South Ronaldsay

Few settings in British golf feel as genuinely remote as the southern tip of Orkney. South Ronaldsay is the largest of the southern Orkney islands, connected to the Mainland by the Churchill Barriers — causeways built during World War II — and the golf here carries that edge-of-the-world quality that only truly island courses possess. The North Sea and the Pentland Firth frame the horizon on multiple sides, and the wind off those waters is as much a part of the test as any bunker or fairway slope.

At par 66, this is a shorter layout by championship standards, almost certainly built to work within the island's available land rather than as a deliberate brevity. That kind of course tends to reward local knowledge and creative shot-making over raw power — the wind alone can turn a modest hole into something demanding respect.

Orkney itself is extraordinary: Neolithic monuments, Norse heritage, and a pace of life that sets it apart from anywhere on the British mainland. Playing golf here is as much about the experience of being in this place as it is about the scorecard.