Trip Itineraries
North Coast 500 Golf Guide: Best Courses, Itinerary & Budget Tips
The NC500 passes directly through some of the finest golf in Scotland. Here's how to plan a route that actually works — courses, costs, honest logistics, and a 5-day itinerary.
The North Coast 500 is a marketing name for a driving route that Scottish people had been doing in both directions since the road was paved. It goes clockwise from Inverness up the east coast to Caithness, across the top to the north coast, down the west coast through Ullapool and Gairloch, and back to Inverness through Glen Carron. About 500 miles. Most people do it in five to seven days.
What the tourist material doesn't mention — and what anyone who has actually driven it knows — is that the east coast leg passes directly through some of the best golf in Scotland. Not near it. Through it. The A9 north of Inverness goes through Tain, past the Dornoch Firth, through Golspie and Brora, and on to Wick and Thurso. Royal Dornoch is a four-minute drive off the main road. Brora is right on it.
This is not a case of rerouting a road trip to squeeze in golf. The golf is already on the route.
One honest caveat first
The east coast has the courses. The west coast has the scenery.
If you're planning an NC500 golf trip, most of your golf will happen in the first half — Inverness to Thurso. The west coast return leg has fewer courses, smaller clubs, and longer distances between them. Gairloch is the main stop on the west side, and it's nine holes on a hillside above the village. Worth a round. Not worth rerouting a trip around.
If you want to play as much golf as possible on the NC500, weight your schedule towards the east coast and use the west coast leg for driving, eating, and looking at things.
The east coast: course by course
Inverness to Dornoch — the warm-up stretch
Muir of Ord Golf Club (£25–35) sits 15 miles north of Inverness on the Black Isle. Parkland, 18 holes, well-maintained. A good first-morning warm-up before the serious courses further north. Profile →
Strathpeffer Spa Golf Club (£25–35) is a short detour west of Dingwall — 18 holes of highland moorland at around 800 feet, above a Victorian spa town. Good condition, honest fees. If you want a round that looks nothing like the links ahead of you, play it on day one. Profile →
Tain — the overlooked one
Tain Golf Club (£55–75 seasonal) is a proper links on the south shore of the Dornoch Firth, and it gets overlooked almost entirely because Royal Dornoch is visible across the water. This is short-sighted. Tain is a good links course — natural, well-routed, with turf conditions that hold up well through the season — and the green fee is a fraction of Dornoch's.
The natural pairing is Tain in the morning and Royal Dornoch in the afternoon (or the following day), crossing the Dornoch Firth on the A949. Drive time Tain to Dornoch: about 25 minutes.
Dornoch — the reason most people are here
Royal Dornoch Championship (£185–255 seasonal) is the highland pilgrimage course. Tom Watson said it was his favourite round of golf in the world. Donald Ross grew up here and took what he learned to America, where it shaped the design of Pinehurst No. 2. The course sits on a raised beach above the village with turf that runs fast in summer.
Visitor access is genuine — you don't need connections, just a tee time. Two nights in Dornoch is right. Spend the first on the Championship course and use the second day strategically.
Royal Dornoch Struie Course (£75–95) is the second course at Dornoch. It plays over slightly different terrain from the Championship layout and is used mainly by members and visitors who want a second day without paying full Championship fees again. Condition is good. It's not Royal Dornoch, but it's a proper round on proper turf for a realistic price.
Royal Dornoch Championship profile → | Royal Dornoch Struie profile →
For detail on the value question at Dornoch, see Is Royal Dornoch Worth the Drive (and the £240)?
Brora and Golspie — two of the best value courses in Scotland
Brora Golf Club (£65–85) is thirty minutes north of Dornoch and gets discussed in the same breath, not just because of proximity. James Braid designed it in 1923. Sheep graze the fairways; the flags have electric fencing at their bases to keep the animals off the greens. The turf is natural, fast, and uneven. This is not a polished resort course — it is maintained by a small club on a coastal strip that takes whatever the North Sea offers. For the money, one of the most characterful rounds on the NC500.
Golspie Golf Club (£45–55 seasonal) is five miles south of Brora, which means it usually gets skipped by golfers driving to Brora. This is a mistake the course doesn't quite deserve. Eighteen holes, links-and-heathland mix, best from May to September when the gorse is manageable and the ground is firm. Not essential, but a good morning round before an afternoon at Brora.
Helmsdale — the stopover
Helmsdale Golf Club (£20–25, honesty box) is nine holes on a hillside above a fishing village between Brora and Wick. Small club, no pretensions, views over the estuary. If you're driving through and want an hour of something that feels genuinely local, stop here. Profile →
Wick and Reay — the far north
Wick Golf Club (£35–45) is on the Caithness coast at the eastern edge of the route's northern turn. Eighteen holes, honesty arrangement when the clubhouse is unmanned, which is often. Wick is a working town that doesn't dress itself up for visitors, and the golf club has the same quality — functional, honest, and considerably better than the green fee suggests.
