Photo of The Nairn Golf Club

The Nairn Golf Club

Seabank Road,

Nairn, Highland & Moray IV12 4HB

  • Office

    +44 (0)1667 453 208
  • Pro shop

    +44 (0)1667 452 787
  • Fax

    +44 (0)1667 456 328
  • Golf pro

    Murray Urquhart (PGA, Teaching Professional).

About the course

  • The Course:

    18 holes. Seaside links. Relatively flat terrain (except for three back-nine holes) - easy to walk.

  • Surroundings:

    Coastal duneland.

  • Designer:

    Original layout by Old Tom Morris. Later modifications made by James Braid, Tom Simpson and Ben Sayers (1920).

Back
tees
Club
tees
Front
tees
Yards
6832
6067
5629
Par
71
71
75
SSS or slope
75.0
71.6
74.8

At the same location:

Above distances are for the championship course. Also at Nairn GC is the nine-hole Cameron course (par-29; 1,634 yds).

Location

Latitude:

57.587201

Longitude:

-3.894911

How to get there:

15 miles NE of Inverness

From the centre of Nairn head west on the A96 direction Inverness. After o.5 miles turn right (in front of Nairn Old Parish Church) into Seabank Road. After o.7 miles golf entrance is in front of you.

The Nairn Golf Club

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.

Est. 1887

The Nairn Golf Club: Nestling on the shores of the beautiful Moray Firth, lies one of Scotland's flagship seaside golf courses. Though relatively flat during its opening and closing sections, this classic links layout ranks high on the list of the country's most scenic courses. Ever-present are pleasing panoramas onto the Firth and across to the soft hills of the Black Isle, and inland to distant Highland peaks.

The first seven holes of this out-and-back layout hug the Firth's shoreline, creating a lateral water hazard on your rightside that stretches for a mile-and-a-half of your outward journey. If you do leak your tee-shots too far right, you'll be comforted to know the beach is not out-of-bounds; it's an integral part of the course. From the 7th green at the end of the opening beachside stretch, the view back along the coast to the clubhouse in the far distance is one to savour.

In addition to the beach, also adding to the challenges are water ditches at the par-4 2nd, 16th and 17th holes, plenty of gorse (whins) and an abundance of stylish ball-swallowing pot bunkering. The only real departure from the layout's gently undulating easy-walking terrain, comes courtesy of the excellent uphill par-4 13th. No sooner are you at the top of the hill (with more views to savour), than the long par-3 14th and short par-4 15th bring you back down again to rejoin the main seaside flow of the course.

If played into a northerly wind, Nairn's closing 4-4-5 stretch may add considerably more than 13 shots to your card. In such a wind, your ball will be blown towards gorse bushes that line the rightside of this closing trio; invariably the further left you aim the further right your ball will be blown.

For well over a century, golfers have enjoyed not only Nairn's views, but its excellent presentation and full array of golfing challenges. Here you'll need some accurate driving between the whins (especially in the middle part of the course), an ability to escape from mischievous pot bunkers that throng the greens, and a deft touch with the putter to tame Nairn's wonderfully firm, fast and true greens.

List of courses: Scotland - North
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club
  • Photo of The Nairn Golf Club

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance. Proof of handicap required.

Green fees

Visitor fee, 18-holes in high season (May thru' Sept; all days): £230; April & Oct: £150.

Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, 2-round tickets, combination tickets with Nairn Dunbar, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2024].

Other information

Players generally walk this course. Caddies available and should be booked in advance.

Practice facilities

Good

Did you know?

The halfway house at Nairn is located inside an old salmon fishermen's bothy, which sits alongside an historic icehouse. Dating from 1877, and as its name implies, the icehouse was used to store ice throughout the year, essential for the strorage and packing the fishermen's catch.

Nairn has hosted many prestigious tournaments, including the Amateur Championship, British Ladies Amateur, Scottish Amateur, Scottish Ladies, British Boys and Boys Internationals. Perhaps the most celebrated of all in recent years was the 1999 Walker Cup, when the GB&I team notched up a convincing win against the ten best amateur golfers from the United States. For more details see Top Golf Tournaments at Nairn Golf Club.

Published ranking

Scotland's 22nd best course (Golf World, 2023).
Britain & Ireland's 64th best course (Golf World, 2024).

Where2Stay

  • Golf View Hotel4-star

    63 Seabank Rd, Nairn, Highlands IV12 4RX

    +44 (0)1667 452 301

    Visit website

    Just 16 miles from Inverness, the Golf View Hotel and Leisure Club overlooks the Moray Firth, with gardens leading down to the seashore. Many of the 42 bedrooms are sea-facing with traditional interiors that provide you an exceptionally comfortable place in which to stay. Nairn Golf Club is just a couple of hundred yards away.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      No

    • Golf within 5 miles:

      Nairn (o.5 km); Nairn Dunbar

    • Golf within 20 miles:

      Castle Stuart; Inverness

  • Claymore House Hotel

    45 Seabank Rd, Nairn IV12 4EY

    +44 (0)1667 453 731

    Visit website

    Claymore House is an elegant Victorian villa comprising 13 individually decorated en suite rooms. Located less than a mile from Nairn Golf Club, this comfortable and classically Scottish hotel includes The Snug - a TV-room adjacent to the bar, where you can catch-up on sports events around the world on Sky TV.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      No

    • Golf within 5 miles:

      Nairn (1 km); Nairn Dunbar

    • Golf within 20 miles:

      Castle Stuart; Inverness

Find a course

Or

Tournaments

124th US Open: the No.2 Course at Pinehurst once again plays host to this most illustrious championship (June 13-16). Wyndham Clark defends his title, having won at Los Angeles CC in 2023.

79th Women’s US Open: the second women’s major championship of the season gets underway at Lancaster CC in Pennsylvania. It’s the second time the championship has been held here.
(May 30-June 2).

Who's Who

Nelly Korda: won the Mizuho Americas Open (May 16-19) at Liberty National GC, continuing her extraordinary form in LPGA events. This was her sixth win in seven starts in 2024.

Xander Schauffele: recorded his first major championship win, and second record-equalling low score of 62 in a major. Only he, Branden Grace, Rickie Fowler and Shane Lowry have achieved this feat in a men’s major championship.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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