Scotland and links golf are inextricably linked – even if the vast majority of courses in the country are not exactly the quintessential seaside golfing experience.
What’s more, the famous links courses can also cost you a pretty penny to play if you can even get a tee time.
But here are 11 you can play for less than £50 this summer.
Winterfield Golf Club
An excellent 18-hole links course with breathtaking vistas of the Lammermuir Hills in the background, as well as the Firth of Forth, Bass Rock, and the Isle of May.
A visit to this beautiful course won’t let you down.
Located at Dunbar on Scotland’s Golf Coast, It is an excellent test of golf and an 18-hole masterpiece when it comes to aesthetics.
The views are stunning, ranging from the imposing Whelkie Haugh first hole to the challenging St Margaret’s eighteenth.
Summer Green Fee: £33
Musselburgh Links, The Old Golf Course
The Old Golf Course at Musselburgh Links was part of the original Open Championship rotation and staged the famous tournament six times before the turn of the 20th century.
It is remarkably affordable for a destination course and one where you can rent a set of hickory clubs for that original links experience.
Better players using modern clubs might find this course a touch on the short and easy side and might be better off going for the old school experience.
The course is quite short at just 3000 yards and it is a throwback to a different time but is well worth the visit if you appreciate history and tradition.
The course is open and available to play year round apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Summer Green Fee: £17.50
Strathlene Golf Club
If you’re keen on playing a historic links course that offers a challenge for players of all levels and is dog-friendly from the clubhouse to the course look no further than Strathlene Buckie Golf Club.
A stunning cliff-top links course, Strathlene Buckie Golf Club is notable in that it combines modern with old through its blend of restoration and renovation.
The redesigned holes will give players a unique challenge, while heading in, you’ll also play some of the original holes which are the same as they were more than 120 years ago.
Playing to nearly 6,000 yards from the back tees, Strathlene gives golfers of all levels more than enough challenge.
Undulating fairways, elevated greens and strategically placed bunkers make it a thinking-players course, where course management and ball placement promise a solid score.
Summer Green Fee: £40
Kings Links Golf Course
Kings Links Golf Course in Aberdeenshire offers breathtaking views of the Coast Mountains, Mount Baker, and the Gulf Islands and a challenge level that will suit most players.
It is notably warmer and drier than many other seaside links courses in Scotland and as a result, is also a course that can be played year-round.
The course is not totally devoid of large trees, owing to its age but the foliage offers little in the way of protection from the wind which generates quite the challenge.
Summer Green Fee: £20
Isle of Colonsay Golf Course
This course is another shorter traditional Scottish layout that throws back to a time gone by.
The 18-hole golf course at Machrins on the west coast of the island is reputedly over 200 years old, having first been played in 1775, and was well-known and recorded as a feature of island life in the late 19th century.
Situated on indigenous machair – shortish grass growing in sandy soil, typical of the finest Scottish links golf courses – the course is bounded on the west by two beautiful, sandy Hebridean bays, crossed by two burns and has magnificent panoramic views of the sea and the fringes of the island.
The course was laid out by a professional in the 1930s and, save for some alteration to accommodate the airstrip a few years ago, remains much the same today.
This wholly natural course has no bunkers but does feature sheep scrapes which manyposit are the origin of the modern-day bunker.
Fortunately, local rules allow preferred lies on all fairways and a free drop for balls disappearing into rabbit holes or snatched by the ravens.
Summer Green Fee: £10
Balnagask Golf Course
Built at the mouth of Aberdeen Harbour and hemmed in by the North Sea, the views available up and down this coast as well as across the busy harbour with the city beyond are simply breathtaking.
Widely acknowledged as one of the best municipal 18-hole courses in Scotland, James Braid, Archie Simpson and the Hawtree family all had a hand in carving out this coastal golf experience. Found in the heart of a local conservation area, the stunning layout requires nerve and balance in equal measure.
Balnagask is a distinctive course offering a great variety of holes in a spectacular setting.
Players will enjoy the naturally rolling coastal landscape offering hidden fairways, elevated tees, gorse-walled ravines and a host of interesting features including the historic Girdleness Lighthouse and medieval Torry Battery.
Summer Green Fee: £15
Shiskine Golf Club
It may not be a full 18-hole layout but Shiskine is a great place to spend some time.
The course itself has a total of 12 holes but is a seaside links course with incredible views.
This course is always in great condition, with the greens staff taking great pride in the course and working very hard to maintain it to a very high standard.
Founded in 1896, Shiskine has many “blind” holes with names such as the “Crows Nest” and the “Himalayas”.
There are 2 burns crossing the course and it is a little up and down but overall a stunning course in an unforgettable location that offers an inviting offering.
Summer Green Fee: £37
Troon Fullarton
We have included the three Troon courses, Fullarton, Darley and Lochgreen as three entries but the avid golfer has more options for a round in South Ayrshire, a region well worth a visit for the links fanatic.
Fullarton is the shortest of the three courses at Troon Links, where rounds often take less than three hours to complete.
This course is ideal for the beginner but still offers enough of a challenge for the more experienced golfer as accuracy is key on short holes.
Summer Green Fee: £30
Troon Darley
Darley is the newest of the three Troon Links courses but for many, it is a favourite among the trio.
It offers perhaps the stiffest challenge of the three courses and should get the blood pumping one way or another.
Darley plays as a par 72 across its 18 holes and ranks highly in terms of value-for-money experiences.
Summer Green Fee: £37
Troon Lochgreen
You can walk in the footsteps of giants at Lochgreen where Jack Nicklaus qualified for his first-ever Open.
The purists will point out that this course isn’t a true links layout given that some of its holes are strictly speaking parkland setups.
Still, the unique mix of the old and the new creates a delightfully unique experience for the player.
It is worth noting that Golf South Ayrshire owns and operates eight courses in the area and offers great group rates and discounts and they can help you put together a stunning golf trip.
Summer Green Fee: £37
Reay Golf Club
An unmatched links experience in the Highlands of Scotland, Reay Golf Club is well worth the travel it takes to reach this gem.
It is the most northerly 18-hole links course on the British mainland, and Reay’s unique distinction adds to the allure of this exceptional golfing destination.
The value you get at Reay is simply unparalleled. With affordable day tickets priced at only £50 from April to October and a steal at £30 per day from November to March, if you’re willing to brave winter in the Highlands, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value for links golf of this calibre anywhere else in the world let alone Scotland.
Summer Green Fee: £50 (Per Day)
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