Scotland’s Centuries-Old Golf Courses Are Crumbling Into the Sea

Mike MacDonald sizes up his opening tee shot at Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club, and takes aim at the right side of the fairway. Anything left and he’d risk hitting his ball onto the beach, or worse, into the cold waters of the Moray Firth off the Scottish coast.

“It didn’t use to be this hard,” the club’s general manager says. “The recent storms hit our first couple of fairways and we’re spending a lot of time trying to work out how to pay for all the repairs.”

MacDonald isn’t alone with this dilemma. Clubs on Scotland’s eastern seaboard ...