An aerial view of North Berwick Golf Club in North Berwick, Scotland. Getty Images GOLF’s Top 100 course panelists are among the most respected and well-traveled course evaluators in the game. They’re also keen to share their opinions.
In this GOLF.com series, we unlock their unvarnished views on all questions course-related. Check out GOLF’s latest Top 100 Courses in the U.
S. , Top 100 Courses in the World , Top 100 Courses You Can Play , Best Municipal Courses in the U.S.
and 100 Best Short Courses . Royal Troon, host of this week’s Open Championship, is in a golf-rich region of the world. What are your five must-play Scottish golf courses? Hindrik Gommer, panelist since 2015 : In the Netherlands, we are fortunate to have a direct flight to Inverness, a gateway to golf in the Scottish Highlands , where tee times run from 5 a.
m. to 8 p.m.
in the summer. My top-five recommendations in the region are: Royal Dornoch (Donald Ross’s home course, rightly ranked among the finest in the world); Nairn (Old Tom Morris designed it); Brora (a rustic gem 20 miles north of Dornoch); Castle Stuart (designed by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, it is now part of the Cabot Collection, and next year it will have a sibling course, designed by Tom Doak); and Skibo Castle (exclusive, expensive and immensely enjoyable). Paul Arnould, panelist since 2023 : Fair warning.
Getting to all of these in a single trip will require a lot of driving, or winging around in a whirlybird. Let’s start with C.