Traigh Golf Course

Traigh — Gaelic for beach, pronounced 'try' — sits above the white sands between Arisaig and Mallaig, and the club's own claim is worth quoting straight: the most beautifully sited nine-hole golf course in the world. From the turf you look out at the Small Isles of Eigg, Rum and Muck with the Cuillin of Skye stacked to the north, and the club also claims the title of most westerly course on the UK mainland. There has been golf here since about 1900; the present nine is a 1993–95 redesign by John Salvesen, advised by James MacDonald MBE, the former head greenkeeper of Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The golf is more serious than the postcard suggests. The nine plays 2,462 yards at par 34 — par 68 with an SSS of 65 over two loops, and a course record of just 67. Hole names carry the character: Spion Kop is a 452-yard par 5 over a shoulder of hill, Local Hero nods to the film shot on these beaches, and Traigh Mhor is a 180-yard par 3 where the beach itself does the intimidating.

It runs on trust and a kettle: clubhouse open ten till five from April to October, honesty box or QR code when it isn't, no tee sheet to battle. On the road to the Skye ferry at Mallaig, this is the golfing stop.