf was played some 30 miles away, in Glasgow City. It was surely an absolute joy for the members when the Gailes course opened for play in 1892 – at last, no more muddy, parkland golf. The opening of Gailes made Glasgow Golf Club unique, with two courses, 30 miles apart. Willie Fernie originally designed the course, but Willie Park Junior revised the layout in 1912.

Glasgow Gailes is a classic links. “The turf is something softer – at least in my imagination – than that of the East Coast courses,” wrote Darwin, “and the greens are wonderfully green and velvety.” There is no doubt that the turf ensures tireless play, and it’s just as well, because there are plenty of courses to play on the West Coast.

Notorious for its whin (gorse) and heather-lined fairways, Glasgow Gailes is a tough cookie. It’s a final qualifying course when the Open is at either Turnberry, or Troon. Needless to say, it tests the very best professionals.

Many of the holes are fraught with danger, with out-of-bounds lurking beyond the railway line and the perimeter of the course. Straight and solid driving is required to card a good score. Beware of the wind – it can be a serious hazard.

Glasgow Gailes is kept out of the limelight by the other legendary links courses situated along this stretch of coastline. But you will be hard-pressed to find a better unsung layout than Glasgow Gailes Links. It really should be included on any must-play list – it’s a genuine test and was host to Open Championship Final Qualifying from 2014 to 2017.

Glasgow (Gailes Links)

Glasgow Gailes Links is a classic golf course. “The turf is something softer – at least in my imagination – than that of the East Coast courses,” wrote Darwin, “and the greens are wonderfully green and velvety.”

When Robert Adam, a young man from Leven in Fife, moved to Irvine, just north of Troon on the West Coast of Scotland in 1884, he found no golf course within comfortable travelling distance. His desire to rectify that situation, and the drive and leadership of one, James Stewart, led to a meeting of thirteen men at the King's Arms in 1887 to form a Club on land in Bogside, a tract of land belonging to the 14th Earl of Egilton.

Irvine Golf Club's current design owes much to the work of James Braid in 1926, and its status is confirmed by its regular hosting of national events including the Open Qualifying events held there prior to the Open Championship at Royal Troon and Turnberry.

Of medium length, it begins with one of five par fours over 400 yards, while successive shortish par fours, 4th and 5th call for accuracy on a course where gorse and heather define the fairways. A further long par four is again followed by a short par four, the 7th.

“Braid”, a 373-yard par four, opens the back nine, before we reach the longest hole on the course, 465-yard “Grandstand”, named because the remains of the old grandstand on the Bogside Racecourse lies to the west of this dogleg.

Views of Arran dominate the 12th tee, one of eight par fours on the back nine, which continue to test the golfer’s, resolve. The lone par three on the home nine is the 16th where a cross-bunker demands a solid carry to the green. The challenge on the 17th is more the green itself, while the 18th once again introduces sand as the main hazard.

Irvine Golf Club has produced three former Scottish Amateur Champions, a testimony to its quality and it provides yet another reason to travel to this wonderful golf country, the South West Coast of Scotland.

The club hosted the Women’s Home Internationals in 2009, when the amateur ladies’ team from Wales retained the trophy they’d won at Wrexham the previous year.


Irvine

Irvine Golf Club represents a tough test of golf. It's a classic traditional links course and plays host to Open Championship Final Qualifying...

The members of Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club originally played on the adjacent 12-hole Prestwick course that held the first twelve Open Championships between 1860 and 1872 (incidentally, there was no Open held in 1871 for anyone who realizes there are 13 years in that time span). The club moved away in 1877 to another piece of land to the south east of Prestwick but fifteen years later, it relocated to the present site where it remains until this day.

Henry Cotton, in the 1930s, spoke of St Nicholas as “a miniature championship course” which perfectly describes the links – its only weakness is its comparative shortness. But then that’s probably what endears it to the older, more discerning golfer, who realises length isn’t everything on a golf course!

