The Cheapest Golf Courses in Scotland

The cheapest golf in Scotland starts at £8. Not a short executive course. Not a pitch-and-putt — well, a couple are. But the rest are proper 18-hole rounds on the oldest playing ground in the country. Scotland's municipal and council-run courses are a genuine anomaly in world golf — real courses, real turf, real conditions, priced for the people who live here rather than the people who've flown in.

These are the cheapest, organised by price tier. For a longer regional treatment with the same low-price brief, see also our 20 best cheap golf courses in Scotland under £30 — that piece is structured by region rather than by price band.

Under £20

Wee Braids, Edinburgh — from £11 (9 holes)

Edinburgh Leisure's short 9-hole course on the Braids hilltop, on part of the old second Braids layout (the 18-hole "No. 2" closed years ago). Views over the city, the Pentlands, the Firth, for about a tenner. The cheapest way onto the hill.

Carrick Knowe, Edinburgh — from £18

West Edinburgh parkland. Flat, tree-lined, 18 holes. The most straightforward of the Edinburgh Leisure courses — good for an evening round or a social game where the scenery matters less than the pace.

Knightswood Park, Glasgow — from £8

A nine-hole short course in Anniesland, run by Glasgow Life. Eight pounds is the cheapest documented green fee in any Scottish city. Walk-up welcome.

Portobello, Edinburgh — from £14 (9 holes)

Nine-hole municipal in Portobello Park, Edinburgh Leisure-managed. Short and walkable, the cheapest Edinburgh Leisure course on the books.

Under £25

Musselburgh Old Links — from £20 (9 holes)

The oldest playing golf course in the world. Nine holes on the Musselburgh racecourse, shared with horses who cross the fairways on race days. No rough management, no traps, no pretension — just the oldest golfing ground in Scotland. Played by kings, cheated on by cheats, walked by every serious golfer who passes through Edinburgh.

6 miles from Edinburgh city centre. No advance booking required most days.

Littlehill, Glasgow — from £16

The only 18-hole municipal Glasgow Life still runs after the 2020 closures. Parkland on the north side of the city, par 70, more varied than its modest price suggests. Properly maintained. Weekday mornings are quiet; weekends are tight.

Hazlehead MacKenzie, Aberdeen — from £22

Aberdeen's inland municipal flagship — an Alister MacKenzie design (yes, Augusta's MacKenzie) on parkland west of the city. Run by Sport Aberdeen, visitor-friendly, often quieter than King's Links. The MacKenzie pedigree at council prices is the kind of thing only Scotland offers.

King's Links, Aberdeen — from £25

A proper links on Aberdeen's Esplanade, 2 miles from the city centre. North Sea wind, sandy turf, 18 holes. Not Royal Aberdeen — but a genuine links round at a fraction of the price.

Cathkin Braes, Glasgow — from £25 (private members' club, weekday visitor rate)

Not a municipal — a private members' club founded in 1888 — but worth listing here because the weekday visitor green fee is £25 and the course is one of the best moorland rounds within a Glasgow postcode. Elevated above Rutherglen with views north to the Campsie Fells, par 71, heather and firm turf.

Under £30

Braid Hills No. 1, Edinburgh — from £22

The serious one. Edinburgh's highest course, panoramic views, proper test of golf. Weekday twilight rates bring it under £20. One of the best-value rounds in any European capital city.

Silverknowes, Edinburgh — from £22

Firth of Forth shoreline, links character, flat. The most seaside of the Edinburgh Leisure courses. Wind is the defence on the exposed holes nearest the water.

Grantown-on-Spey — from £28

Speyside parkland in the Cairngorms. Members' course with a genuine welcome for visitors. Green fee around £28 and the setting — surrounded by Scots pine and silver birch — is among the most beautiful in Scotland at any price point.

Cullen Golf Club — from £30

Nine holes on the Moray coast, with the viaduct and the bay as backdrop. One of the most scenic cheap rounds in Scotland. The raised green on the 3rd hole is the most photographed in Banffshire. Visitor-friendly, inexpensive, genuinely memorable.

Why cheap golf in Scotland is different

The price difference between a £20 round in Scotland and a £20 round in England is not marginal — it's categorical. King's Links in Aberdeen is a genuine links with North Sea wind and firm sandy turf. Musselburgh is the oldest golf course in the world. Braid Hills No. 1 has views that a luxury resort course would charge three times as much to offer.

Scotland's council-run courses exist because golf in Scotland is not a luxury sport. It never was. The courses listed above are where local golfers play every week — not because they can't afford better, but because the courses are genuinely good.

Browse all budget courses by price: under £20 · under £25 · under £30 · under £50

Going deeper on a single city? See cheap golf in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Stirling, or our city guides for Dundee and Inverness. For the broader explainer, read what municipal golf in Scotland actually is.