THE NORTH EAST

East Lothian and Fife garner much attention for their incredible standard of golf courses, but keep driving an hour or so further north and you will reach one of the real boom areas in Scottish golf. The North East is home to some wonderful courses which are well worth making the trip to see. Aberdeen is a good place to have as a base for a few days with plenty of good hotels and restaurants to enjoy in this thriving oil city.

This is the perfect area to combine with a trip to either Fife and Tayside or The Highlands.

COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

The real star up here is Cruden Bay. It’s always rated well up the World’s Top 100 courses and many have it in their top 10 favourite courses. The setting is simply spectacular, maybe only North Berwick gives it a run for its money in the fun and quirk stakes!

Royal Aberdeen has hosted the Walker Cup and is a wonderful example of pure Scottish links golf. New addition, Trump International, has opened to much acclaim. Add in the less heralded, but maybe more authentic experiences at Murcar and Fraserburgh and you really are in for a treat in the North East.

  • Cruden Bay

    GOLF MAGAZINE WORLD RANKING - 63
    OUTPOST CLUB WORLD RANKING - 50
    GOLF MAGAZINE GB & I RANKING - 20

    Set against the backdrop of the bay from which the club derives its name and nestled among the towering sand dunes lies the rugged links of Cruden Bay Golf Club. Cruden Bay is best described as an adventure. As you scale the massive dunes, hitting tee shots from high above to rumpled fairways or hidden, punchbowl greens, mystery and surprise seems to be around every corner.

  • Royal Aberdeen

    TOP100GOLFCOURSES.COM WORLD RANKING - 63
    GOLF MAGAZINE GB & I RANKING - 35
    GOLF WORLD GB & I RANKING - 12

    Royal Aberdeen has a rich history. The club can trace its origins back to 1780 and the formation of ‘The Society of Golfers at Aberdeen’. The course at Balgownie, just a couple of miles north of the City of Aberdeen, came into existence some years later in 1888. Archie and Robert Simpson were the architects behind the initial layouts, with James Braid lengthening the course and adding 40 bunkers some years later. It is a classic Scottish Links course, the holes in the dunes on the front nine are amongst the best in the land.

  • TRUMP INTERNATIONAL

    TOP100GOLFCOURSES.COM WORLD RANKING - 66
    GOLF MAGAZINE GB & I RANKING - 37
    GOLF WORLD GB & I RANKING - 21

    Trump International is set in the spectacular Balgownie Dunes, north of Aberdeen. They are unlike anything else in Scotland, and you could imagine you are on the wild Irish coast here. Martin Hawtree has used the dunes to frame the holes on this modern links. It is a strong test of anyone’s game and lower handicap golfers particularly relish the test here. The attention to detail and conditioning is first rate.

WHERE TO STAY

It makes sense to make your base in Aberdeen when visiting the area. Not only is it a busy city with a good selection of hotels, restaurants and pubs but it’s only half an hour’s drive from all the courses on offer. It’s two hours away from Edinburgh airport and an hour from Dundee, making it easily accessible from all over the east coast of Scotland.

  • THE SANDMAN

    Located in the heart of Aberdeen, the Sandman is situated in one of Aberdeen’s historic buildings, now renovated to provide luxury accommodation.

  • Marcliffe hotel and spa

    The Marcliffe at Pitfodels is a luxurious & ultra-elegant five-star Scottish country hotel set in picturesque grounds on the outskirts of Aberdeen.

  • THE MALMAISON

    The Malmaison is one of Aberdeen’s finest boutique hotels, set in a stunning old granite mansion close to the city centre.

SAMPLE ITINERARY

DAY 1

We will meet your party off the plane at Edinburgh and transfer you to your hire car or chauffeured transport for the week.

On the way north you will stop at Panmure (ranked 37 in Scotland) for your first round. Ben Hogan only came to Scotland once, for the 1953 Open at Carnoustie. He spent the 2 weeks before the tournament adjusting to the links game at Panmure before winning the Claret Jug. Panmure has hosted Open Qualifying on multiple occasions as well as co-hosting The Amateur Championship amongst other top events.

After your round you drive an hour north to Aberdeen where you will check in at The Marcliffe Hotel and Spa. This luxury hotel will ensure you experience a true Scottish welcome with fantastic hospitality for the duration of your stay.

DAY 2
Play Royal Aberdeen, previous host to both the Walker Cup and Scottish Open. This is a gloriously ‘old school’ Scottish club so make sure you leave plenty of time to explore the treasure trove clubhouse and soak up the atmosphere. If this is your first experience of true links, then you’ve picked a wonderful course to start on!

DAY 3
Murcar adjoins Royal Aberdeen and shares many of its characteristics. The course has both held highly regarded amateur events and been used as a venue on the European Tour. The course has dunes, gorse, rumpled fairways and heather. It may not garner as many headlines as some of its neighbours but is an excellent stop while in the area.

This afternoon we can plan a trip to one (or more!) of the region’s excellent whisky distilleries for your group. You can discover the secrets of making a true Scotch, and taste a few along the way!

DAY 4
Drive north about 30 minutes to Cruden Bay. This is one of those courses that, once you’ve played it, will live with you forever. Tom Doak describes it as possibly the best routed course he has ever seen. It uses the dunes wonderfully and some of the views you will see at Cruden Bay are simply spectacular. But more than that, the golf is so full of fun and quirk that it may make you laugh out loud at times. They would probably never build a course like this again, but thank goodness they did once!

DAY 5
Trump International is a modern course which has very quickly become renowned as one of the best in the region. It’s a big and bold course set in huge dunes. The conditioning and the hospitality at the club are truly exceptional.

After the round we can organise a trip to Royal Deeside where you can explore the historic villages of Ballater and Banchory, or maybe turn your hand to some fly fishing!

DAY 6
Head back to Edinburgh via one of Scotland’s most famous courses. Carnoustie has a reputation for being one of the ultimate tests in world golf. It is an exacting layout, the closing three holes might be the toughest in all of championship golf, but it’s also a strategic masterpiece that rewards thoughtful play and challenges you to venture as close as you dare to its many hazards to position yourself for the next shot. Added to the amazing championship history of this storied links it’s an experience not to be missed

Following the round, you can either transfer back to Edinburgh airport for flights home or add on a trip to another of Scotland’s great regions.

Contact us now to book a memorable golf trip to Scotland’s North East.

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