Six golf courses to play in 2026 - places to put on your Scottish bucket list

So, at the request of my sports editor and he’s willing to allow me to plan visits in my working schedule, here are the courses in Scotland that I’d like to play for the first time in 2026.

Let me know if you agree and if you’ve enjoyed playing them in the past:

Askernish

A visit to South Uist for a hit here has been on my radar for a good while now and thanks to Stuart Morrison, the PGA professional at Tain, for re-whetting my appetite as he raved about it as we sat together at the PGA in Scotland Lunch in Glasgow recently. It is billed on the club’s website as “one of the most unique golf experiences in the world” and a visit simply has to be made to find out why so many people rave about what was a lost Old Tom Morris course before being brought back to life.

Old Petty at Cabot Highlands

Arnold Palmer had been lined up to design a second course at Cabot Highlands, which is probably better known to many as Castle Stuart, before passing away in 2016 and the task fell instead to fellow American Tom Doak. It had a two-month soft opening in 2025 and, having been a big fan of the original course at the Inverness venue from the moment I first clapped eyes on it, I am eager to see what Doak has come up with on a piece of land that always looked ripe for development in time, with the resort now under the Cabot umbrella.

Gullane No 3

The No 1 and No 2 Courses at the East Lothian venue are terrific tests and so, apparently, is the No 3 Course. At only 5,134 yards, it may be the shortest of the trio and has a par of 67 but there’s a reason why so many members and visitors as well love a hit on it, with many describing it as the club’s “feel-good” course. If I’m driving along the A198 into Gullane towards the end of 2026, I want to know what it’s like to play those first three and last three holes on the south side of it and the others on Gullane Hill.

Ailsa Course at Turnberry

This technically wouldn’t be a first visit here as I’ve been fortunate to play the Ailsa Course a few times in the past, including one game at the launch of the Race to Dubai when we were joined on the tenth tee for a photograph by Sergio Garcia after he’d been flown in by helicopter as the star guest. I’ve not played it, though, since the latest changes made by Martin Ebert and to hear people rave about what’s be done says it all because the big changes that had already been made under the ownership of Donald Trump had made it a way better golf course and, believe me, that’s saying something because it’s always been a special place.

Stonehaven

If you take the train up to Aberdeen, your appetite for a visit here is likely to be whetted as you get a glimpse of a course that sits on the Braes of Cowie above the town and overlooks the North Sea. It’s reckoned to be clifftop golf at its best, with the most dramatic hole believed to be the 15th, where the challenge includes navigating a massive ravine and the green sits on Garron Point alongside the cliff edge of Perthumie Bay. Having only really been in Stonehaven for petrol, it’s high time I was getting my clubs out there.

Schloss Roxburghe

I remember being here for a celebrity match not long after it opened in 1997, when Colin Montgomerie and Gavin Hastings teamed up for Scotland against Nick Faldo and the former prince Andrew representing England. My first visit back - or at least I think it was - was to cover the 2025 Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A on the HotelPlanner Tour and I have to say I was very impressed. It’s been totally transformed from an accommodation point of view since being bought by Schloss, a German hotelier, and the Dave Thomas-designed course looks a really good test, with the par-5 14th, which is played from an elevated tee and is flanked by the River Teviot with a Victorian railway viaduct as a backdrop being the signature hole.