Measuring a little more than 6,000 yards, there are two old-fashioned short par fours on the course, one on the outward nine and one on the inward half. “Maryborough” is the 281-yard 3rd hole, played towards the Firth of Clyde from an elevated tee to a green surrounded by punishing rough. The 276-yard 15th, called “Kingcase” is played to a plateau green that runs at an angle to the fairway. Both holes may look straightforward from the tee but members will tell you a par score at each hole is never an easy feat.

Other design traits from a bygone era include a blind approach to the 6th hole, the criss-crossing of fairways at the 6th and 7th holes and the conclusion of the round with a par three hole that plays to every inch of its 227-yard length.

The opening three holes and closing three holes are situated amongst the most undulating terrain on the course with fairways rising and falling like huge waves on a stormy sea. If only the holes on the other side of the Maryborough Road between the 4th and the 15th had the same wild contours – not that they are bland by any means.

Course management is the name of the game at Prestwick St Nicholas. If you can cope with several blind shots, intelligent bunkering, water (at the flooded quarry on the 8th hole), whins, gorse and rough then a good score can be made here as the fairways are generous and the putting surfaces are famed for their quality all year round.

Prestwick St Nicholas

Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club is a traditional links course with commanding views across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran.

There are many fine links courses along the thirty-mile stretch of Ayrshire coast between Turnberry and Irvine, notably the Ailsa, King Robert the Bruce, Prestwick, St Nicholas, Troon, Barassie, Glasgow Gailes, Western Gailes, Dundonald and Bogside. But just ten miles north of here lies the fine championship course of West Kilbride Golf Club, which is often overlooked due to its comparative separation from the others named.

Located at Seamill on the north Ayrshire coast with spectacular views across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran and beyond to the Mull of Kintyre, West Kilbride Golf Club is a private members club – formed in 1893 – with the good fortune of owning a challenging, 6,452 yard, 18-hole links.

James Braid, five times Open Champion and one of Scotland’s greatest golf course architects, has twice had a hand in the design of the West Kilbride layout. He made changes to the original Old Tom Morris 9-hole course in 1914 then, after competing in the Open at nearby Troon in 1923, suggested further alterations which were brought into being two years later.

The early holes on the course are played on higher ground, away from the coastline and they have an upland feel, despite the presence of gorse and heather at the margins of the fairways. The course really gets the pulse racing around the turn with a nice loop of holes between “Goatfell”, the par three 9th and “Whinhurst”, the par three 12th.

From then on in it just gets better and the back nine is a real joy to play, with most holes hugging the rugged coastline. The last six holes are all strong par fours – in particular, the wonderfully named ”Hunger-em-oot” 16th where a small white-washed cottage to the left of the green must be negotiated and, in traditional links style, the double greened 17th called “Sunset” must be played to the left of the shared putting surface with the 6th hole, “Mound.”

The annual Scottish Boys Championship was held for many years at North Berwick and Dunbar on the east coast of Scotland before moving to West Kilbride in 1990. The course has hosted the event a further seven times so the Scottish Golf Union obviously think highly of this links on the Clyde coast. The PGA Seniors championship was contested at West Kilbride in 1969 and the club has also hosted the Girls Amateur on four occasions, between 1954 and 2015.

West Kilbride

West Kilbride Golf Club really gets the pulse racing around the turn with a nice loop of holes.

Troon and Prestwick – Old and “classy” Bogside, Dundonald, Gailes, Barassie. Prestwick St Nicholas, Western Gailes, St Cuthbert, Portland – memory fails – Troon Municipal (three links there) Prestwick Municipal, Irvine, Ayr. They faced the list with delighted smiles – Sixteen courses within ten miles.

“A prodigious assemblage of courses,” wrote Bernard Darwin in 

, as he recounted them pell-mell as they came into his head. “As one approaches Prestwick, the train seems to be voyaging through one endless and continuous golf course.” It's true, there's a galaxy of fine links courses on this relatively small stretch of Ayrshire coastline. Kilmarnock Barassie is one of the least well known.

Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club is located a couple of miles north of Troon, directly opposite the Barassie railway station. The club was founded in 1887, but the club's original site at Holmes Farm was also shared with cattle, so a more suitable 123-acre, animal-free site was secured near the station in 1894. The first course at Barassie was laid out by John Allan, the professional at Prestwick St Nicholas.

