Dundonald Links
Fresh from a 2022 that saw the popular layout metamorphose into a fully fledged resort, Dundonald Links has earned a place on the list of Scotland’s finest. The Ayrshire venue has been celebrated for its championship course since an extensive 2003 redesign by exalted architect Kyle Phillips. Now, after significant investment, it boasts the facilities to match.
The headline act, of course, is still 18 holes of first-class, quintessential Scottish links golf. The course bears all the hallmarks of the style, from undulating surfaces to wide, generous fairways, and every green is crafted to give each hole a memorable finale.
Deep bunkers add a nicely challenging flavour to the experience, none more so than ‘The Cauldron’, a cavernous hollow on 11 that will have you literally in over your head. Any golfer who neglects to plan ahead could fall foul of craftily placed hazards or land in deep rough. This is a course played with the mind as much as the club.
If the course has been great for two decades, it’s the recent influx of new amenities that makes Dundonald a mustvisit. A £25 million investment by new owners Darwin
Escapes has transformed the nowresort into somewhere to stay as well as play. The chief new addition is an expansive clubhouse, making it as easy to spend an afternoon in the lounge as on the course. Its centrepiece is the Canny Crow restaurant, carefully designed to host formal occasions and casual meals with equal ease. For a true Ayrshire experience, tasting sessions are available in the resort’s whisky room.
Suites in the hotel, near the clubhouse, are dripping with the same Highlandsinspired style. Then there’s a collection of two-, four- and six-bedroom lodges, none of which compromise on luxury. The ensuite lodges offer a full selfcatering experience via modern kitchens, spacious living areas and large TVS, with the added bonus of a putting green right outside your door so you can procrastinate to your heart’s content.
Dundonald had nothing to prove when it came to course credentials, hosting major events such as DP World Tour Qualifying School on the redesigned course as early as 2008. More recently, 2022’s Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open graced the resort, and it will return in 2023 alongside Final Qualifying for The Open. The layout alone is worth a visit – it’s everything else that will keep you wanting to come back.