At Menie, the dunes command attention before the North Sea. They tower above Martin Hawtree’s original course north of Aberdeen, compressing fairways into valleys that can seem entirely separated from the next hole. Opened in 2012, this is the Old Course at Trump International Golf Links Scotland, a modern championship links whose scale comes from extraordinary coastal terrain rather than manufactured spectacle.
At ground level, its questions are more precise than the scenery suggests. Burns interrupt the line of play, bunkers catch the obvious landing zones, and greens rise above hollows into the wind. Some targets appear only after the tee shot. The round is consequently as much about choosing a route through the sandhills as it is about driving distance.
Why You Should Play Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen – Old Course
Menie suits golfers who enjoy a round with a powerful sense of terrain. Hawtree sends the original Old Course through two outward-and-home loops, alternating sheltered dune corridors with elevated tees where the entire North Sea coastline suddenly comes back into view. The sightlines are not always straightforward. At some holes the landing area disappears behind the crest of a sandhill; at others you can see the green but must still decide which side of the fairway provides the best angle. Playing here demands a willingness to trust a line.
The dunes do more than frame photographs. They funnel the breeze in one valley and leave the next green exposed. Run-offs around the putting surfaces make the difference between a useful miss and a difficult recovery. Golfers who control their flight and can hit running approaches will recognize the strategic logic. So will mid-handicappers prepared to choose sensible tees and resist the temptation to attack every elevated target.
Those who prefer fully visible targets from beginning to end may find the partly blind lines unsettling. Players seeking the curious small-scale irregularity of nineteenth-century links golf will discover something else entirely. Menie is a bold modern conception of the game. Its strongest quality is how sandhills turn a seemingly obvious shot into a decision, often with the walking effort and changing wind adding to the experience.
The Opening Holes Establish the Terms
The first is a par five, with a broad-looking fairway that tightens in the landing zone before three bunkers influence the lay-up. The attractive second shot is not always the aggressive one: playing short of the sand may provide a more useful third into the green. It introduces a course that often looks more generous from a distance than it plays from the turf.
At the second, a burn crossing the fairway asks for a genuine carry-or-lay-back decision. Clearing it is only half the problem, because grassy hollows border the green and punish an approach arriving without control. The third is different and arguably more memorable: a par three partially hidden by a dune shoulder, with the sea nearby, a bunker right and punishing run-offs left. The golfer must commit to a target that is not fully revealed from the tee.
The fourth returns to a par five between huge dunes, with a burn along the right and a three-tier green that can leave an awkward putt even after a fine approach. In four holes, Hawtree has moved from positional driving to an obscured one-shot hole and back to a long strategic test. The sequence explains why the course is more than an impressive yardage figure.
Temptation at Seven, Then a Demanding Way Home
One of the smartest holes is the short par-four seventh. From the longest tees it measures 281 yards, tempting golfers toward the putting surface. Yet a pronounced false front and firm run-offs make a miss surprisingly costly. A player favoring control over drama can leave a comfortable wedge and a better chance of scoring.
At the eighth the scale changes sharply. It is a 500-yard par four from the longest course-guide markers, with wetlands and sandy landforms influencing the route. The ninth offers a long, slender green with difficult surrounding contours. These holes give the outward nine a sterner finish than the seventh might suggest.
The sixteenth is another distinctive par three, its green defended by seven bunkers and exposed to the northeast wind. Seventeen follows with an offset, tiered green and severe run-offs. The eighteenth is a long par five from elevated ground, with Aberdeen's skyline ahead and water and fairway sand influencing the route home. Finishing well depends less on one heroic strike than on a series of intelligent placements.
A Championship Course With Its Own History
The original Menie course opened in 2012 as Martin Hawtree's purpose-built links, its holes carved through and across the enormous coastal dunes north of Aberdeen.
The DP World Tour's Nexo Championship has given the course a tournament identity. Scotland's Grant Forrest won the inaugural event in 2025, and Scott Jamieson followed in 2026, finishing at 11 under par, two ahead of Matthew Jordan. Jamieson's crucial up-and-down from a bunker at seventeen showed how the raised, contoured greens can make one recovery the difference between winning and losing.
Top 100 Golf Courses placed Menie's Old Course No. 77 in the world and No. 25 in Britain & Ireland in 2026. Rankings offer context, but the stronger reason to play it is the rare authority the natural dunes exert over shot selection.
Old and New Are Two Separate Courses
The resort's New Course opened in July 2025. It is a separate eighteen-hole routing, not a renamed extension of Hawtree's course. When arranging a visit, ensure the course named on the tee time is correct; the original 2012 Old Course carries the Nexo Championship history and the specific holes described here.
Playing both offers a useful comparison in how separate designs interpret the same extraordinary dune system. A two-round resort visit allows enough time to appreciate the differences rather than treating the property as one thirty-six-hole checklist.
Menie, Royal Aberdeen and Cruden Bay
Northeastern Scotland can show three strikingly different styles of coastal golf. Royal Aberdeen presents classic championship links with far more modest dune forms and traditional positional demands. Cruden Bay supplies eccentric blind shots and older, more irregular routing. Menie is the modern counterpoint: monumental, largely dune-framed and demanding at the correct angles.
Macleod House & Lodge offers an estate stay. The Marcliffe and the hotels of Aberdeen provide a city base with restaurants and traditional bars. The northern fishing villages, the coastal road and Aberdeen's working harbor give this trip a distinctly northeast Scottish personality.
2027 Green Fees, Tees and Caddies
For 2027, indicative adult Old Course green fees are £255 in February; £335 from March 16 through April 30; £470 in May; £615 from June through September; and £470 from October 1 to 11. These amounts are a planning guide for eighteen-hole rounds, not a promise of the same price at every tee time or on unlisted dates.
The USGA-rated Black men's setup measures 7,452 yards (6,814 metres), par 72, Course Rating 78.3, Slope 153. Gold men's tees are 7,013 yards (6,413 metres), while Blue men's tees are 6,663 yards (6,093 metres), both par 72. Shorter tees and gender-specific setups have their own ratings and sometimes different pars. The longest available course length should never be mistaken for the only authentic way to play.
A traditional caddie costs £80 per person per round, with gratuity additional. A forecaddie costs £30 per player for groups of three or four, offering course guidance without carrying bags. Both are optional. Book ahead: requests inside 72 hours cannot be guaranteed. Local knowledge can be especially valuable on the obscured third and around the raised putting surfaces.
What Menie Leaves Behind
The strongest memory is often a change in perspective. The ball is enclosed by immense dune walls, and moments later the horizon reappears with a wind that demands an entirely different shot. The Old Course delivers magnificent scenery, but its achievement is making the golfer interpret that scenery on nearly every hole.