YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO GOLF COURSES IN ENGLAND

English Golf Courses - Holiday Pages

Golf in Aviemore

There are few locations in the world quite as stimulating or as instantly captivating as the Scottish Highlands. With mysterious glens, spectacular mountain peaks, crystal lochs and ever-curious wildlife, it is a region that casts a spell upon all those who visit it. It stands to reason, therefore, that it should be a top pick for golf fans.

The area in and around Aviemore, one of the region’s most picturesque and popular towns which sits in the shadows of the magnificent Cairngorm Mountains, is blessed with a profusion of great golf courses, with many designers rightly utilising the enormous potential for golf in the area.
There are no fewer than eight golf courses all within a pitching wedge of one another and the postcard-delights of Aviemore.

The newest addition to this collection is Spey Valley which only opened in the summer of 2006! Designed by the legendary golf course designer Dave Thomas – a man who has laid out countless courses all around the world – it is Scotland’s newest championship course and is also where the longest hole in the ‘Home of Golf’ is to be found. Thomas himself believes it ‘could become the jewel in my crown’ with time and the general consensus from those lucky enough to have played it already is that it most certainly will.

The Boat of Garten’s reputation is, by now, well-established. Indeed, this James Braid design has been called ‘the course every Scottish golfer should play’, and with good reason too!

Braid also had a hand in the design of Grantown-on-Spey, although it was Willie Park Jr who laid out the original course. This part-parkland, part-woodland course enjoys splendid views of the Cairngorms and the Cromdale Hills and is a joy to play.

Craggan and Newtonmore are two more 18-hole crackers that play alongside the River Spey, offering some exceptional views of the spectacular surrounding countryside, whilst Kingussie is a wonderful Harry Vardon-designed course that rises to over 1,000 feet above sea level in places to afford some magnificent panoramic views of the Highlands. The inland delights of Craggan should not be overlooked either.

Only got time for nine holes? Why not sink your teeth into Abernethy, a half-size courses with just as much to offer as its full-size neighbours. Fringed by imposing Scots pine and always in immaculate condition, it’s well worth a go as, indeed, is a golfing holiday in the Aviemore region.