Lochcarron

Few settings in Scottish golf feel quite this remote. Strathcarron sits at the head of Loch Carron in Wester Ross, where the mountains crowd the shoreline and the single-track roads wind through some of the Highlands' most dramatic scenery. Getting here is half the experience — the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh railway line runs through the valley, and the landscape shifts into something genuinely wild as you approach.

A par 58 over 18 holes marks this firmly as a short course — all par 3s and short par 4s — and in the Highlands that format makes particular sense. The terrain is rugged, land is precious, and the courses that have survived here tend to be compact, community-minded layouts where the golf is secondary only to the surroundings. Wind off the loch and the unpredictable Highland weather will ensure the card is never as straightforward as the length suggests.

This is golf as a local tradition rather than a destination resort, the kind of club that serves a small, tight-knit community at the edge of the map and asks very little of you beyond showing up.