Best golf courses in Highlands

The Scottish highlands, as their name suggests, are at the very north of the country. Yes, for those of us south of the border, it is a long drive to get up to the Highlands, but trust us, it is well worth the journey.

With almost 1,300 miles of coastline around the northern tip of Scotland (just the mainland, islands not included), there is plenty of scope for links golf. As you would expect, with this being Scotland, there are plenty of great examples of that around the coastline of the Highlands.

As the largest city in the region, Inverness is a great base to stay for those visiting the north of Scotland, with a number of great courses in and around the city. Nairn's Championship Course, Nairn Dunbar, Fortrose & Rosemarkie and Cabot Highlands, four amazing links courses, are all within the area.

Move north of Inverness, and you will also be spoilt for choice. Within a short drive from the torn of Dornoch lie the likes of Skibo Castle, Golspie, Brora and Tain, along with Royal Dornoch's two offerings - the Championship Course and the Struie Course. If you fancy going all the way to the very northern tip of the country, the likes of Reay and Durness are also on hand to offer some fantastic options.

It is not just links courses that the Highlands has to offer either, with a trio of solid parkland courses to the south of Inverness. Base yourself at the MacDonald Aviemore Resort, where the Spey Valley Course is, and you're within reach of both Grantown-on-Spey and Boat of Garten.

How we compiled our Highlands list
We updated our Highlands list when we created our NCG Top 100s list of the best golf courses in Scotland. If one course from the Highlands is above another in our Scotland list, then it will also be above it in our Highlands list.