Scotland and golf, like ham and egg, are made for each other. The country is overflowing with the game’s history, central figures in golf’s story and, of course, a monumental per capita collection of the world’s finest courses. But by simply skimming the top level of championship courses and famous resorts, what are you missing out on? Quite a lot, as it happens…

We’re not asking you to go to the ends of the earth, or drive ten hours from the nearest airport or station, just to consider a slightly broader range of Scotland’s golfing spectrum. At the top end of that spectrum, magnified as though in glorious high definition, are the country’s glamour venues at which great tournaments are played, matches played out and stories made; the likes of Turnberry, St Andrews, Troon and Muirfield are rightly etched in golfing lore, and are icons of which Scotland is rightly proud. But there’s more, particularly for the stay-and-play golfer.

Make the choice of a golf break in Scotland and your next decision, naturally, is where to go? For the purposes of enlightenment, we’re going to set aside the elite resorts that tend to occupy the spotlight: Turnberry, Gleneagles and the St Andrews duo of the Old Course Hotel and the Fairmont resort. What we’re left with is an intriguing squad of Scottish golf hotels, most sitting comfortably in the four-star bracket, that will bring smiles to the travelling golfer without punishing the pocket in equal measure.

We’ll begin in the extremities, by that referring to those resorts that don’t call the Central Belt – generally speaking the East-West band between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland’s most populous areas – home. To the north, Aberdeen is rightly proud of the Inchmarlo Resort, a 27-hole venue led by the excellent Laird’s layout. With the advent of Trump International Golf Links down the coast, Aberdeen looks set for a meteoric rise in golfing importance in the coming decade.

Inland and at the foot of the Cairngorms National Park is Aviemore, best known for its winter sports but a credible golfing destination in its own right. Now more than a decade old, the course at Spey Valley, twinned with the Macdonald Aviemore hotels, is a glorious experience with a natural backdrop that’s hard to rival anywhere, not merely in Scotland. In Perthshire, Murrayshall, a country and sporting estate with no little golfing flair, is the choice if the lord of the manor role appeals.

Scotland’s southern extremes, generally known as the Borders, are represented in the shape of Cardrona, also part of the Macdonald stable. Cardrona is a parkland gem that, while not in the Central Belt, is easily accessed from Ednburgh, Glasgow or Northern England for that matter. Marvellous countryside that’s ideal for walking sets the scene in fine style here.

From the M8 – the arterial road between Scotland’s first and second cities – choices abound. In and around Edinburgh, Marriott Dalmahoy is a firm favourite courtesy of its country club facilities and two courses that are a real treat, particularly the astonishingly long East. Slightly north, and almost in the very heart of Scotland, is the Green Hotel, twinned with the two-course Kinross Golf Club, an unsung hero where the value for money is extraordinary.

If access from Glasgow suits you better, two choices stand out: the first is Westerwood, a QHotels property that boasts the country’s only Seve Ballesteros designed layout, or Gleddoch House, to the opposite side of the city and a resort where the views of the widening River Clyde are spectacular.

The only taxing part of the Scottish golf break experience, from start to end, will be choosing the resort for you. But you need not limit yourself to one – try a few, sprinkle in golf at local courses or some of the championship gems, and get to know the country that golf calls home.

Your Golf Travel offers golf breaks in Scotland starting at £89 per person.