Top 10 Golf Courses in Dumfries & Galloway 2015

Dumfries & Galloway Best in Region rankings updated

Tucked away in the south west corner of Scotland, Dumfries & Galloway is often overlooked as a serious golfing destination, which is a real pity because there’s much in the way of good golf to entice visitors into playing here.

There are a couple of dozen courses dotted around the region, each offering its own level of challenge: from wee 9-hole beauties to inland gems to championship links and other coastal courses, there’s plenty of choice for golfers who are prepared to stray a little off the beaten path.

We’ve just updated our Top 10 chart for Dumfries & Galloway and, as indication of the quality of courses in this area, the top four layouts in this Best in Region listings also feature in our Top 100 rankings for Scotland.

Unsurprisingly, Southerness holds onto the number 1 position in our regional classifications and this formidable links, laid out on the shores of the Solway Firth by Philip Mackenzie Ross, is rightly regarded as a modern masterpiece, first opening for play shortly after the end of World War II.

Stranraer remains at number 2 in our table, and this terrific coastal track – which is gloriously set on an escarpment at Creachmore, beside Loch Ryan – was James Braid’s final design, the architect having visited the site in 1949, three years before it commenced operation.

The 18-hole Dunskey course, sitting on top of the cliffs at Portpatrick, where it commands fantastic views across the Irish Sea, swaps places in our new chart with Powfoot, which moves up one place to number 3 in the table. This seaside favourite, designed by Sandy Herd and modified by James Braid in 1923, is a links/parkland hybrid that never fails to entertain.

The only other climbers in our Dumfries & Galloway listings are the parkland tracks at Cally Palace (up one spot to number 5) and Dumfries & Galloway (up two places to number 7). Brighouse Bay and Newton Stewart drop out to make way for two new entries: Wigtownshire County’s links layout on the coast at Luce Bay is now number 8 and Lochmaben’s charming inland course near Lockerbie occupies the number 9 slot.

We’re grateful to the clubs and professionals who cooperated with us during the re-ranking process and offer our sincere thanks for their assistance.