Gairloch Golf Club

Gairloch Golf Club occupies nine holes on the south shore of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, at one of the most visually remarkable sites of any golf course in Scotland. Founded 1898 during the era of Victorian Highland tourism, the course sits on a strip of links-influenced ground between the road and the loch, with the Torridon mountains on the eastern horizon and the Skye Cuillin visible over the water to the north-west on clear days.

Nine holes, par 33, around 2,300 yards. The course plays along the lochside and up into slightly higher moorland terrain behind the village before returning to the water. Several greens are positioned to give the golfer a view across the loch. The golf itself is modest by any standard; the setting is not modest at all. This is one of the courses that appears in lists of Scotland's most scenic nine-hole layouts — typically without any claim about the difficulty of the holes, because the scenery renders the question irrelevant.

Green fee is £15–20. The village of Gairloch is on the North Coast 500 route. The RSPB reserve at Beinn Eighe, Inverewe Garden (a remarkable Victorian tropical garden sustained by the Gulf Stream), and the seal colony near the harbour are all within a short drive. For golfers on the NC500 who want a round that matches the landscape of the journey, Gairloch is the natural stop.