In looking to identify a signature 18 in the home of golf we first have to define some terms of reference. A signature hole represents a hole that personifies golf in Scotland. Reflecting the history, the landscape, the character and in some ways the people. We have also opted to chose a hole only if it corresponds to the layout, so for instance hole no 1 is our pick of all the first holes in Scotland and so it is for the entire 18. So here goes

Hole No 1) St Andrews (Old Course)
Length: 370 yards Par: 4
Excitement tempered with humility is the overwhelming emotion when you tee up on the first at the home of golf. A generous fairway will accept all comers, but beware of the out of bounds on the right. Having reached the green with your second carrying the Swilcan Burn putt out in two for par, taking a moment to reflect on the hallowed names who have gone before.

Hole No 2) Cruden Bay
Length: 331 yards Par: 4
A short par 4, we have include in part due to our love for the beauty of the Cruden Bay Course. The green is defended with bunkers left and right, while the plateau green is the primary feature.

Hole No 3) Prestwick Golf Club (Old Course)
Length: 482 yards Par: 5
With peers like Turnberry, Glasgow & Western Gailes the pressure is on Aryshire Clubs to come up to the mark and Prestwick Golf Course certainly has. “The Cardinal” 3rd at Prestwick is not overly long at just 482 yards yet it provides a great test from tee to green. Fairway bunkers are set to catch any wayward tee shots while the Pow Burn on the left will catch any shot akin to a hook. Marking 5 on the card is no bad result here.

Hole No 4) Royal Dornoch
Length: 418 yards Par: 4
The journey north into the highlands of Scotland can be a long one, but by way of reward the golf gods gifted us Royal Dornoch. The fourth is a fair test of golf that quickly becomes unfair when the winds blow. Tee off aiming for the statue of the Duke, stay straight and life will be easy. A generous, but heavily undulating green waits.

Hole No 5) Machrihanish Golf Club
Length: 385 yards Par: 4
Old Tom Morris, Scotland’s famed course designer described Machrihanish as “specifically designed by the almighty for playing golf”. The Punch Bowl 5th gives options from the tee, drive for a narrow gap of fairway or ease up to give yourself a greater landing area. Having negotiated the tee shot, a long narrow strip of green awaits your iron shot.

Hole No 6) Carnouiste Golf Links
Length: 490 yards Par: 5
Carnouiste know by many as The Beast has been home to a golf stretch since 1520. It is regarded by many as the most brutal test of golf in Scotland. The sixth is typical of Carnouiste, off the tee two treacherous bunkers await. Bunkers, Burns and a small landing area on the green make the hole fiendish all the way.

Hole No 7) North Berwick (West Course)
Length: 354 yards Par 4
North Berwick West Course is officially the 13th oldest course in the world. A history that saw some of its founding fathers do battle at Waterloo. The 7th know as the Redan is often complicated by the winds blowing in from the North Sea and the Eil Burn that winds its way just shy of the green.

Hole No 8 Royal Troon Golf Club
Length: 129 yards Par: 3
Perhaps Scotland’s best known golf hole, the Postage Stamp as it is affectionately know gets its name due to a diminutive putting area. At only 129 yards, length is not a problem, at no more than 25 feet in diameter at its widest point the green is. For those who wander left off the tee a mounding dune awaits, for those going right or short cavernous bunkers await. Best of luck……

Hole No 9) Turnberry Golf Club (Ailsa Course)
Length: 455 yards Par: 4
Nicklaus and Watson fought out the dual in the sun here in 1977, two legends of the game fated with a legendary venue in Turnberry. The 9th nicknamed Bruce’s Castle skirts the seaside with varying elevation. Teeing from a rocky out crop suspended seaward a good drive is required to carry and be straight. An over generous green sits ahead on the 9th for those that avoid the sand dunes, the Scottish rocks and the distraction of the picturesque Turnberry Lighthouse.

Hole No 10) Loch Lomond Golf Club
Length: 455 yards Par 4
Tom Weiskopf the first American to design a Scottish golf course is quoted as saying Loch Lomond is to be his ‘lasting memorial to golf’. The Arn Burn 10th is a picturesque yet challenging golf hole. As your tee shot whistles down the fairway, you ball will be framed against the backdrop of Glen Fruin in the distance. On landing you must hope it is not framed by the Arn Burn which collects errant tee shots without remorse. A mid iron should see you safely to the green.

Hole No 11) Royal Troon (Old Course)
Length: 488 yards Par: 4
Testing yourself against Troons Railway hole, a long par four that runs parallel to a train line becomes a little easier when you find the club members play it as a 5. Off the tee you have proper Scottish gorse on the left, the type you don’t mess with. While the train line acts as a physical and mental obstacle, the former by way of straddling the length of the hole, the late by way of the regular passenger services that whistle by. Even at 5 making par is an achievement.

Hole No 12) Machrihanish Golf Club
Length: 513 yards Par: 5

It may be a bit of a trip to get to but Machrihanish Golf Club is worth the effort. The 12th is memorable from tee to green. The mounding dunes of the fairway are as beautiful as they are ‘ugly’ while the inverted green rises and drops in elevation to add to the challenge.

Hole No 13) Muirfield Links
Length: 191 yards Par: 3
In contrast to much of the Muirfield layout where mounding dunes are a rarity the 13th has the sort that win ‘best of breed’. An honest hole in many ways the dangers are obvious – 3 cavernous greenside bunkers backed by mounding dunes and a vast undulating green.

Hole No 14) Gleneagles (Queens Course)
Length: 215 yards Par: 3
The very name conquers up imagery of power and beauty in perfect harmony. The raw natural beauty of the Perthshire countryside is apparent from the tee. A long par 3 with a multi level green the 14th is nicknamed “Witches Bowster”. Distractions abound at Gleneagles – including the King’s & Centenary Course.

Hole No 15) Kingsbarns Golf Links
Length: 212 yards Par: 3
Kingsbarns, just six miles south from St Andrews may be a new course (2000) but it sits in an ancient landscape. The 15th is a magical hole, from the tee your target sits high on a rocky peninsula, surrounded on 3 sides by the North Sea.

Hole No 16) Carnouiste
Length: 245 yards Par: 3
The Barry Burn is the opening hole in what many consider the greatest closing stretch in golf. A gargantuan hole at 245 yards made even longer when the wind blows. Protected by typically insipid Scottish bunkers on the left and right with a heavily contoured green coming away with par here is tantamount to

Hole no 17 St Andrews
Length: 461 yards Par: 4
The Road Hole is likely to be the most photographed hole in golf with the most infamous bunker ‘Road Bunker’. At just over 460 yards the hole is a long and difficult par 4.

Hole No 18 Leven Links
Length: 455 yards Par: 4
At Leven you feel that wonderful fusion of golfing history and natural beauty, resulting in an exhilarating golf experience. The 18th begins in the course epicentre and faces back into town, before hurdling a typical Scottish burn as you approach the green.

The big names of Scottish Golf have largely held way i our signature 18, but lesser lights such as Leven have also shown well. Perhaps a surpise is that Machrihanish picks up two holess on the 18.

Please post comments below with what you believe to be Scotlands dream 18.