The Home of Golf is well-represented in the latest rankings with three of the top five and 13 of the top 50
Cruden Bay on the Aberdeenshire coast was named in the top 30(Image: David Cannon/Getty Images)
Scotland is world renowned as the Home of Golf. Despite the country’s small size, there are around 500 courses to choose from, ranging from iconic links, to nine-hole hidden gems nestled amongst glorious scenery.
So it is no surprise to see Scotland well represented in the 2026/27 Golf Digest 100 Best Courses in the World list. The respected publication ranks the top tracks outside of the USA each year, picking out a mix of celebrated championship venues, and smaller hidden gems.
No fewer than 21 of the top 100 are in Scotland, a testament to the country’s rich golfing heritage. While some names like Open Championship venues the Old Course and Muirfield will come as no surprise, there are some lesser-known names that also make the cut.
Located near Carnoustie in Angus, Panmure is recognised as the 21st oldest golf club in the world and, despite being almost two miles from the sea, offers a classic links test. Laid out by Old Tom Morris and James Braid, Ben Hogan spent two weeks practicing at Panmure before winning the 1953 Open at Carnoustie.
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GolfDigest hails the middle section of the course, saying it “is ideal linksland with spacious holes that rumble across sea swell contours and low dune ridges”. Another course in the shadow of a neighbour that makes the cut is Western Gailes, on the South Ayrshire coast.
Close to Royal Troon, GolfDigest describes it as “perhaps the least-known grand old Scottish links”. Prestwick, home of the first Open, is described as a “museum piece of golf architecture—an authentic relic from a time when golfers played cross-country without benefit of crisply mown turf and inviting targets,” while Cruden Bay is “among the elite, marvellous Scottish links”.
Western Gailes Golf Club might be overshadowed by Royal Troon but it is a classic test in its own right(Image: David Cannon/Getty Images)
Three of the top five courses on the list are in Scotland, including remote Royal Dornoch, while Trump Turnberry has two entries with the lesser known King Robert the Bruce course making the cut alongside the famous Ailsa course.
Machrihanish is also there. Isolated on the Kintyre Peninsula, the course features “one of the game’s greatest opening tee shots, which the bold will carry over a beach and Atlantic tide on the left,” according to the GolfDigest experts.
Scottish courses in the GolfDigest top 100
Overall position in brackets
Old Course, St Andrews (2)Muirfield, East Lothian (3)Royal Dornoch, Championship, Sutherland (4)Trump Turnberry, Ailsa, South Ayrshire (8)North Berwick, East Lothian (11)Carnoustie Golf Links, Championship, Angus (15)Kingsbarns Golf Links, Fife (24)Cruden Bay Golf Club, Aberdeenshire (26)Royal Troon Old Course, South Ayrshire (27)Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeenshire (30)Machrihanish Golf Club, Argyll and Bute (47)Trump Turnberry, King Robert the Bruce, South Ayrshire (48)Loch Lomond Golf Club, Argyll and Bute (49)Prestwick Golf Club, South Ayrshire (62)Cabot Highlands: Castle Stewart Golf Links, Inverness (65)Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, Aberdeen (76)Western Gailes Golf Club, South Ayrshire (78)Gleneagles King’s Course, Perthshire (85)The Renaissance Club, East Lothian (92)Gullane Number 1, East Lothian (94)Panmure Golf Club, Angus (99)