What Are Scottish Golf Courses Called?

While many golfers correctly associate the term links with Scotland, the home of golf offers a rich variety of courses, each with its own name and unique playing characteristics. Knowing what these courses are called is the first step to understanding how to play them. This article will break down the different types of Scottish golf courses - from the famous coastal links to lush parklands and rugged heathlands - and give you the simple, practical tips you need to conquer them all.

The Heart of Scottish Golf: Understanding "Links"

Let's start with the big one. If you only learn one term, make it links. But importantly, "links" isn’t just any golf course by the sea. It's a specific type of terrain, and understanding that is fundamental to understanding Scottish golf. The term comes from the Old English word "hlinc," meaning ridge or rising ground. Historically, this was the useless, sandy ground that linked the sea with the more fertile farmland further inland.

This "linksland" was considered worthless for agriculture because of its sandy soil, bumpy topography, and constant exposure to salty wind. But for a few hardy Scots with sticks and feather-stuffed balls, it was perfect. The sandy soil drained water instantly, and the short-fescue grasses created a firm, fast-playing surface. The game of golf wasn't designed for linksland, it evolved naturally from it.

What Makes a True Links Course?

When you step onto a true links course, like The Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie, or Royal Dornoch, you'll notice a distinct feel. The ground is your ally and your enemy. It requires a different type of golf entirely. Here are the defining features:

• Sandy Soil and Firm Turf: This is the foundation of links golf. The ground is hard and fast. Shots don't just land, they bounce and roll, often a significant distance. Hitting an iron 150 yards here might mean flying it 135 yards and letting it run the final 15.
• Natural Rolling Fairways: Links courses weren't bulldozed into shape. The earliest course designers simply used the land's natural contours. This means you’ll rarely have a flat lie. Your ball might be above your feet, below your feet, or on an upslope or downslope.
• Lack of Trees: Trees don't thrive in the salty, windy coastal air. The primary defenses of a links course are the wind, the unforgiving bunkers, and the devilish bounces of the terrain itself.
• Pot Bunkers: Forget wide, shallow American-style sand traps. Links bunkers are small, deep, and often revetted (built with steep turf walls). Many are ancient, carved out over centuries by wind and burrowing sheep. Often, the only shot out is sideways or even backward.
• Gorse and Thick Rough: What links courses lack in trees, they make up for in punishing native plants. Gorse is a thick, thorny bush that eats golf balls for breakfast. Hit your ball in there, and you’re often looking at a lost ball or a one-stroke penalty.
• The Ever-Present Wind: The wind is a central character in any round of links golf. It can change direction in an instant and turn a simple par-4 into a mammoth two-shotter. Learning to play in the wind is not an option, it's a necessity.

How to Adapt Your Game for Links Golf

From a coach's perspective, I tell my students that links golf is a intellectual game of chess, not a physical game of checkers. Forget trying to overpower it, you have to outthink it.

• Embrace the "Ground Game": Your putter is your best friend, even from 30 yards off the green. A "bump-and-run" shot - a low lofted iron or hybrid played like a long putt that runs along the ground - is often much safer and more predictable than a high-lofted wedge.
• Flight the Ball Low: "When it's breezy, swing easy," is the old mantra. Hitting the ball low, under the wind, is a skill you must develop. This means taking more club and making a smoother, three-quarter swing. A high, spinning wedge shot is just going to get eaten by the wind.
• Creativity is Your Superpower: Flat lies and perfect yardages are rare. You'll need to use your imagination. Can you use that big mound on the left to funnel your ball toward the pin? Should you intentionally land your shot 20 yards short and let it run up? This is where the real fun of links golf begins.

Beyond the Coast: Parkland Courses

While links courses get most of the glory, Scotland is home to some of the world's most beautiful parkland courses. The term "parkland" refers to inland courses that are often built on rich agricultural soil. They have a lush, manicured look - think of them as garden courses, expertly landscaped and strategically designed.

A classic example would be the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, host of the Ryder Cup. The aesthetic is often one of serene, sheltered beauty, but don't let that fool you. They present a completely different, but equally challenging, test of golf.