The original course, despite a few in-house changes since it was first laid out in 1894, was becoming outdated and too short for steel-shafted clubs and more resilient balls, so Mathew M. Monie (aka "Theodore Moone") was called in to ring the changes in 1931. The Barassie reconstruction would take fours years to complete.

The following paragraph is an extract from 

The Jubilee brochure - The Story of Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club 1887 - 1937

"From 1932 till 1935 major reconstructive operations were carried out under the supervision of Professor R.H. Leitch, the green convener. The design of the course was strengthened and new features added with intent to abolish humdrum and heighten the interest of certain holes. Nature having conceived it her duty to make Barassie flat, the golf architect resolved that at least it should not be monotonous, even to the eye, and as the understudy of Nature he created miniature mountains and valleys - not solely for the purpose of providing new golf hazards but also to delight and refresh the eye. A feeling for beauty co-operated happily with art and science in the re-conditioning of Barassie."

More recently, the club added nine new holes. These new holes, and nine from the original layout, now form the Barassie course, which is used for Open Championship Final Qualifying. The spare 9-hole course is now called the Hillhouse. Confused? Well there's only one thing for it, you'll need to play all 27 holes and you can do this in a number of ways, but we won't go into it here.

The Barassie is now a serious test, which weighs in at 6,817 yards from the medal tees against a par of 72. The SSS of 74 tells its own story. Rebecca Hudson won the Ladies' British Amateur Stroke Play Championship here in 2001. Her score - 300 strokes over the four rounds - turned out to be the highest winning score since 1988. This course is indeed a tough cookie and you'll need a full repertoire of shots to play to handicap.

This classic links course has everything - great conditioning, humps, hollows, undulations, blind shots and lightning-fast greens. Whatever you do, don't rush past Kilmarnock on your way to play Royal Troon.

Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club hosted The Boys Amateur Championship in 2010 and then the club initiated a programme of course changes in preparation for the 2012 Scottish Stroke Play Championship. Click here for more details.

Kilmarnock (Barassie)

Kilmarnock (Barassie) is a classic golf links, used for Open Championship Final Qualifying when the Open comes to the Ayrshire coast.

Shiskine Golf and Tennis Club is one of the most unusual courses featured on this website, a links that has attained true cult status. Founded in 1896, originally as a nine-hole layout, Shiskine was designed by the 1883 Open champion Willie Fernie. Shortly before the Great War, Willie Park Junior was commissioned to extend the course to 18 holes and to revise Fernie’s original nine holes. Six of the new holes fell into neglect during World War I, leaving behind today’s unusual 12-hole links.

Shiskine is located at Blackwaterfoot on the western side of the Isle of Arran, a small island off the Ayrshire coast, which is often referred to as “Scotland in Miniature”. This is a simply stunning location, affording majestic views across the Kilbrannan Sound to the Kintyre peninsula.

Nearly every shot at Shiskine is blind, either from the tee or for the approach to the green or, in some cases, both. And because of this tortuous terrain, there are numerous stop/go signals and markers to help golfers navigate their way around the course. The modern school of golf course architecture would cringe at many of Shiskine’s features but the course is a shrine to the way in which the game used to be played by the golfing greats of yesteryear. After all, Shiskine was around long before the earthmovers, irrigators, fertilisers and multi million pound design fees.

Shiskine is golfing ground of such purity, owing only the barest influence to the hand of man, that to play here is to enjoy a unique sporting experience. Shiskine can only be described as idiosyncratic. Nevertheless, it’s fun golf and immensely enjoyable. The 3rd and 4th holes, called “Crows Nest” and “The Shelf”, offer real excitement, nestling underneath the Drumadoon Cliffs. This is a links that needs to be played more than once. Only then will you begin to understand and appreciate its quirks.

Shiskine

The 12-hole layout at Shiskine Golf & Tennis Club is one of the most unusual courses featured on this website, a links that has reached true cult status.

