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Aberdeenshire

Balnagask Golf Course

Aberdeen's clifftop municipal links on the Balnagask headland at Torry, between the harbour mouth and Nigg Bay, with the Girdle Ness lighthouse and the Torry Battery among its holes.

Welcome

Across the harbour from the granite city, on the green headland of Balnagask at Torry, Aberdeen's municipal links run out along the clifftops to the edge of the North Sea.

From its tees the views stretch up and down the coast, over the ships coming and going through the harbour mouth, and back across the water to the spires of the city.

Sport Aberdeen, which runs it, calls it one of the best municipal courses in Scotland. James Braid, Archie Simpson and the Hawtree family all had a hand in shaping it, and the holes wander across naturally rolling ground, with hidden fairways, high tees and ravines walled in gorse. Among them stand the white tower of the Girdle Ness lighthouse and the ramparts of the Victorian Torry Battery.

The course is run by Sport Aberdeen and open to anyone, with Nigg Bay Golf Club as its home club, and after a round the old Torry Battery is a short walk away along the headland.

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The Daily for 1 November, from Scotland with love. A misty lane runs past slate-roofed cottages toward a wooded hillside.
A short drive awaySweet Mumma’s KitchenThe pinkest cafe in Aberdeen, in a railway arch by Union Square, for brunch, lunch, afternoon teas, events and graze boxes.3 min by roadSee itWaffle topped with ice cream and a Lotus biscuit, served with caramel dip
Before you go

Open to all; tee times through Sport Aberdeen.

In bad weather, ring the starter's box to check the course is open.

Where
St Fitticks Road, Torry, Aberdeen AB11 8TN.
Telephone
01224 507764.

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Where it is

On the Balnagask headland at Torry, on the south side of the harbour mouth, two miles from the centre of Aberdeen.

Close byAberdeen.
  1. The granite front of the Craftsman Company on the corner of Guild Street, its door open and its name in the windows.The Craftsman CompanyA coffee and ale house on Guild Street in Aberdeen, with brunch and lunch by day, 17 draught beers, and live music at the weekend.1 mile as the crow flies
  2. Plates of seafood at Bistro Verde seen from above on a wooden table: langoustines with salad, scallops, smoked salmon bites and a bowl of fries.Bistro VerdeAn independent seafood restaurant on the Green in the centre of Aberdeen, for oysters, Shetland mussels and its own bouillabaisse.1 mile as the crow flies
  3. White lighthouse on Aberdeen's harbour breakwater at dusk, with a gull flying pastTorry BatteryAn old artillery battery with views of the city and harbour.2 miles 5 min by road
  4. Aberdeen BeachAberdeen BeachTwo miles of sand between the Dee and the Don.2 miles 5 min by road
  5. FootdeeFootdeeA fishing village of little cottages at the harbour mouth.2 miles 7 min by road
Directions
Waffle topped with ice cream and a Lotus biscuit, served with caramel dipCafeSweet Mumma’s Kitchen1.2 miles
Lahore Karahi's front at 145 King Street: a black sign with the name in red over three arched windows in a granite wall.RestaurantsLahore Karahi1.2 miles
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A bowl of beef pho at Mai's Vietnamese Kitchen, with sliced beef, a beef ball, spring onions and herbs in clear broth, the restaurant's name on the bowl.RestaurantsMai's Vietnamese Kitchen1.3 miles
Shoppers pass the glass entrance of Union Square at duskShoppingUnion Square1.3 miles
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The Ferryhill House Hotel on a sunny day: a white house of 1900 with bay windows and a conservatory, and a terrace of wicker chairs and tables in front.RestaurantsCoterie at the Ferryhill House Hotel1.3 miles
Kultura's front on Belmont Street, its wooden sign reading Filipino Restaurant & Bar above open doors in a granite wall, with potted bay trees by the step.RestaurantsKultura1.3 miles

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