ASK any knowledgeable golfer to name his top 10 courses in the world and it`s almost certain
that Royal Dornoch will feature high among them. This outstanding links, originally the work of Old Tom Morris, is a championship course of the highest order and encapsulates everything a golfer seeks in the most satisfying of rounds - a beautiful setting, a tough but fair test of skill and fast, tricky greens. Bordered by the Dornoch Firth with views of the mountains of Sutherland and the gorse ablaze with yellow in early summer, the purity of the air and the surroundings ensure you feel good, no matter your score. At 6,514 yards, it is not long by modern standards but you have to think your way around the bunkers, sandhills, hummocks, knolls and swales that can punish the unfortunate shot.Imagine a saucer and upend it and you have a typical Dornoch green. If you manage to keep your ball on the putting surface, then you are undoubtedly faced with a putt that will have to take account of a host of subtle contours. When we last played it on three successive days this summer, it was a completely different course each time. The first day was still and the course benign. The next day the wind blew from behind on the first eight holes and into our faces on the homeward 10 that skirt the sandy beaches of Dornoch Bay, making club selection difficult. And just in case we'd worked out how to play it, the wind turned around for the final day making many a shot guesswork.Much more recently five times Open champion Tom Watson said: 'It was the most fun I`ve had playing golf in my whole life.' Dornoch`s remoteness has prevented it from hosting its fair share of major championships but that remoteness adds to its charisma, and while golfers often kick themselves for sharing the secret of Dornoch with acquaintances, they can console themselves that its distance of 600 miles from London and 49 miles from Inverness, Britain`s most northerly city, prevents many from sharing its delights. Golf was first played here in 1616 and about that time Sir Robert Gordon wrote: 'About this town along the sea coast are the fairest and largest links or green fields of any pairt of Scotland.' Back in 1616, the subscription was two shillings and sixpence, it costs a bit more nowadays but it's an experience worth every penny.
18 holes, 6,514 yards. Par 70 (SSS 73). Amateur record: C. Christie 66. Championship record: 62.
FOURTEENTH (445 yards, par 4) - `Foxy` , on the Championship Course, was reckoned by Harry Vardon to
be the most natural hole in golf. There are no man-made obstacles; instead, on your right, there is
a succession of hillocks running up to a raised narrow green of subtle contours.
Yes. All days but limited times on Saturdays. Gentlemen must have handicap of 24 and
ladies 39 for the Championship Course.
Championship course -- £60 per round weekdays, £70 Sundays. £100 per day. Combination tickets
(one round on each course) £65 Monday to Saturday; £75 on Sundays. Struie Course -- April to
October: £18 per round, £25 per day, £100 weekly ticket.
Restaurant and bar. Full service daily. Functions catered for.
Motorised buggies hire for those with medical requirements (£20),trolley hire (£2), club hire
(£10-£15),caddies (£20-£30), changing rooms,putting green, pro shop, practice ground, coaching
clinics on request.
49 miles north of Inverness off A9, north of Dornoch. Signposted from square in Dornoch.
