The architects
Who designed Scotland's golf courses
Scottish golf was shaped by a small group of caddies, champions and clubmakers who turned course design into a profession. Here's who built what — and where to play each of them.
32 courses
James Braid
James Braid (1870–1950) was a Fife joiner's apprentice who became one of the finest golfers of his age — part of the 'Great Triumvirate' with Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor, and the winner of five Opens between 1901 and 1910. Then, in his playing prime, he turned to design, and over the next forty years laid out or remodelled more courses than anyone in Scottish history.
Explore James Braid's courses →21 courses
Old Tom Morris
Tom Morris (1821–1908) is the closest thing golf has to a founding father. A St Andrews caddie and ball-maker who won four Open Championships, he became Keeper of the Green at the Old Course and, from his shop beside the 18th, effectively invented the profession of golf-course architect — laying out new links, extending old ones, and advising clubs the length of Scotland.
Explore Old Tom Morris's courses →The other architects who shaped Scottish golf
Fewer courses each in our database than Braid or Morris, but every one a name worth knowing — with the Scottish courses of each you can play.
Willie Park Jr & Sr
1864–1925Two generations of Open champions from Musselburgh. Willie Park Jr became one of the first travelling course designers and wrote the first serious book on golf architecture.
Harry Colt
1869–1951The most influential inland architect of the early 1900s — a trained lawyer who brought strategic design to parkland and heath, and revised Muirfield.
Archie Simpson
1866–1923Aberdeen-based professional and designer who shaped much of the North-East coast, often alongside Old Tom Morris.
Ben Sayers
1856–1924North Berwick's diminutive champion and clubmaker, whose design work — often with Braid or Morris — runs right along the East Lothian coast.
Philip Mackenzie Ross
1890–1974The master of post-war reconstruction — he rebuilt Turnberry's Ailsa course from a wartime airfield into one of the world's great links.
Donald Steel
b. 1937Prolific modern architect, golf writer and former Walker Cup player, responsible for some of Scotland's best recent links and parkland work.
Alister MacKenzie
1870–1934The Scots-born genius behind Augusta National and Cypress Point did most of his work abroad; in Scotland his clearest surviving hand is the municipal at Hazlehead in Aberdeen.