True North

TRIP PLANNER

WHERE TO PLAY / STAY

Links House at Royal Dornoch

The huge beds are the right side of firm. The enormous baths are for swimmers only. The showers, in drier regions of the world, would be considered an environmental disaster. In short, Links House is very luxurious. The service standards are off the scale but, refreshingly, they don’t smother guests. American proprietors seem to have made their mark here because the staff are charming but not overbearing. The way things are done here is a great improvement on many upscale UK hotels.

The staff can arrange access to the nearby salmon and trout fishing, to upland shooting, stag stalking and of course golf. But equally, they will leave you alone to a glass of whisky, a book and the brilliant view over the links. www.linkshousedornoch.co.uk

Royal Dornoch

Dornoch is the hometown of Donald Ross who built more than 400 courses in the US, each one a little bit of Dornoch, a sidesloping fairway here, a raised
green there.

Ross was a greenkeeper, originally apprenticed to Old Tom Morris at St Andrews where he learned the trade. (It was Morris who laid out Dornoch’s original 18.) Amongst the courses Ross would go on to build in the States is Scioto where Jack Nicklaus learned the game, so a link is established between the father of golf, Tom, and its greatest exponent, Jack.

In these ways, Dornoch, arguably, has had more influence on golfers and golf course architecture than anywhere else.

Back to the course: The first is a short sweet par-4. The second is a simple par-3, simple until you miss the green and discover that all recoveries are very, very hard! The third, well, it takes your breath away because the panorama over the entire links is suddenly revealed. And so it goes on: interest, intrigue, balance, soaring views.

A second 18, The Struie, is also an excellent linksland challenge. www.royaldornoch.com

The Carnegie Links at Skibo Castle

Skibo Castle's newly renovated Carnegie Links is just minutes from Dornoch. It is a sensational links in sensational condition. Invariably quiet – which is just as its members want – you will have the course pretty much to yourself. www.carnegieclub.co.uk  

Golspie Golf Club

Just north of Dornoch is Golspie Golf Club, a James Braid course, linksland for the most part, a few holes showing some inland characteristics. But it is none the worse for it. The setting is fabulous too. Green fees are from £45 (HK$560). www.golspie-golf-club.co.uk  

Brora Golf Club

North of Golspie, Brora Golf Club is a wonderful links, James Braid’s work again. Such is its significance in the Braid canon and such is its beauty, The James Braid Society (Peter Thompson is its President) has made its home here.

The golf course is excellent. Inevitably it seems short by today’s standards, but somehow the bunkers are perfectly placed, the greens still tough to hit, the course still every inch a challenge. Fences protect greens from cows and sheep, so you might imagine some rough conditioning. Actually though, the course is pristine, more manicured than its natural setting, unchanged architecture and rural remoteness would have one imagine.

Those who believe Dornoch is the last word in northern romantic remoteness and natural golf need to get to Brora. www.broragolf.co.uk

HOW TO BOOK

Stirling&Stirling, Scottish golf’s luxury travel experts, invite you to experience the very best of the country – world-class golf, ancient castles, vibrant cities, romantic Highlands and Michelin-starred cuisine. For more information and to enjoy an exclusive 10 per cent discount for holidays to Scotland during the main season April to October 2014 write to us at scotland@hkgolfer.com