Women & Junior
Women's Golf Scotland: Where to Start, Best Courses & Welcoming Clubs
Scotland's most famous clubs have not always had the best reputation for welcoming women. That has changed — some of it recently, some more gradually. Here's a practical and honest guide to women's golf in Scotland: where to learn, where to play, and which clubs are genuinely welcoming.
Golf in Scotland has historically been a sport shaped by men's clubs, men's tee times, and men's committee rooms. That's changing, though not uniformly. Some clubs that excluded women from full membership until recently now have active women's sections and Saturday mixed foursomes on the main tee. Others are still working through decades of embedded culture.
This guide is practical rather than polemical: where are the best courses for women visitors, where are the most welcoming clubs, and what's the best way to start playing golf in Scotland if you're a woman who hasn't played before or hasn't played much?
The clubs that changed — and what changed
Muirfield is the most prominent example of a club that changed under pressure. The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers voted to continue excluding women from full membership in 2016, prompting the R&A to remove Muirfield from the Open Championship rota. A second vote in March 2017 reversed the decision by 498 to 123, and the R&A restored the club to the rota; the first women's memberships were ratified in 2019. Women are now full members, and Muirfield hosted the AIG Women's Open in 2022. The episode is discussed in Scottish golf circles with varying levels of embarrassment and pragmatism.
Royal Troon admitted women members for the first time in 2016. The timing of both Troon and Muirfield's changes was directly linked to the pressure of Open Championship hosting rights.
Royal Aberdeen and most of the other major private clubs now have full women's membership. The reality on the ground — whether women feel as welcome as men in the clubhouse and on the tees at peak times — varies more than the official membership policies suggest.
Courses that are genuinely welcoming
St Andrews Links Trust courses (the publicly run courses: Old Course, New Course, Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum, Balgove) are operated as public facilities with equal access. The women's tee lengths are well-maintained and there's no sense that women visitors are anything other than the norm.
Gullane Golf Club has an active women's section and good facilities. The three courses offer different levels of difficulty, with Gullane No. 2 and No. 3 being good starting points for visitors.
North Berwick Golf Club is welcoming and the West Links course is one of the best in East Lothian for any player. North Berwick town itself is very amenable to visitors of all kinds.
Crail Golfing Society — small, friendly, informal. The Balcomie Links is one of Scotland's most characterful coastal courses and the club has none of the stuffiness of the larger Edinburgh-area clubs.
Carnoustie Golf Links — public access to the Championship, Burnside, and Buddon Links. Women's tees available on all three. Visitor-friendly and well-managed.
Royal Dornoch — one of the best courses in Scotland and consistently reported as welcoming to women visitors. The club's approach to visitors generally is notably less formal than Edinburgh-area clubs of similar stature.
Starting golf in Scotland as a woman
Scotland Golf Academy / local clubs — most Scottish golf clubs offer beginners' lessons and many run women-specific beginner groups. The PGA coaches at municipal courses across Edinburgh and Glasgow offer affordable group lessons (£15–25 per session).
Get a handicap. Some prestigious courses require a handicap certificate for visitor rounds. A Handicap Index can be established through any affiliated club or through England Golf's (or Scottish Golf's) handicap portal after submitting scorecards. The process is straightforward and takes a few weeks.
Junior/beginner-friendly courses first. Playing Braid Hills or Silverknowes in Edinburgh, or Belleisle in Ayr, before attempting Muirfield removes the anxiety of a formal first round. Scotland's municipal courses are excellent and completely non-judgmental.
Women's tour events in Scotland
The AIG Women's British Open has been played at Carnoustie (2011), Kingsbarns (2017) and Muirfield (2022). The rota is separate from the men's and doesn't follow the same venues.
The Solheim Cup — the equivalent of the Ryder Cup for women — last visited Scotland in 2019 at Gleneagles, won by Europe in one of the most dramatic finishes in the competition's history. Catriona Matthew captained the European side.
Scottish Women's Open — DP World Tour Women's event, rotating between Scottish venues.
Equipment for women visitors
Most Scottish clubs that offer club hire have women's sets available. Quality varies. Calling ahead to check the specific set is worth doing if you have particular requirements (graphite shafts, lighter clubs). The complete guide to hiring golf clubs in Scotland covers what to ask for and what to expect.
For buying: Scotland's larger pro shops (St Andrews, Carnoustie, Royal Troon, R&A Shop) stock women's equipment. Prices are comparable to UK averages.
The honest view
Scotland's golf culture has been changing, and the change is genuine at most clubs that visitors are likely to encounter. The experience of visiting a famous Scottish links as a woman golfer is, in 2026, broadly positive at the courses covered in this guide.
The residual culture — older men who treat the Saturday tee as their historical right, committees that schedule women's access at the least convenient times — exists and is real. It's becoming the exception rather than the rule.
Playing golf in Scotland as a woman in 2026 is significantly better than it was a decade ago. It's not perfect. The trajectory is right.
For starting golf in Scotland from scratch: How to Start Playing Golf in Scotland — Step by Step. For junior golf: Junior Golf Scotland — How to Get Your Kids Into Golf on a Budget.
About the author
Gary
Editor and founder of Birdie Brae. Based in Glasgow, 14.5 handicap, playing since 2022. Has played 40+ Scottish courses and started this site because most Scottish golf content is written by people trying to sell you a package holiday.
More about Gary →Courses in this article
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