Cruden Bay golf guide: Scotland's great cult links
Blind shots, hidden greens and a walk through wild dunes below a Dracula castle — Cruden Bay is the eccentric, joy-first links that die-hards drive north for. How to play it, when to go, and how it anchors a north-east Scotland trip.
Cruden Bay is the links that connoisseurs love precisely because it refuses to behave. Half an hour north of Aberdeen, it's a Tom Simpson design full of blind shots, hidden greens, wildly tumbling fairways and holes that no modern architect would dare build — and it's all the more fun for it. Framed by huge dunes, a fishing village and the gaunt ruins of Slains Castle (the castle said to have inspired Dracula), it's one of golf's great cult experiences.
This guide covers how visitors play it, the eccentric holes that define it, when to go, and how Cruden Bay anchors a north-east Scotland links trip that most touring golfers overlook.
Where
Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire — about 25 miles north of Aberdeen
Courses
The Championship Links (par 70, ~6,634 yds) plus the 9-hole St Olaf's (par 68 for 18)
Designers
Old Tom Morris & Archie Simpson (1899); redesigned in the 1920s by Tom Simpson & Herbert Fowler
Nearest airport
Aberdeen (ABZ) — about 40 minutes away
Best time
May–September for daylight and firm links; wind possible any month
Access
Welcoming members' club with generous visitor tee times; the green fee covers all 27 holes
The courses
The Championship Links
Old Tom Morris & Archie Simpson; redesigned by Tom Simpson & Herbert Fowler · 1899 (Simpson redesign 1920s) · 18 holes · Links · par 70 · ~6,634 yds
A fixture in world top-100 links rankings; a cult favourite for its quirk
Cruden Bay is compact, natural and gloriously eccentric. The front nine tumbles down to and along the beach; the back climbs and plunges through towering dunes with several blind and semi-blind shots that reward local knowledge and a sense of humour. Tom Simpson's routing uses the wild land as he found it rather than flattening it, which is exactly why it feels like nowhere else.
The celebrated holes come thick and fast: the drivable par-4 3rd to a sunken green hidden in a hollow above the tidal river; the par-3 4th, at around 196 yards one of the best short holes in Scotland; the bold par-5 6th; and the climb to the 9th, where the whole links and the sea open out beneath you. Then the back nine throws in blind tee shots and hidden greens — the par-3 15th famously plays to a green you can't see — that split opinion and delight the faithful.
St Olaf's Course
Cruden Bay Golf Club · 9 holes · Links · par 34 (par 68 for 18)
The club's second course is a genuine bonus: a fun, sporty 9-hole links that plays to par 68 over 18 and is included in the green fee. It makes a perfect warm-up, warm-down or relaxed second loop, turning a Cruden Bay visit into an easy 27- or 36-hole day.
How visitors play Cruden Bay
Cruden Bay is a welcoming members' club with generous visitor access — you book a tee time directly, and unlike some marquee links it isn't gated behind heavy restrictions. A real bonus: the green fee covers all 27 holes, so it's well worth allowing time to add a loop of St Olaf's to your Championship round.
It's a members' club rather than a resort, so there's no on-site hotel, but the village and Aberdeen have plenty of options. Because Cruden Bay sits off the main tourist trail, it's usually easier to get on — and far better value — than the famous names further south, which is a big part of why in-the-know golfers rate a trip here so highly.
The quirk is the point
If you come to Cruden Bay expecting a fair, modern championship test, you'll be baffled; come expecting an adventure and you'll love it. The blind shots, the hidden greens tucked in gullies, the fairways that fling a good drive into odd places — this is golf from an earlier age, preserved rather than 'improved'. The par-3 15th to an unseen green and the tumbling run home are the sort of holes that would never survive a modern design committee, and that's exactly why die-hards cherish them. Take a caddie or a course guide the first time, expect the odd quirky bounce, and enjoy one of the most characterful rounds in Britain.
When to go
May to September brings the long northern daylight and the firmest, fastest links turf, with midsummer evenings light enough for a very late tee time this far north. Shoulder-season golf is quieter and cheaper; winter play moves to mats and is weather-dependent. As anywhere on Scotland's east coast, wind is a constant and the North Sea can turn a mild morning cold — but Cruden Bay's dunes are made for a breeze.
How to build the trip
Cruden Bay is the anchor of an under-the-radar north-east Scotland links run. Within a short drive around Aberdeen you can add Royal Aberdeen, Murcar Links and Trump International Golf Links Scotland, giving you a cluster of high-quality dune golf with none of the crowds of the Old Course corridor. It also pairs naturally with a wider Scottish tour — golfers heading to or from the Highlands and Royal Dornoch can fold Cruden Bay in on the way. Base in the village for links-side calm, or in Aberdeen for more amenities and the airport.
What to pack
The kit this trip demands
Cruden Bay is exposed east-coast links golf with plenty of up-and-down through the dunes — pack for wind and showers, and travel light enough to enjoy the walk:
Yes. Cruden Bay is a welcoming members' club with generous visitor tee times — you book directly, without the heavy restrictions some marquee links impose. The green fee covers all 27 holes (the Championship Links plus the 9-hole St Olaf's), so it's worth allowing time for both.
Why is Cruden Bay so highly rated?
It's a Tom Simpson links routed through wild dunes with blind shots, hidden greens and tumbling fairways that feel like golf from an earlier age — a cult favourite that regularly ranks inside the world top 100. Golfers love it for its character and value, and for being far easier to get on than the famous names further south.
What are Cruden Bay's best holes?
The drivable par-4 3rd to a hidden sunken green, the superb par-3 4th (around 196 yards), the bold par-5 6th, the panoramic climb at the 9th, and the eccentric back nine — including the blind par-3 15th to an unseen green — are the holes people talk about.
What else can you play near Cruden Bay?
It anchors an under-the-radar north-east Scotland links run: Royal Aberdeen, Murcar Links and Trump International Golf Links Scotland are all a short drive away around Aberdeen, and it folds neatly into a wider Scottish tour heading to or from the Highlands and Royal Dornoch.
