Colin Montgomerie has revealed his favourite golf courses in the north of Scotland – including the one that remains close to his heart.
The 59-year-old won 31 European Tour events during a stellar career which saw him claim the tour’s order of merit a record eight times, including seven on the spin from 1993 to 1999.
Montgomerie, a Ryder Cup winner as a player and as a captain, loves nothing more than the chance to tee up back at the home of golf and believes the north of Scotland is blessed with plenty of incredible golf courses.
He said: “The number one was Nairn as it kickstarted my career when I won the Scottish Amateur there in 1987.
“I never realised at the time how highly Nairn was rated. It has gone from a hidden gem of Scottish golf to one of the great links courses.
“It deserves its accolades as Nairn Golf Club is a superb place.
“If you go a bit further north you have Donald Ross’ masterpiece, Royal Dornoch.
“In the Inverness area you have a brand new course in Castle Stuart which is underrated.
“People talk a lot about Kingsbarns and they rate Kingsbarns very highly but I rate Castle Stuart as good if not better than Kingsbarns.
“Castle Stuart is a great layout as it requires every shot in the book. It is a great course.
“If I come round the coast a little bit one of the hidden gems is Cruden Bay.
“A lot of American tourists coming over to visit Scotland for golf are choosing to take in Cruden Bay and Royal Aberdeen – and it is easy to see why.
“That is five courses in the north of Scotland but there is golf around every corner. We know that.
“They are the ones that spring to mind.”
Montgomerie admits Royal Aberdeen and Nairn would be the two courses he would love to tick off his golfing wishlist soon.
He said: “Royal Aberdeen is a course I haven’t played for a long, long time. I played there in an amateur competition many moons ago and it would be nice to go back.
“I would love to go back to Nairn. I haven’t played there since 1987.
“I would just like to play a bounce game with an assistant pro or a club champion or the captain.
“They gave me honorary membership of the club so it’s about time I went and used it as Nairn means the world to me.”
But if Montgomerie was left with the ultimatum of playing his final round in Scotland – he has no debate over where it would be.
He said: “St Andrews. I don’t hesitate on that one. If I had one round left to play it would be the Old Course.
“I think I speak for most of the golfers in the world.
“If you had only one round left to play I think most people would go back to the home of golf.
“You would walk over that Swilcan Bridge and play that last shot into the 18th green.
“That would be it.
“There is a certain romance about St Andrews and its history and the place it has in the world of sport.
“If I had the choice my last round of golf would be at St Andrews.”
Colin Montgomerie is ambassador for bunkered Golf Breaks, to discover more of his course recommendations visit bunkeredgolfbreaks.com
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