a a
— Center of the Golfing Universe —

— Royal Dornoch Golf Club —

Rated #3 in the world outside the USA, and #2 in Scotland,
Royal Dornoch may be the world's ‘Finest Northerly Course’

ROYAL DORNOCH GOLF CLUB
Golf Road
Dornoch, Sutherland
Scotland IV25 3LW
Tel: +44 (0)1862 810 219

LENGTH & PAR:
    Championship Blue Tees: Par 70, 6,682 yards, SSS 74
    White Tees: Par 70, 6,514 yards, SSS 73
    Yellow Tees: Par 70, 6,229 yards, SSS 71
    Red Tees: Par 76, 5,956 yards, SSS 76

FACILITIES:
    Pro Shop
    Pull Cart (Trolley) Rental
    Club Rental

VISITORS welcome every day.

Maximum handicaps: Men—24, Ladies—35, handicap certificates required

GREENS FEES April—October: £69/weekday; £79/weekend

RESERVATIONS: Advance booking of tee-times required
    Tel: +44 (0)1862 810 219 ext. 185
    Fax: +44 (0)1862 810 792
    E-mail: bookings@royaldornoch.com
    Web Site: http://www.royaldornoch.com/bookform.htm

LOCATION & Nearest Home at First Lodgings:
    Royal Dornoch Golf Club is on the edge of Dornoch town, 2 miles east of the A9 on
    the A949.
    Home at First's Northern Highlands Cottages near Dingwall are 41 miles southwest
    of Dornoch.
    Home at First's Inverness cottages are 45 miles south of Dornoch.
     More information on travel with Home at First to: NORTHERN SCOTLAND

LET HOME AT FIRST BOOK YOUR TEE-TIME AT ROYAL DORNOCH as part of your Scotland travel plans. There is no service charge for making your booking.

OTHER GOLF IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA: The North Sea coast of northeastern Scotland has numerous links courses, including several challenging ones clustered within 15-30 minutes of Dornoch. There are excellent golf courses within easy reach at Brora, Nairn, Tain, Inverness, Golspie, and others.

HISTORY OF ROYAL DORNOCH GOLF CLUB:
        With printed accounts of golf being played at Dornoch as early as 1616, Royal Dornoch Golf Club claims the third oldest golfing tradition in Scotland. Regardless of the accuracy of the claim—numerous other Scottish clubs promote themselves as having older roots—it was only in 1877 that the Dornoch Golf Club was officially founded with a 9-hole course along the beach by Dornoch town. The first nine were designed by one of modern golf’s founding fathers, Old Tom Morris, legendary professional (British Open champion in 1861, 1862, 1864, and 1867), course designer, and equipment maker. A second nine holes were added by 1880. The true links course quickly gained a national reputation, and in 1906 Britain’s King Edward VII anointed the club with a royal charter. The club’s new status as Royal Dornoch puts it in the elite company with Royal and Ancient St. Andrews, Royal Troon, Royal St. David’s, Royal St. George’s, and a select few other British (and two Irish) golf clubs.
        Scottish-American steel industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who maintained his Skibo Castle residence nearby Dornoch, opened a new clubhouse at Royal Dornoch in 1909. A second 18-hole course, "Struie", was built after World War II.
        Royal Dornoch does play host to various minor British tournaments, but never the British Open, despite being rated 3rd best course in Scotland. Royal Dornoch—an hour north of Edinburgh on Scotland’s rural northeast coast—is far Britain’s population centers and its major airports. That Royal Dornoch is not on the British Open rotation may be more blessing than curse. Imagine a pure links golf course rated in the world’s top 20, which, although a private club, welcomes visitors daily at rates that must be considered a bargain. Add Dornoch’s "dry-and-warm-for-Scotland" microclimate and the lack of crowded conditions and other interruptions brought on by major tournaments. Royal Dornoch is that most democratic of elitist golf courses: a true Scottish links with a noble history and a royal pedigree that remains wonderfully accessible to the common man. Providing, of course, that he can be expected to break 94 there on a regular basis and has the paper work to prove it and about $120 in his wallet.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES:
        Typical of Scottish linkses of the period, the championship course at Royal Dornoch is primarily out-and-back, i.e. the front nine holes play away from the clubhouse and the back nine leads back home. In windy conditions—very common to the coast of course—the front nine might play consistently with the wind and the back nine consistently against the wind, a long-established criticism of traditional linkses. Royal Dornoch counters by suggesting that its "S"-curved layout from the southwest to the northeast keeps the wind angle somewhat varied on every hole, adding challenge and avoiding monotony.
        Like most classic Scottish links courses, Royal Dornoch has little water, virtually no trees, deep pot bunkers, and menacing, thick rough. Greens and fairways are undulating, drainage is quite good, and changeable weather conditions routinely affect play.
        For the men the par-70 layout is even on both nines: one par-5 and 2 par-3s in each direction. For the ladies the layout is very much different: 3 par-5s and 2 par-3s going out and 2 par-3s and 5 par-5s coming back in, totaling a par-76 test that is very different from the course the men play.

        Here is a review of Dornoch’s most difficult 4 holes for the men:

Hole #4, "Achinchanter", 427 yards, Par 4 (3rd most difficult): Although of modest length, this hole is made challenging by nasty gorse along the left side of the fairway. Aiming right off the tee is not advised, owing to the steep drop of the fairway from left to right into rough grass. If you do find a safe haven on the fairway, making the green is problematic: its table-top position is protected by two bunkers on each side and made maddening with undulations and slopes off to the right and rear.

Hole #7, "Pier", 463 yards, Par 4 (1st most difficult): Longish hole with dense heather and gorse to the left of the fairway, and more thick gorse on right. Two fairway bunkers are placed to catch tee shots that slide left, and two more traps, more gorse, and tall rough protect the green. Add wind and stir.

Hole #11, "A’chlach", 450 yards, Par 4 (4th most difficult): Another fortified par-4. This time the green is the principal problem, with a sharp drop-off to the left and a dry moat on the right, a sizeable bunker at the left entrance, and another invading the green from the right.

Hole #14, "Foxy", 445 yards, Par 4 (2nd most difficult): While this moderate-length par-4 has no bunkers, their addition would only make this tricky hole less fair. Its narrow plateau green appears the tightest of targets made more harrowing by steep drop-offs. Finding a fairway foothold is made hazardous by and minefield of mounds and other irregularities.

THE REGION: There’s plenty of golf and lots more to do in Northern Scotland. Within reach are such popular destinations as the Nairn coast to the east, the Cairngorm mountains and Loch Ness to the south, the Isle of Skye to the west, and the remote Northern Highlands leading to John o’ Groats on the northern tip of Britain. In addition, there’s fishing, hunting, hiking, and biking. Within easy reach are several notable castles including Eilean Donan, Urquhart, and Cawdor castles, among others. Other important places to visit include Culloden Battlefield, the Black Isle, the city of Inverness (less than 30 minutes drive south from the estate), Loch Ness, and Scotland’s wild west coast at Ullapool. Several local Scotch Whisky distilleries are worth a visit including Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Strathisla, and others. Walkers will enjoy walking in great scenery along the dramatic coastline and climbing up Munros like Ben Wyvis and other high mountains in the area.

More information on travel to: NORTHERN SCOTLAND

Want to learn about other courses throughout the British Isles
including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world?
See our SCOTLAND, IRELAND, ENGLAND, and WALES Course Guides for more information.