Scottish golf course reveals fresh ambitions to host top events

A popular Scottish golf course is hoping that a fresh raft of course works can see it be involved in plans to host more top tier events.

Monifieth Golf Links, located on the Angus coastline, has put its Medal Course under the knife over the last few months as the layout has ‘lost its strategy’.

And with The Open set to return to nearby St Andrews in 2027, general manager Viki Hart is hopeful the championship course can welcome elite players of its own.

“The course looks amazing, and we’ve pretty much finished all the work this week,” Hart told bunkered.co.uk. “Then it’ll rest and be ready to play in around a month.

“With St Andrews hosting The Open again in 2027, we’re hopeful that we can get some events off the back of it.

“We’ve worked with the juniors before so similar events would be nice, and with the changes that’ll be finished next winter, hopefully that will give us more credit to persuade the R&A to come back.”

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Golf has been played on the links at Monifieth for over 400 years, while today’s Medal Course has become one of the best in the country.

Running alongside the main Aberdeen to London railway line, the 18-hole course hosted the R&A’s Junior Open Championship in 2022, the Girls and Boys Amateur Championships in 2022 and Senior Open qualifying in 2024.

But in a bid to renew that championship pedigree, Monifieth began developments last November, with a view to moving bunkers and even creating its own ‘Valley of Sin’.

“The purpose of the work was to regain the strategy that had been lost on the medal course,” Hart added. “As technology has advanced, the course hasn’t.

“So, a lot of bunkers were out of place, and we’ve moved them back into the correct places and getting them at more appropriate yardages from the tees.

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“It’s all been well received, and eight holes have been worked on this winter. We’ve worked very closely with Connor [Walsh, the owner of CJW Golf International] who has had his freedom to work on it.

“The 13th hole, for example, down the left was supposed to have bunkers but it wasn’t sitting right. So, Connor has made Monifieth’s own Valley of Sin, and he can’t wait for it be back in play.”

Monifieth’s 2025 season will get underway on April 5.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.