A five time Open champion who became one of the greatest architects the game has known, James Braid laid out or reshaped more than two hundred and fifty courses across the British Isles, over a hundred of them in Scotland. He worked with the land rather than against it, and his routings still feel timeless a century on. These are the eight Braid courses we rate most highly, ranked, with our verdict on each and how to play it.
Photograph: Gleneagles, via Google
James Braid is the architect golfers play without always realizing it. After winning five Open Championships in the first decade of the twentieth century, he turned to design and, famously reluctant to travel by sea, built much of his vast portfolio across Scotland, England and Wales by train. His gift was for fitting golf to the ground he was given: moorland at Gleneagles, true links at Brora, heathland at Blairgowrie, clifftop links in Cornwall. The result is a body of work of remarkable variety, much of it still ranked among the best inland and natural golf in Britain.
We weighed the quality and originality of each design, how much of Braid's hand survives today, the setting and the strength of the wider trip each course anchors. The King's at Gleneagles leads as his acknowledged masterpiece, with his championship remodelling of Carnoustie close behind, then a run of beloved Highland, Perthshire and Cornish gems. The order and the verdicts are our editors' view, so reasonable golfers will reorder it. If you want a Braid themed tour built into a costed trip with the tee times secured, that is exactly what our concierge does.
Braid's acknowledged masterpiece and, for many, the finest inland course in Scotland. Opened in 1919 and routed through rolling Perthshire moorland with the Ochil and Grampian hills as a backdrop, the King's is a par 68 of pure strategy, where named holes like Whaup's Nest and the punchbowl green of Wee Bogle reward the bold and the thoughtful. More than a century on it remains the benchmark for what moorland golf can be.
Braid did not create Carnoustie from scratch, but his expert 1926 remodelling gave the Angus links the closing stretch and the teeth that made it an Open Championship venue, regularly cited as the hardest course on the rota. The brutal 18th over the Barry Burn, where Jean van de Velde came undone in 1999, bears his fingerprints. It is the most demanding championship test in his portfolio and one of the great links anywhere.
The most romantic of all the Braid links, laid out in 1924 on common grazing land beside the North Sea in the far Highlands, where cattle and sheep still wander the fairways behind low electric fences around the greens. Natural, quirky and gloriously old fashioned, it is the spiritual home of the James Braid Golfing Society and a pilgrimage for connoisseurs of timeless links golf. Few rounds anywhere feel more like a trip back through golf's history.
The Rosemount Course at Blairgowrie is Braid heathland at its most beautiful, threaded through pine, birch and heather in deepest Perthshire. He extended and refined the layout into one of the finest inland courses in Britain, a serene, tree lined test where every hole feels private. A natural companion to Gleneagles on a Perthshire tour, it is consistently ranked among Scotland's top parkland and heathland rounds.
The shorter, gentler companion to the King's, the Queen's at Gleneagles is no afterthought but a Braid design of real charm, winding past lochans and through silver birch with the same glorious moorland views. A little more forgiving and arguably even prettier than its famous sibling, it is the perfect second round of a Gleneagles stay and a reminder that Braid could craft beauty as well as challenge.
Known as the Gleneagles of the North, this Speyside gem winds through birch and heather beneath the Cairngorms, a Braid layout full of blind shots, narrow fairways and natural movement. Compact and characterful rather than long, it is one of the most charming holiday courses in the Highlands and a fixture of any Speyside golf and whisky tour. The mountain and river setting is as good as inland Scotland offers.
Proof that Braid's reach stretched far beyond Scotland, Perranporth is a wild, tumbling links laid out among the towering dunes of Cornwall's north coast. Blind shots, huge sandhills and the Atlantic wind make for an exhilarating, old school round that has become a cult favourite among links purists. A par 72 of real adventure, it is the standout of Braid's West Country work and a hidden gem of English golf.
A grand parkland estate course on the western edge of Edinburgh, the East Course at Dalmahoy is the championship layout of Braid's 1927 design, with mature trees, undulating greens and views to the Pentland Hills. It hosted the 1992 Solheim Cup and remains a polished resort test within easy reach of the capital, an ideal start or finish to a Scottish tour for groups flying into Edinburgh.
Designers, opening years and remodelling dates verified June 2026 from the clubs and recognized course databases; access, conditioning and green fees vary by season and year. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.
Tell us the group, the rough dates and whether you want a Perthshire base around Gleneagles and Blairgowrie, a Highland tour through Brora and Boat of Garten or a wider Braid trail, and we will build it. One concierge secures the tee times, sorts the stay and the drives, and costs the whole trip to the head, with no obligation.
The King's Course at Gleneagles, opened in 1919, is widely regarded as James Braid's masterpiece and one of the finest inland courses in Britain, a moorland layout through the Perthshire hills. His expert 1926 remodelling of Carnoustie, which brought it up to Open Championship standard, is his greatest championship achievement. Brora and Boat of Garten in the Highlands are the most beloved of his natural links and moorland gems.
James Braid is credited with designing or remodelling more than 250 golf courses across the British Isles, including over a hundred in Scotland. A five time Open champion and one of the Great Triumvirate alongside Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor, he turned to architecture after retiring from competition and worked into the 1950s, with Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway often cited as his final design.
Yes. Most of Braid's best work is on resort or members' courses that welcome visitors, from the King's and Queen's at Gleneagles to the Highland gems of Brora and Boat of Garten and the Perthshire heathland of Blairgowrie. A Braid themed tour of Perthshire and the Highlands is one of the most rewarding ways to see his variety. Always confirm visitor access and green fees directly before booking.
Architecture, the great courses and the trips worth taking. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designers, remodelling dates and rankings verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.