Ranked · 8 courses · reviewed June 2026

The Best Golf Courses Designed by Old Tom Morris

Greenkeeper, ballmaker, four time Open champion and the founding father of golf course design, Old Tom Morris laid out, extended or shaped close to a hundred links across the British Isles. Here are the eight finest you can still play, ranked, with our verdict on each and what remains of his hand.

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By the GolfForKings editorial desk · How we rank · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Lahinch Golf Club, Lahinch Golf Club, via Google

How we chose them, and a note on his hand

Old Tom Morris worked in an era before bulldozers, when a course was found in the dunes as much as built. His commissions ranged from full new layouts to extending nine holes into eighteen, advising on routing, or simply walking the ground and marking out greens and bunkers for a local club. We have ranked the eight finest courses where Morris had a genuine hand, judged on the quality and importance of the course today, while being honest about the fact that most have evolved considerably since. Where later architects reshaped his work, we say so, because at places like Carnoustie and Muirfield the modern championship course owes as much to others as to Tom.

Every fact here, the years and the nature of Morris's involvement, was checked at the time of writing in June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. These are among the most sought after tee times in golf, with green fees to match and booking windows that open months ahead, so treat any figures as a guide and always confirm directly before booking. The verdicts are ours. If you want a Tom Morris pilgrimage routed properly, with the right tee times secured, that is exactly what our concierge does.

The 8 best Old Tom Morris golf courses

The Old Course at St Andrews

Keeper of the green from 1865 · Fife, Scotland · the home of golf

The most important course on earth and the one Morris tended for decades as keeper of the green at St Andrews. He did not invent the Old Course, which evolved over centuries, but his hand shaped its modern character, widening fairways, building the great double greens into their present form and creating the famous closing green by the town. To play it is to walk the ground Morris walked every day of his working life, over the Swilcan Bridge, across the Road Hole and home down the eighteenth. The spiritual heart of this list.

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Royal County Down

Laid out by Old Tom Morris from 1889 · Newcastle, County Down · Par 71

The finest pure links Morris had a direct hand in creating, laid out from 1889 beneath the Mountains of Mourne at Newcastle, reportedly for a fee not to exceed four pounds, then refined by later hands. The result is regularly ranked the best course in the world, its fairways tumbling through giant dunes with blind shots and bearded bunkers, the front nine an almost flawless run of links golf. More of Morris's routing survives here in spirit than at many of the championship venues, and the setting is unmatched.

Plan a Northern Ireland golf trip

Prestwick Golf Club

Designed and kept by Old Tom Morris from 1851 · Ayrshire, Scotland

The cradle of the Open Championship and the most personal course on this list, Prestwick is where Morris went in 1851 to design, lay out and maintain a new links, and where the first Open was played in 1860 over his twelve holes. He won four of them here. The course remains gloriously old fashioned, with blind shots, the cavernous Cardinal bunker and the railway running tight down the line, a living museum of where championship golf began. Quirky, historic and a joy for anyone who loves the game's roots.

Plan an Ayrshire golf trip

Royal Dornoch

Extended to 18 by Old Tom Morris, 1886 · Sutherland, Scotland

The great links of the far north, which Morris visited in 1886 to extend the course to eighteen holes and shape its early form, after which Donald Ross, who grew up here, carried the lessons to America. The raised, domed greens, the gorse ablaze with yellow in early summer and the remote splendour of the Dornoch Firth make this one of the most admired and atmospheric courses in the world. A long way from anywhere, gloriously so, and on many golfers' shortlist of the best they have ever played.

Plan a Highlands golf trip

Muirfield

Original layout by Old Tom Morris, 1891 · East Lothian, Scotland

One of the world's great Open venues, whose original layout Morris set out in 1891 when the Honourable Company moved to Gullane, before Harry Colt and others reshaped it into the course played today. That modern Muirfield, with its clever clockwise and anticlockwise loops that meet the wind from every angle and its fearsome bunkering, is widely held to be the fairest of all the Open links. Morris drew the first lines on the ground, and the club he served has honoured them ever since. A bucket list round on the East Lothian coast.

