Prestonfield Golf Club

No other Scottish golf course lets you read the city's history off the tee quite like Prestonfield. The club sits under Arthur's Seat within a mile of Princes Street — its own strapline is Edinburgh's city centre golf club, and it's earned: less than ten minutes from the Old Town, steps from several bus routes, and the view from the fairways takes in the capital's most famous landmark for most of the round. The ground was grazing land when plans for a course first took shape in 1895; the club itself was established in 1920 as the Edinburgh Civil Service Golf Society, with a repurposed tram car as the first pro shop and an army hut for changing rooms.

The design pedigree is remarkable for a club this unassuming. The early layout was revised by Dr Alister MacKenzie — joint designer of Augusta National — with new tees, greens and bunkers, before James Braid was appointed in 1928 to plan a new course, and the club's own account is that it has changed little from his design since. It's a proud member of the Association of James Braid Golf Courses today. The card is par 70 at 6,192 yards off the Black tees with a slope of 126, tree-lined and beautifully contoured rather than long, and the hole names carry the history: the twelfth is 'Little France', after the district where Mary, Queen of Scots — said to be a keen golfer herself — kept her French retinue.

Visitor golf is booked per slot through the club's online tee booking — expect £85–£90 a head in high summer, with groups a little cheaper per player than a lone golfer at peak times, and each tee time priced individually so it pays to look at the day's slots before you commit. Clubs, trolleys and buggies are all available to hire and the club runs caddies, which suits the sightseeing crowd it openly courts. Voted Scottish Golf Club of the Year 2025, and the welcome backs it up — this is the round to book when you're in the capital without a car and still want proper golf rather than a pitch-and-putt compromise.