The Portland course – named after the Dukes of Portland who did much in the 19th century to generate wealth in the area with the construction of docks at Troon harbour and the creation of coal mines in nearby Kilmarnock – is a fine links layout that is, unfortunately, totally overshadowed by the championship course.

It was designed by the second Royal Troon professional, Willie Fernie and opened for play in 1896, though it wasn’t until the year after the club held its first Open in 1923 (and Fernie retired after 37 years of service) that its name was changed from the Relief course to the Portland course. Dr Alister MacKenzie is thought to have had a hand in reworking some of the holes at this time.

The Portland measures just under 6,300 yards with a par of 71 and it lies between the Old course, the practice ground and the 9-hole Craigend course on one side and the Glasgow-Ayr railway line on the other – many may have had their car directed onto one of the fairways here when the Open is at Troon, never knowing the land is far more than just a car park!

The Portland is laid out in two loops of nine holes, each of which return to two clubhouses – one exclusively for ladies – that are separate from the main Royal Troon clubhouse. There are no par fives on the outward half but that is balanced on the back nine with four birdieable three-shot holes, all of which are less than 500 yards in length.

Steer clear of the gorse and railway line on the early holes, avoid the ditches on some of the closing holes and keep out of the cleverly positioned bunkers all during the round to have a good chance of playing to handicap on a very fair and somewhat understated test of golf.

Royal Troon (Portland)

Royal Troon Golf Club's Portland course is a fine links layout that is, unfortunately, totally overshadowed by the championship Old course.

When you think of top-flight golf in Ayrshire, you automatically think of the famous links courses running along the coast from Troon to Prestwick and Turnberry. Well, it’s time to think again as the new inland course at Rowallan Castle near Kilmaurs is all set to complement these golfing greats in fine style.

The course is laid out within an historic 600-acre estate that dates back to the 16th century with fairways draped across a gently undulating landscape that incorporates open meadow, wetland and woodland sites. Water also plays a part at a number of holes but never in a dominating, obtrusive fashion.

Designed by Colin Montgomerie with Ross McMurray from European Golf Design, Rowallan Castle is the latest in a burgeoning portfolio for Monty and EGD that now includes the likes of 

 in Turkey. With quality projects like these to their name, it’s no surprise to find that Rowallan Castle is another classy track from the same design team.

The three short holes on the outward half (“Ross’s Quarry” at hole 2, “Doctor’s Bend” at hole 5 and “Old Castle” at hole 8) are all contenders for signature hole on the property. The green to the first of these sits behind a lovely wetland area to the right of the hole, the second has a pond lurking to the left of the green and the third requires an elevated tee shot across a shaded valley to a raised green with a stream to the front.

Two holes – the 490-yard par four 11th (“Goat Fell”) and 609-yard par five 16th (”Laird’s Ride”) – are the pick of the holes on the back nine and both dogleg downhill to the left. The former is a formidable two-shotter and the latter will take two mighty blows to get anywhere near a raised green protected by a pond and three enormous bunkers – good luck with getting anything less than a five on this hole.

Rather uniquely, Rowallan also boasts a testing par three 19th hole ("The Decider") where informal match play games that are still tied after 18 holes may be decided before proceeding to the more conventional 19th in the modern new clubhouse.

Rowallan Castle

Rowallan Castle Golf Club is laid out within an historic estate with fairways draped across a gently undulating landscape that incorporates open meadow, wetland and woodland sites.

South Ayrshire Council, the local authority that Troon comes under, does a marvelous job providing good golf venues for local residents at affordable green fee rates. They have eight courses throughout Ayrshire with Belleisle and Lochgreen marketed as their premier courses.

, Darley and Fullarton are serviced by the same clubhouse in Troon so the starters box outside can be a very busy place in the middle of the summer with members and visiting golfers all reporting for these three courses at the same time.

Ladies, juniors and seniors predominantly use the Fullarton at 4,869 yards. Lochgreen, with a mix of links and parkland, is probably the best of the three courses and, as a matter of fact, it has been used for Open Qualifying before. Jack Nicklaus, no less, qualified for an Open here – by one shot – after scoring 82 and 68!

