Western Gailes Golf Club

Western Gailes Golf Club is a traditional club in the town of Irvine on the South West coast of Scotland. A classic 18-hole links layout, the course is built on a narrow strip of dune land in between the Firth of Clyde and the Ayrshire Coast Line railway – a classic feature of links courses designed in the 1800s to allow for easy access.

The idea for a club here was born by four friends from Glasgow who had the vision to build a golf course on the Ayrshire coast away from the industrial fog of the city of Glasgow, thus an initial 9-hole course was formed in 1898 with a further 9-holes developed a year later. Visitors to Western Gailes will find an extremely warm welcome and a clubhouse with a bar, restaurant and club shop.

Western Gailes Golf Course overview

Western Gailes is a classic links course that has stayed very true to its original layout over the years. With a wonderful variety of holes, in part due to the three changes of direction golfers will experience during the round the course offers a great test of golf and a lot of fun. A par-71, the course measures 6640-yards from the member's tees but other options are available.

Due to the prevailing winds, you must choose the correct tee box otherwise you will be faced with long approach shots into well-defended greens. Western Gailes is an excellent links course and certainly holds its own against its more illustrious neighbours in the region (Royal Troon, Prestwick and Turnberry), whilst also being far more affordable.

Signature Holes

The signature hole is probably the 7th, a par-3 of 170-yards from the members tees that is played from an elevated tee on a sand dune. Players need to thread the ball through a valley to a green that sits in a hollow, protected by bumps and deep pot bunkers.

Did You Know?

Western Gailes Golf Club has hosted the Scottish Amateur Championship nine times, as well as the Curtis Cup in 1972.