Royal Dornoch Golf Club
In terms of golfing aristocracy, you couldn’t find a more regal setting than Royal Dornoch. Each hole of this magnificent course embraces that rare combination of a distinctive design and blinding playability ensuring a prominent position among Scotland’s top tracks.
Found on the far easterly coast of Sutherland, Dornoch may be tricky to get to but its impact is immediate. The first two holes serve as a fine introduction, but it’s not until you reach the third and panoramic views over the links that you find out what all the fuss is about. The sheer beauty of the place is breathtaking, and the golf isn’t bad either.
The fairway of the par-four 8th (“Dunrobin”), for instance, drops down 50 feet to a lower tier presenting you with a 150-yard approach shot to a tantalising green with the humps and hollows offering up a kaleidoscope of golfing possibilities. The following par-five (“Craigliath”) is a classic links hole with a beach battered by crashing waves running down the left-hand side and raised-beach plateaus to the right. Tackled on a windy day, this is one of the most perilous drives on the course.
One thing that holds true throughout your round at Dornoch is the beguiling nature of the links that for centuries have drawn lovers of golf from far and wide. It may be the greatest course never to have held an Open Championship, but it also one of the best places on earth to simply enjoy a game of golf. www.royaldornoch.com
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