Top 5 Golf Courses in the Borders 2015
Borders Best in Region rankings updated
Organised golf has been conducted in the Borders region of Scotland for well over a hundred years now. In fact, the Border Golfers’ Association was the first of its kind in Scotland when it formed back in 1893, with seven clubs joining forces to promote the game of golf in the local area.
Nowadays, of course, there are sixteen district areas within the Scottish Golf Union, covering every part of the country. The number of Borders clubs has also increased down the years so that there are now twenty-one clubs in membership of the Association, with eight of them using a 9-hole course.
Looking at our newly updated standings for this region, The Roxburghe retains its number 1 spot which is no real surprise as this course has held a national ranking since we first established a Scottish Top 100 chart seven years ago. Laid out within an enormous 50,000-acre estate, this impressive 18-layout was also the host venue for the Scottish Seniors Open from 2001 to 2005.
At number 2 in our Borders listings, another Dave Thomas design moves up two places to reach the runner up position. Cardrona, near Peebles, is a relatively recent addition to the golfing scene in the south east of Scotland and it’s made quite an impact since it first opened at the start of the new millennium. Operated by MacDonald Hotels & Resorts, it’s a fine parkland/woodland track featuring excellent USGA specification greens.
Holding on to number 3 in the chart, the hilly upland course at Peebles is something of a rarity in Scottish golf as it’s one of the very few layouts north of the border that can claim Harry Colt had a hand in its development. In this case, he redesigned the Kirklands course in the mid-1930s and a good deal of his work remains in place.
Next up, we have a new entry at number 4 and it’s the old Hawick course at Vertish Hill, which lies to the south of the town. Established as an unorthodox 11-hole layout in 1877, this course - the oldest in the Borders - was subsequently modified by James Braid in 1931. It still retains much of its old-fashioned charm, evidenced by the 15th fairway which crosses two others on the way to the green!
Our number 5 for the Borders is another new entry, Eyemouth. Situated close to the centre of the small fishing port, the course at Eyemouth was established as a 9-hole layout in 1894 and it took over a hundred years (until 1997 to be exact) before it was extended to a full 18-hole course. Today, it plays to a par of 72 over 6,400 yards from the back tees.