Nonetheless, locals will tell you the Darley is the most challenging of the three municipal Troon courses due to its many tight fairways that are lined with unforgiving gorse, heather and whins. Terms like “testing” and “strategic” are sometimes used to describe a tough course and both words can justifiably be used in connection with the Darley – it has been reported before to be the fourth most difficult course in the whole of Scotland to play to your handicap.

Don’t, for goodness sake, let that statistic put you off playing here as the Darley is the real deal for links lovers who like their round spiced up by changes in elevation, snaking burns, an abundance of yellow gorse and difficult greens that Donald Ross would be proud of (like the putting surface on the par three 16th hole named “Saucer”).

Many golf societies choose to have an annual away day at the South Ayrshire Council courses in Troon where they can play 36 holes at the one location, combining two of the three courses according to their abilities. What’s the bet that most societies choose the Darley for one or both of their two rounds?

Troon (Darley)

Challenging, strategic and a true test of golf is how the locals describe the Troon Darley course and it's also tremendous value for money.

Largs Golf Club was established in 1891, with Willie Campbell setting out a 9-hole course for the founding members. This layout lasted only a very short time however. Within two years of its formation, the club moved to its present home within the Kelburn Estate, the ancestral home of the Earls of Glasgow.

The original 9-hole layout lasted exactly sixty years until Viscount Kelburn officially opened an expanded 18-hole course in 1953. It’s thought that green staff, under the direction of people like John McKeller and Bob Torrance, laid out the new holes close to Kelburn Castle.

Today, the opening four holes and closing three holes now occupy a narrow corridor running alongside the main road (where the original 9-hole course was set out), with holes 5 to 15 routed around the more expansive portion of the property.

The modern day course measures a respectable 6,150 yards from the medal tees and, with only two par fives on the card (at “Killincraig,” the 466-yard 3rd and “Pencil,” the 490-yard 12th), it plays to a par of 70.

Notable holes include the par four 6th (“Castle”) which doglegs left to the green, and the par three 8th (“Spittleflat”) - the third short hole on the front nine - where a small green is surrounded by five bunkers.

On the inward half, the 468-yard 15th (“Cockleshells”) starts the run for home and it’s a beast of a long par four. It’s followed by another three stout par fours, all of which head in the same direction towards the clubhouse, so pray that the prevailing headwind is not up if you have a good score going.

Largs

The undulating parkland fairways at Largs Golf Club are laid out beside Kelburn Castle, the 13th century ancestral pile of the Boyle Clan, and this stately home is currently the residence of the 10th Earl of Glasgow.

South Ayrshire Council, the local authority for Ayr, does a wonderful job providing so many good quality municipal golf courses for its residents at very affordable green fees. The local government body has eight such courses throughout the county and they promote the Lochgreen links in Troon and the parkland layout of Belleisle in Ayr as their premier golfing venues.

There are actually two 18-hole layouts within the Belleisle estate – the other being the modest, 5,481 yard Seafield course – but it is the championship course of Belleisle, designed by James Braid in 1927, that attracts many visiting amateur golfers. In fact, it impresses the golf professionals too, as it was used before in qualifying for the European Open held at Turnberry in 1978.

Where Scottish golfers may argue over whether Carnoustie or St Andrews have the best public links courses in the country, there is little argument over which is the best public inland course – step forward the one and only true contender; Belleisle!

Set in rolling woodland, the course is routed over classic estate territory with wide, lush fairways, stands of mature trees, penal rough and well-bunkered greens.

Don’t be fooled by an overall length of just under 6,450 yards on the scorecard as only two of the nine par fours – the 8th and 9th – are under four hundred yards long. After the fifth and final par three has been played across water at the tricky 17th hole, the round ends at it starts, with a great par five hole, the 532-yard “Brown Carrick” where a right dogleg must be negotiated on the way to the home green.

Belleisle

Ayr Belleisle is one of the best public golf courses in Scotland... designed by the great James Braid.

One of eight golf courses operated by South Ayrshire Council, the 18-hole layout at Lochgreen is bracketed along with James Braid’s celebrated 

 design as the best two courses in the municipal portfolio.

