The Best Places To Play Golf On Speyside

From courses right beside the river to seaside layouts on the Moray Firth, Speyside has much to offer the visiting golfer

golf on Speyside

From old courses blessed with enjoyably modest length like Boat of Garten, to mighty newcomers like Spey Valley, golf on Speyside has much to offer.

The Best Places To Play Golf On Speyside

From old courses blessed with enjoyably modest length like Boat of Garten, to mighty newcomers like Spey Valley, golf on Speyside has much to offer.

Moray

The 18th on the Old Tom Morris Old Course at Moray

The 18th on the Old Tom Morris Old Course at Moray

The start to Old Tom Morris’ Old course at Moray is relatively gentle, with the wonderful green complex on the par-3 4th an early highlight.

You then cross the road for a spell alongside RAF Lossiemouth, and it isn’t until the 14th hole that you finally arrive right beside the beach, remaining there for a few holes before switching back to a final hole whose proximity to adjacent properties would put the fear of God into anyone - on both the tee-shot and final approach to a raised green - if the wind were off the sea and against.

Henry Cotton’s New course is a shorter but tighter layout, which also enjoys a memorable stretch along the shore and gets closer to the imposing Covesea Lighthouse.

Hopeman

The par-3 12th at Hopeman is a real favourite of 1999 Open champion, Paul Lawrie

The par-3 12th at Hopeman is a real favourite of 1999 Open champion, Paul Lawrie

The course plays over elevated links terrain above the Moray Firth, starting life as a nine-holer in 1909 before acquiring nine more holes in 1985.

The raised green on the 2nd calls for your early attention, with the par-3 3rd then playing semi-blind to a large double green shared with the 6th.

But the back nine is home to the strongest holes visually, among them the magnificent par-3 12th, which has so captivated Paul Lawrie among others. It’s an absolute cracker that kickstarts a stirring ride all the way back to the clubhouse.

Grantown-on-Spey

Grantown's par-3 8th can play pretty tough into the wind

Grantown's par-3 8th can play pretty tough into the wind

The 1st is a short, sometimes reachable, par 4, after which you cross the road to five more par 4s of varying length over essentially flat terrain.

You then re-cross the road to the 7th tee, and from here, you enter a whole new world of pines, heather, mountain vistas and changes in elevation that will keep you entertained for an hour or so before you emerge back closer to the clubhouse.

The 9th is an absolute joy – a short par 4 where you turn to face the distant Cromdale Hills before flinging yourself at your ball in a determined bid to drive the green 275 yards away down the hill.

Continues below

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Boat of Garten

Looking across the 1st green to the club house at Boat of Garten

Looking across the 1st green to the club house at Boat of Garten

Only the unerringly accurate will ever reap the dividends of blazing away with the driver on this compact James Braid masterpiece, with the wise golfer more concerned about keeping it in play as the course rolls up and down through heather, pines and birch via more than its fair share of doglegs alongside the Strathspey Steam Railway.

This, coupled with occasionally rumpled fairways, will usually render any attempt to overpower this delightful little course futile.

Spey Valley

 

Dave Thomas' Spey Valley is Speyside golf on a gloriously grand scale

Dave Thomas' Spey Valley is Speyside golf on a gloriously grand scale

This Dave Thomas course at Macdonald’s Aviemore Resort has hosted the Challenge Tour’s Scottish Challenge for the last six years.

This is a slightly grander scale of golf on Speyside, playing right beside the river, which seems to separate the 1st and 18th holes from the main body of the course, though in reality you never actually cross the river as it turns away at right angles as you make your way from the 1st green to the 2nd tee.

You stay close to it for a while until venturing further away after the demandingly long par-3 4th and epically long par-5 5th that stretches to 635 yards off the tips.

From here, the course plays over majestic, rolling terrain, with heather, trees and big bunkers the main adversaries for much of the round until the 15th, where a large lake awaits anything pushed right on the approach.

What is your favourite Speyside course? Let us know on our social channels

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response