Reay Golf Club (£35–45, honesty box when clubhouse closed) is near Thurso — the most northerly 18-hole links on the British mainland. You play it partly for the golf, partly because of where it is. Links turf at the top of the country, the Pentland Firth visible from the fairways.
West coast: Gairloch
Gairloch Golf Club (£15–20) is nine holes on a hillside above the village of Gairloch, on the west coast leg of the NC500. The views across Loch Gairloch to the Torridon mountains are the reason most people play it. The golf is secondary to the location but not embarrassing. At £15–20 for nine holes, it is one of the best-value rounds of scenery-per-pound in Scotland.
Drive time from Thurso via Tongue: about 2.5 hours. Drive time from Gairloch back to Inverness: about 1 hour 45 minutes via the A832.
Suggested 5-day golf itinerary
This is built around the clockwise NC500 route, starting and ending in Inverness. It assumes one hire car, two players, and a preference for golf over sightseeing.
Day 1 — Inverness to Dornoch via Tain
Drive: Inverness → Tain (45 min). Morning round at Tain Golf Club (£65 seasonal). Drive: Tain → Dornoch (25 min). Check in. Afternoon round at Royal Dornoch Struie (£85). Dinner in Dornoch village.
Green fees: £150 per player. Drive: ~70 miles.
Day 2 — Dornoch
Full day at Royal Dornoch Championship (£220 mid-season). This is the day you made the drive for. No rushing. Walk the village in the evening.
Green fees: £220 per player. Drive: minimal.
Day 3 — Dornoch to Brora to Wick
Morning round at Brora Golf Club (£75). Drive: Brora → Helmsdale → Wick (1h 15 min with a stop). Optional: 9 holes at Helmsdale (£22, honesty box). Overnight in Wick.
Green fees: £75–97 per player. Drive: ~50 miles.
Day 4 — Wick to Thurso and the north coast
Morning round at Wick Golf Club (£40). Drive to Reay/Thurso (20 min). Afternoon round at Reay Golf Club (£40). Continue west on the north coast road. Overnight near Thurso or continue to Tongue.
Green fees: £80 per player. Drive: ~60 miles.
Day 5 — west coast to Inverness via Gairloch
Drive from Thurso area south via Tongue, Lairg, and west to Gairloch (~2.5 hours). Morning round at Gairloch Golf Club (£18). Drive back to Inverness via the A832 (~2 hours). Return hire car.
Green fees: £18 per player. Drive: ~180 miles — the longest day.
Approximate totals per player (5 days, 8–9 rounds): £543–600 in green fees, depending on season. Accommodation and food on top.
Budget tips
Play Struie instead of the Championship for day two. At £85 versus £220, it's the same turf and largely the same experience for a second round. The Championship course is worth full price once. After that, Struie is the sensible call.
The honesty box courses are among the best value in Scotland. Helmsdale, Reay, and Wick when unmanned all run on the honour system. £20–45 for genuine links golf in spectacular locations. Bring coins and the right attitude.
Go May to September. Most Highland courses are best from late April onwards when the gorse is flowering and the ground has dried. Golspie in particular is noted as being best May to September. The days are long — in June you can tee off at 20:30 and finish in daylight.
Book Dornoch Championship early. The tee sheet fills from March onwards for peak summer dates. Everything else on the route can be booked at shorter notice or walked up to.
The drive-time tool helps if you're planning which days to front-load. The east coast legs are short — Dornoch to Brora is 30 minutes — but Day 5's west coast return to Inverness is a full day of driving even without the Gairloch detour.
Logistics
Car hire is essential. The Far North railway line between Inverness and Wick exists, but services are infrequent and won't get you to most of the courses without a taxi. Hire a car from Inverness. There is no real workaround.
Inverness is the right start point. It has an airport (direct flights from London, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam), good accommodation options, and is a natural launch for Day 1.
Dornoch rewards two nights. The village is small and pleasant, the golf club serves food and drink, and a second day lets you play Struie without rushing.
Thurso and Wick are functional, not romantic. Working towns. Clean, cheap accommodation. One night in either is enough.
Weather. May to September is the window. June and early July offer the longest days — you can tee off at 20:30 and finish in daylight. September has thinner crowds and better light, but more wind on the north coast.
Course profiles: Royal Dornoch Championship, Brora Golf Club, Tain Golf Club, Reay Golf Club. Plan your driving: drive-time tool. On the Dornoch value question: Is Royal Dornoch Worth the Drive?