The architect · Old Tom Morris
Old Tom Morris's Scottish courses
The father of the modern game laid out, extended or advised on links the length of Scotland — from his shop beside the 18th at St Andrews. These are the 21 courses we cover that bear Old Tom's name, from the cradle of the Open to a 'lost links' in the Hebrides.
Tom Morris (1821–1908) is the closest thing golf has to a founding father. A St Andrews caddie and ball-maker who won four Open Championships, he became Keeper of the Green at the Old Course and, from his shop beside the 18th, effectively invented the profession of golf-course architect — laying out new links, extending old ones, and advising clubs the length of Scotland.
He travelled by train and pony-trap with a barrow of tools and an eye for natural golfing ground, and his courses share a generous, links-led intelligence: wide fairways, greens set where the land wanted them, and strategy drawn from dunes and burns rather than imposed on them. Many were later refined by James Braid and others, but the bones — and often the most memorable holes — are Morris's.
His story is also golf's first great tragedy: his son, Young Tom Morris, won four Opens of his own and was the finest player of the age before dying at 24. Father and son lie together in the cathedral graveyard at St Andrews. Here are the Scottish courses bearing Old Tom's name that you can still play.
The headline courses
If you play only a few, make them these — the originals that shaped the game, from the home of the Open to the great far-north links.
Ayrshire · links
Prestwick Golf Club
His home club and the cradle of the Open — laid out by Morris in 1851.
£170–£380
Highlands · links
Royal Dornoch Championship Course
Morris laid out the great far-north links in 1886.
£185–£255
Angus · links
Carnoustie Championship Course
Morris's 1867 routing, since grown into the toughest links on the Open rota.
£265
Argyll · links
Machrihanish Golf Club
Morris, 1879 — the Kintyre links with its legendary opening drive over the beach.
£95–£125
Fife · links
St Andrews Old Course
The links Morris tended for nearly 40 years — the widened fairways and 18th green are his.
£295
Aberdeenshire · links
Cruden Bay Golf Club
Morris and Archie Simpson's 1899 dunescape on the Aberdeenshire coast.
£125–£165
Every Old Tom Morris course we cover
The complete list, from championship links to quiet town and clifftop nines — the reach of the man who professionalised golf-course design.
| Course | Region | Credential | Green fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prestwick Golf Club | Ayrshire | His home club and the cradle of the Open — laid out by Morris in 1851. | £170–£380 |
| Royal Dornoch Championship Course | Highlands | Morris laid out the great far-north links in 1886. | £185–£255 |
| Carnoustie Championship Course | Angus | Morris's 1867 routing, since grown into the toughest links on the Open rota. | £265 |
| Machrihanish Golf Club | Argyll | Morris, 1879 — the Kintyre links with its legendary opening drive over the beach. | £95–£125 |
| St Andrews Old Course | Fife | The links Morris tended for nearly 40 years — the widened fairways and 18th green are his. | £295 |
| Cruden Bay Golf Club | Aberdeenshire | Morris and Archie Simpson's 1899 dunescape on the Aberdeenshire coast. | £125–£165 |
| Muirfield | East Lothian | Morris laid out the 1891 links (later revised by Harry Colt). | £325 |
| St Andrews New Course | Fife | Morris's 1895 'New' Course, built beside the Old he kept. | £115 |
| Crail Balcomie Links | Fife | Morris's 1895 clifftop links at Crail. | £70–£170 |
| Lundin Golf Club | Fife | Morris's original Fife links (later revised by Braid). | £75–£100 |
| Leven Links | Fife | Morris extended the Leven links in 1868. | £55–£75 |
| Dunbar Golf Club | East Lothian | Morris's 1856 routing along the harbour wall. | £85–£115 |
| Prestwick St Nicholas | Ayrshire | Morris, 1892 — Prestwick's older neighbour. | £75–£95 |
| The Nairn Golf Club | Highlands | Morris extended the championship Nairn links in 1890. | £145–£185 |
| Scotscraig Golf Club | Fife | Morris, 1893 — one of Scotland's oldest clubs. | £75–£95 |
| Moray Golf Club (Old Course), Lossiemouth | Moray | Morris laid out the Moray Old Course in 1889. | £80–£150 |
| Cullen Golf Club | Moray | Morris's quirky 1870 links beneath the cliffs at Cullen. | £35–£45 |
| Tain Golf Club | Highlands | Morris, 1890 — a classic Highland links. | £55–£75 |
| Anstruther Golf Club | Fife | Morris advised on the East Neuk nine in 1896. | £15–£20 |
| Ladybank Golf Club | Fife | Morris's 1879 heathland original in Fife. | £60–£215 |
| South Uist Golf Club (Askernish) | Scottish Islands | Askernish — Morris's 1891 'lost links', rediscovered and restored. | £30 |
Old Tom Morris's Scotland, mapped
21 courses from the Borders to the Outer Hebrides — the spread of Old Tom's hand across Scottish golf. Click any pin for the course.
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Old Tom Morris — common questions
How many golf courses did Old Tom Morris design?
Morris had a hand in dozens of courses across Britain — laying out new links, extending old ones and advising clubs from his shop in St Andrews. Exact attribution is hazy for a man who worked in the 1800s, but we feature the Scottish courses securely associated with him that you can play here.
What is Old Tom Morris's most famous course?
He is inseparable from the Old Course at St Andrews, which he tended for nearly forty years as Keeper of the Green. Of the courses he laid out from scratch, Prestwick (the original home of the Open), Royal Dornoch, Carnoustie and Machrihanish are the giants.
Can you play Old Tom Morris courses as a visitor?
Most welcome visitors. Prestwick, Royal Dornoch, Carnoustie, Cruden Bay, Machrihanish, Crail and the Fife links are all bookable; the Old Course at St Andrews is reached through its daily ballot. The far-north and island courses (Tain, Cullen, Askernish) are among the warmest welcomes in golf.
Who was Old Tom Morris?
Thomas Mitchell Morris (1821–1908) — four-time Open champion, greenkeeper, clubmaker and the man who turned course design into a profession. He shaped St Andrews, laid out many of Scotland's great links, and his death in 1908 was mourned as the passing of golf's founding figure.
What's the difference between Old Tom Morris and James Braid courses?
Morris worked a generation earlier (mid-to-late 1800s) and largely followed the natural links land — wide, generous, strategy drawn from the ground. Braid (early 1900s) was a more deliberate strategic architect who popularised the dogleg and remodelled many of Morris's originals. Courses like Lundin, Scotscraig and Dunbar carry both men's fingerprints.
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