Three 18-hole tracks operate from the same clubhouse at Troon (Lochgreen, 

 and Fullerton) so the starter’s hut is often a busy place with golfers milling around, arranging tee times or preparing to set off on their round.

Lochgreen has been used for Open Qualifying in the past and Jack Nicklaus is said to have entered the competition through here in 1962, when Royal Troon was the venue for the event that year.

It’s a testing track with a handful of par fives spread throughout the layout, two of which are played back-to-back early on at the 2nd and 3rd holes. Measuring almost 6,800 yards, the course plays to a par of 74, which is a meaty enough challenge for anybody.

The toughest hole on the card is encountered at the 429-yard 5th (“Crosbie”), where the railway line runs along the right side of the fairway as it heads towards the green. On the back nine, there’s a little loop at the 11th to 14th which is more parkland than links in nature, with the tree-lined 405-yard 12th (“Monklands”) the pick of these holes.

Troon (Lochgreen)

Troon Lochgreen sits on the other side of the railway line from Royal Troon and its eclectic mix of parkland and links holes provide a varied and interesting golfing challenge.

Organised golf has been played in the Mauchline area since at least early in the 20th century. Mauchline Golf Course at Bogwood Farm was officially opened on 22nd May 1909 by Lieut. Col. W. K. Hamilton-Campbell D.S.O. with Miss Hamilton-Campbell (presumably his daughter) playing the first tee shot.

An exhibition match then took place after the opening ceremony between J. H. Irons and F. W. Kennedy from 

 in Glasgow, who were billed in posters for the event as “ex-holders of the “Evening Times” Trophy. It’s not known when this course fell into the NLE “No Longer Exists” category.

The Alexander family who own the Ballochmyle Estate, where Rabbie Burns wrote two of his songs (“Farewell to the Braes o’ Ballochmyle” and “The Bonny Lass o’ Ballochmyle”), decided to convert part of their land into a golf course and this 9-hole layout was formally opened by Mrs R. J. Dunlop of Barskimming on 22nd June 1937.

Today, the 18-hole course at Ballochmyle Golf Club extends to 5,972 yards from the back markers, playing to a par of 70. There’s only one par five on the scorecard, at the 497-yard 18th (“Waurslin Hame”), where the fairway plunges down from the tee then takes a big turn left and up towards the home green, with out of bounds running along the right side of the hole.

The par threes at holes 3, 14 and 17 are all fine one-shotters but it’s the short par fours that really excel here, especially those played back-to-back at the 290-yard 9th (“Paukie Skelp”), doglegging down and right to the green, and the 272-yard 10th (“Stey Brae”), which rises sharply uphill to a well bunkered green that slopes wickedly from back to front.

Ballochmyle

The course at Ballochmyle Golf Club dates back to 1937 and extends to 5,972 yards from the back markers, playing to a par of 70.

Established in 1909, Loudoun Gowf Club came into being following the demise of Galston Golf Club, which had only been in operation for a few years before it folded around the turn of the century.

A deal was agreed with Lord Loudon to lease part of his estate for a new golf course and before long, a Mr Hydes had set out a full 18-hole course for the members, with a Mr Robertson from Troon engaged to look after the maintenance of the new holes.

Various changes have been made to the course since then but it remains a modest layout, extending to just over 6,000 yards, with only one par five at the 512-yard 5th, “Castle”. A burn crosses the fairway as it veers left and rises towards the green so beware a rather benign stroke index of 9 for this hole.

“Big Wood,” the 163-yard 4th is one of the newer holes on the course, added in the mid-1990s, with trees to the left of the green and a couple of bunkers to the right. The remaining four short holes at Loudoun are all located on the back nine and, rather unusually, they’re played back-to-back at the 10th and 11th then at the 16th and 17th.

The signature hole at Loudon is regarded as “Marsh,” the short par four 12th, where the fairway is split by a burn that then runs round the right side of the green. This burn is the same one that hampers golfers on the 3rd hole, as it carries along the right side of the hole before slashing across the front of the green so first time visitors beware!