King tees off in hallowed Scottish venues (5)

I believe the answer is:

kirks

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'hallowed scottish venues' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'king tees off' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'K' (chess abbreviation).
'tees off' becomes 'irks' (I've seen this in another clue).
'k'+'irks'='KIRKS'

'in' acts as a link.

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