Western Gailes

Opened: 1897
Designer: Willie Park / Fred Hawtree
Par:71
Length: 6,899 yards

Often overlooked due to its proximity to Royal Troon and Prestwick, Western Gailes more than holds its own as a must play on Scotland’s west coast. Founded in 1897 by four Glaswegians tired of playing in the winter muck at their parkland course, they found their solution on a long, narrow strip of linksland between the railway tracks and the Firth of Clyde.

Typical of many Scottish links, the elevation changes at Western Gailes are minimal but they are used effectively to provide many slightly elevated tees, and greens in dune-framed dells. One hundred revetted pot bunkers and meandering burns provide plenty of teeth while swaths of gorse, heather and marram grass give the course its classic links feel.