Royal Dornoch Golf Course Sutherland Scotland UK

Full Description: Royal Dornoch, rightly recognized as one of the world’s greatest links courses, was described by U.S. Masters winner Tom Watson as “the most fun I’ve had playing golf in my whole life.” This is the world’s northernmost golf course for world championship–level golf. Originally constructed in the dunes in 1877 by Old Tom Morris, Dornoch is a beautiful, unspoiled seaside links course outside the pretty lower Highlands town of Dornoch.

The Clubhouse of Royal Dornoch Golf Course

Food:
Traditional golfers’ fare, with reasonably priced bacon sandwiches and excellent, wonderful fresh fish and chips. Meals are served 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., or 9:00 P.M. if you preorder. Alternatively, the nearby Castle Hotel has a superb lawn at the rear for lunch in fair weather.

Changing Rooms:
Traditional no-frills locker Rooms bring your own toiletries.

Ladies’ Facilities:
Dornoch ladies have complete equality, with no restrictions or special privileges. They can request times for ladies-only competitions and usually get them without question.

Pro Shop:
Excellent Dornoch memorabilia, including prints and paintings of the course. A good range of wet-weather gear like the traditional Scottish macintosh and golf umbrellas, which are a necessity, given the cold and unpredictable weather of the Scottish Highlands.

Interior and Exterior:
The present clubhouse has been vastly modified since it was built in 1909 in a mock medieval style. Facilities include a large bar serving food.

Background to the Royal Dornoch Golf Course

Architect:
Old Tom Morris laid the first nine proper holes in 1877, when the annual membership was two shillings and six pence (about 50 cents today).

Type:
Seaside links.

Landscape:
As a result of its location directly on the Dornoch Firth coast, it can get very windy. On a wet day the rain strikes the player horizontally, playing havoc with your game but the views of the turbulent North Sea coast will leave your imagination breathless.

Historical Facts:
• Dornoch is the third-oldest recorded golf course in Scotland, dated at 1616. Golf was played here long before this date but frowned on by the authorities as being an unwarlike activity. • Course designer Donald Ross (1872–1948) was once Dornoch’s golf pro and green-keeper. Here he learned about simplicity of design, which influenced his best American courses. • Honorary members include Prince Andrew, Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw. Celebrity visitors include Greg Norman and Jack Nicholson. • Nearby Sligo Castle was where the singer Madonna married film director Guy Ritchie. Her baby Rocco was christened at Dornoch Cathedral.

Playing the Holes
Signature Hole:
Foxy, the aptly named fourteenth (459 yards, par 4), regularly features in the rankings of the world’s best holes as a superb natural hole without artificial hazards. Notable for its total lack of bunkers, the elevated wide but shallow green with its many borrows, some more subtle than others, is a challenge to hit and hold, so a par on the challenging Foxy can be considered an honorable birdie. You will need to strike a good long drive, preferably to the left of the fairway. A shot to the right will leave you with a blind second shot over two large mounds, in which case a good strategy is to lay up short of the green, then use a putter up the slope onto the green to achieve that elusive par.

Best Golf Hole:
The ninth (496 yards, par 5) is Dornoch’s most rewarding hole. The tee, nestled among remote beachside dunes, is the farthest distance from the clubhouse in a barren landscape with not even one tree to hug. It’s a magical setting along the shoreline, with the ever-changing gray-green-blue colors of the sea, the crashing of the waves, and the sight of preying hawks hovering on the wind all within the whins (gorse bushes) along the right of the fairway. With a following wind the green can be reached in two, but with the wind against, it can seem very far from tee to green. Four bunkers aside the green keep you honest on your approach shot and make for an interesting risk/reward equation.

Toughest Hole:
The drive from the notoriously tough eleventh (446 yards, par 4) certainly focuses the mind, with the beach and sea only yards off the fairway to the left and a huge bank of gorse bushes to the right. Taking less than a 3-wood off the tee will turn this into a par 5. There’s a fairly large landing area for the drive, but the real challenge is the second shot to the green, which is narrow but widens to the rear (a legacy from the days when the course was played the other way round). The fairway contours spill any short shots to the right into a steeply banked gully, which leaves a third shot over a pot bunker to the flag. A ball played at the left of the green may unwittingly drop down another steep bank and into a deep bunker, which has an almost magnetic attraction for wayward shots.

Playing the Course
Stamina:
Royal Dornoch is not strenuous to play; as with most seaside Scottish links, the course is fairly even, although there are larger than average hills and mounds. The elements are all important for the enjoyment of playing: On a tranquil day, it is a gorgeous place to be, but when the wind blows, it can turn into a battle against the elements so don’t forget that rain gear.

Skills:
The difficulty of Dornoch is critically dependent on the direction and strength of the wind. If benign, it is one of the most heavenly places on earth, running alongside an isolated sandy beach, redolent with a myriad of wildlife basking in the watery sun of this North Sea coastline. If the wind is blowing from the north or east, it can transform into a golfer’s hell. The fairways are narrow and surrounded for the most part by whins. Add to this all the subtle little borrows on these usually quite small putting surfaces, and you have a challenge fit for Tom Watson, or indeed its designer Old Tom Morris, who thoughtfully included eighty-eight of those damned Scottish bunkers.

Links golf has a very definite technique. The greens are usually small and very firm, so any lofted approach shots struggle to hold as, more often than not, there are gullies and hollows containing pot bunkers around the greens. Unless you are very accurate with your approach shot, it is far better to play little chip and runs, a technique locals have perfected over the last 400 years. The low punch shot under the wind is far more beneficial than any high-lofted approach. The fairways are generally quite narrow, with many mounds and hollows, so blind approach shots are common, and it is advisable to pay out for a stroke saver or caddy.

Score Card
Phone: +44 (0)1862 810219
Fax: +44 (0)1862 810792

Courses and Lengths:
Championship: Eighteen holes, par 70, 6,514 yards, 6,229 yards, 5,956 yards (ladies). Struie: Eighteen holes, par 72, 6,276 yards, 6,008 yards, 5,600 yards (ladies).

Tee Times:
In high season 7:00 A.M. until dark; in low season from sunrise to sunset.

Handicap:
24 for men and 39 for ladies on the Championship Course.

Green Fees:
Range from £69 (US$120) to £90 (US$160) on the Championship course and £15 (US$25) to £40 (US$70) on the Struie Course in high season.

Other Costs:
Caddies and bag carriers range from £20 (US$35) to £30 (US$50) and £12 (US$20) to £20 (US$35), respectively. Stroke cards cost £4.00 (US$7.00) each. Trolleys (pull carts) and club rentals are available from the pro shop. Limited buggy (golf cart) rental; medical certificate required.

Facilities:
A clubhouse with bar and restaurant, pro shop, and lessons and caddies provided.

Location:
The nearest airport is Inverness (INV), from which it is a one-hour drive on the A9 to Dornoch town.

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