Royal Aberdeen, Balgownie

In 1783 the members here wrote down a limit of five minutes for searching for a lost ball. The club says it was the first to do it, and the rule outlived them all. It was founded in 1780 as the Society of Golfers at Aberdeen, which by its own count makes it the sixth oldest club in the world; it became the Aberdeen Golf Club in 1815 and moved from the Queen's Links to Balgownie in 1888. Edward VII granted the royal title in 1903. Tom Watson won the 2005 Senior British Open here, Great Britain and Ireland took the 2011 Walker Cup 14-12, and Justin Rose won the 2014 Scottish Open at sixteen under.

The club describes Balgownie as out through the dunes and back along a plateau, so whatever the wind does on the way out it does in reverse coming home. It is 6,918 yards, par 71, with a slope of 144 from the blue tees. Nine bunkers are cut around the eighth green, and the hole is only 147 yards. The club's guide says it changes its spots to suit the conditions, a 3-iron one day and a pitching wedge the next. It asks you for a number, and you either produce it or you play out of sand. The outward nine runs down a valley in the dunes, hole after hole, and it is the part of the course people remember.