Royal Aberdeen

About the course

Royal Aberdeen’s Balgownie links lies just north of the city centre, on the far side of the River Don estuary, with the North Sea running the full length of the course. The land ranges from tall, rugged dunes beside the beach to flatter ground further inland, and the club also has a shorter second course, the Silverburn.

The club grew out of the Society of Golfers at Aberdeen and is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It moved to Balgownie in 1888, and the layout has been refined over the years, most notably by James Braid. In modern times the course has hosted the Senior Open in 2005, won by Tom Watson, the Walker Cup in 2011 and the Scottish Open in 2014, when Justin Rose took the title.

The opening hole is a downhill par 4 played from beside the clubhouse towards the sea, and the outward half then heads north with narrow landing areas and subtle angles into the greens. The par 5 second has bunkers set short of the green that make the lay-up a real decision, while the eighth is a par 3 of only about 150 yards protected by ten bunkers.

Because the course runs out and back, the wind usually helps on one half and works against the player on the other, and the inward nine played into the prevailing breeze can be as hard as the more celebrated front. On the fourteenth a burn crosses the fairway and then sits in front of the green.

Why we recommend it

Royal Aberdeen is the course to build a north-east Scotland trip around, and its front nine through the dunes along the North Sea is among the best stretches of links golf anywhere. The return along the higher ground is less dramatic but full of blind shots and deceptive greens. Visitors are welcome on weekdays and later on weekend afternoons, with proof of handicap required. Just north of Aberdeen, it pairs easily with Murcar next door and Cruden Bay up the coast.