Moray (Old)

Overview: Moray Old is an 18-hole links in Lossiemouth on the Moray coast, laid across gorse-covered dunes with the Moray Firth close at hand. Old Tom Morris's out-and-back routing uses natural challenge rather than manufactured drama: true bounces, undulating fairways, revetted bunkers and the coastal wind create a test that changes with the weather. The course starts and finishes in the heart of the town, yet the dune landscape gives the middle of the round a feeling of isolation. Its final green sits in a natural amphitheatre below the clubhouse terrace, providing one of the most memorable finishes in northern Scotland.

History: Moray Golf Club was founded and formally opened in 1889, initially with sixteen holes on land leased from Captain James Brander of Pitgaveny. Old Tom Morris laid out the original course, and within eighteen months additional land allowed the Old Course to become a full 18-hole routing. A separate nine-hole relief and ladies course was created in 1905, while the later development of the New Course created the club's modern 36-hole offering. The Old Course itself remains largely faithful to Morris's original routing and ethos.

Did You Know? Local distillers helped establish an unusually strong whisky tradition at Moray. The club records that early supporters laid down casks for a house malt, later continuing the practice with whisky from nearby Glen Moray. It is a fitting detail for a course whose links identity is rooted in the coast, the dunes and the wider landscape of Moray Speyside.