Plan an East Lothian golf trip

Carnoustie

Extended to 18 by Old Tom Morris, early 1870s · Angus, Scotland

The toughest of the Open courses, often called Carnasty for the brutal closing stretch, which Morris extended to a full eighteen holes in the early 1870s after Allan Robertson's earlier work, before James Braid gave it its modern teeth. The Barry Burn snaking across the eighteenth, the long par 3s into the wind and the relentless par 4s make this the sternest test in championship golf. Morris's role was foundational rather than final, but the great Angus links would not exist in its present form without him. A magnificent, punishing day.

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Lahinch, Old Course

Laid out by Old Tom Morris, 1892 · County Clare, Ireland

The St Andrews of Ireland, first laid out by Morris in 1892 on the dunes above Liscannor Bay, where he is said to have declared the ground the finest natural links he had seen. Alister MacKenzie reworked it in 1927 and Martin Hawtree refined it again, but the quirky old Klondyke and Dell holes survive from the early years as monuments to its origins. Charming, characterful and tremendous fun, ringed by the famous weather forecasting goats, it is the most enjoyable Morris course in Ireland and a fixture of any west coast trip.

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Cruden Bay

The cult favourite of the list and one of the best surviving examples of Morris's hand, designed with Archie Simpson and opened in 1899 in the towering dunes of the Aberdeenshire coast. It is wild, eccentric and unforgettable, with blind shots, a famous bathtub green and holes that swoop through the sandhills with abandon, exactly the kind of natural, found golf Morris championed. Largely untouched by modern lengthening, it remains a pure draught of nineteenth century links design and a pilgrimage for connoisseurs.

Plan an Aberdeenshire golf trip

Dates and the nature of Old Tom Morris's involvement verified June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Most of these courses have evolved considerably since his day. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Where they are, and how to play them

Six of the eight sit in Scotland, in three clusters a trip can follow. St Andrews and Carnoustie anchor the east coast around Fife and Angus, Muirfield and the East Lothian links lie just east of Edinburgh, Prestwick sits on the Ayrshire coast, and Royal Dornoch and Cruden Bay reward the longer drive north to the Highlands and Aberdeenshire. The two Irish entries, Royal County Down in the north and Lahinch in the west, belong to separate Irish trips. These are among the most coveted tee times in golf, so book well ahead, often many months, and be ready to play in any weather.

Item	Indicative 2026	Notes
Green fee, the marquee Open venues	Around 250 to 400 pounds or euros	Highest in the summer peak, ballots apply at some clubs
Green fee, the classic outliers such as Cruden Bay	Around 120 to 220 pounds	Better value and easier access than the headliners
Booking window	Often several months ahead	The Old Course runs a daily ballot, plan early

Indicative third party figures for the 2026 season, shown to set expectations only. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Always confirm directly before booking.

Plan your Old Tom Morris pilgrimage

Tell us which of his courses you want and roughly when. One concierge secures the tee times, routes the driving and books the bases, costs the whole trip to the head, and replies within one working day, with no obligation.

Old Tom Morris course questions

What is the best Old Tom Morris golf course?

The Old Course at St Andrews, which Morris tended for decades as keeper of the green, is the most important and our number one, though he shaped rather than created it. For a links he laid out directly, Royal County Down at Newcastle is the finest, regularly ranked the best course in the world. Our list balances the quality of the course today with the strength of his involvement.

How many golf courses did Old Tom Morris design?

Morris had a hand in close to a hundred courses across the British Isles, though the scope varied enormously, from full new layouts to extending existing nines, advising on routing or marking out greens on a single visit. Many have been heavily reworked since by later architects, so few play exactly as he left them. We have ranked the eight finest you can still play.

Can you play all of these courses?

Yes, all eight welcome visitors, though access varies. The Old Course runs a daily ballot and advance applications, Muirfield has set visitor days, and the marquee venues book up months ahead in summer. The quieter classics like Cruden Bay and Prestwick are generally easier to get on. A concierge can secure the tee times and route a trip that takes in several.

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Dates and the nature of Old Tom Morris's involvement verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.