Key Features of Parkland Courses

Switching from a links to a parkland course feels like changing sports. The air becomes your primary mode of transportation for the ball, not the ground.

• Lush, Soft Turf: Parkland fairways and greens are watered and maintained to be soft. This means your ball will stop much more quickly upon landing. There is very little roll-out on drives compared to a links course.
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Trees are the defining hazard. Accuracy from the tee is vital. A stray drive doesn't just put you in a tough lie, it often puts you directly behind a massive oak or sycamore, forcing you to chip out sideways. -

These greens are designed to receive high, aerial shots. You can attack flags with confidence, knowing a well-struck iron shot will land and stop close to where it lands. A "target golf" mentality is rewarded here. -

While links courses might have a burn (stream) winding through them, parkland courses frequently feature strategically placed ponds and lakes, which bring a different kind of risk-reward decision-making into play.

The Strategic Shift for Parkland Golf

Playing parkland golf successfully requires a different toolset and mindset. As a coach, this is what I emphasize:

Your "carry" distance (how far your ball flies in the air) is all-important here. You need to know exactly how far you fly each club to clear water hazards and front-side bunkers. The ground won't help you much. This is a game ofaerial bombardment. The bump-and-run has its place, but the high, soft-landing pitch shot is now your primary weapon around the greens. Power and height are rewarded more here than on a links course.

The Upland Alternative: Heathland Courses

Heathland is perhaps the most underrated and misunderstood of Scottish course types. A heathland course is a delightful hybrid, borrowing characteristics from both links and parkland designs. These courses are typically inland but built on sandy, well-draining soil, similar to links.

The name "heathland" comes from the predominant vegetation: heather. Think of iconic courses like Sunningdale or Walton Heath in England, but Scotland has its own gems like Blairgowrie Golf Club. They offer firm playing surfaces but within an inland setting framed by trees and that signature purplish heather.

Telltale Signs of a Heathland Course

• Signature Flora: The landscape is dominated by heather, bracken (a type of fern), and gorse. These plants create a beautiful, but treacherous, natural hazard.
• Strategic Trees: While not as dense as a parkland course, heathland courses typically feature stands of pine, birch, and oak that frame the holes and demand strategic positioning off the tee.
• Firm & Bouncy Turf: The sandy soil provides a playing surface that is much firmer and faster than parkland, rewarding thoughtful shot-making and allowing for some creativity along the ground. It has that springy feel underfoot, much like a links.

Playing Heathland Golf: A Test of Precision

Coach's Tip: Heather is stickier and more penal than any rough you'll find on a parkland course. If you miss the fairway, your goal is simple: get back into play. Trying to muscle a long iron out of deep heather is a recipe for disaster. This puts a premium on accuracy from the tee. It’s a course that rewards strategy and precision over brute force, blending the shot-making demands of both links and parkland.

What About "Links-Style" Courses?

In the modern era, you will also hear the term "links-style" used to describe newer courses. These are courses, like Kingsbarns or Castle Stuart, that are not built on authentic, ancient linksland. Instead, they are modern marvels of architecture designed to replicate the look and feel of a true links course.

Clever architects can move enormous amounts of earth and plant fescue grasses to create the rumpled fairways, dune-like features, and firm conditions of a classic links. For the golfer heading out to play, the distinction is mainly academic. They play just like a links course - they demand low, running shots, creativity around the greens, and expert management of the wind. They are a tribute to traditional links golf, created with modern methods.

Final Thoughts

When speaking about Scottish golf courses, the names you use are a language to describe the land itself. You now know that the proper terms - links, parkland, and heathland - refer not just to a location, but to the very soul of the course, dictating everything from a firm bounce on a coastal fairway to a soft landing on a lush inland green.

Knowing the difference is the first step to building a better game plan out on the course, but it’s tough to have all the answers when you're standing on an unfamiliar tee. This is where I find Caddie AI to be such a confident decision-making tool. You can describe the hole or even take a picture of a tricky lie in the gorse, and it provides instant, course-specific strategy. It helps you make the right play, whether you’re navigating a deep pot bunker on a links course or trying to figure out the correct carry over water on a parkland hole.