Montrose Medal Course

A town record from 1562 places golf at Montrose, which — if the documentation is read straightforwardly — gives this stretch of the Angus coast one of the earliest written evidences of the game anywhere in Scotland. The claim is made carefully by the club, and historians accept it as credible if not provable in the way that the Edinburgh records of 1744 are. What is certain is that this coastline has been played over for a very long time, which gives the Medal Course a quality that no architectural design can reproduce: the ground has been shaped by centuries of use rather than by a designer's plan.

The Medal Course is the primary 18-hole layout at Montrose Golf Links, run on a trust model by the local authority. Par is 71; the course plays along the North Sea coast north of Carnoustie, sufficiently far from the main Angus links circuit that most visitors drive past on the way to Carnoustie without stopping. This is their loss. The terrain is genuine linksland — fast, firm in summer, exposed to a North Sea wind that plays from any angle — and the routing has been shaped by years of play rather than any designer's intervention. The Broomfield course shares the same ground and offers a shorter alternative.

The practical character of Montrose is part of what makes it valuable. No handicap certificate is required; there's no dress code beyond the standard decency that any course enforces; the green fee is £65–£95 depending on season; and tee times are available most days without extensive advance planning. For visitors staying in Dundee (30 minutes south) combining Carnoustie with Montrose gives a full day of Angus links golf without paying the premium that either venue's more famous southern neighbours command.

The Medal Course pairs naturally with Edzell Golf Club (17 miles inland, wooded parkland, very different character) for a two-round day across different terrain types. Or simply stay on the coast and play the Broomfield in the afternoon. The town of Montrose itself — Georgian streets, a good natural harbour, the Montrose Basin behind — is quieter and less commercial than most of the Fife and East Lothian towns that benefit from golf traffic.