ROYAL DORNOCH - 19 POINTS
If Royal Dornoch was positioned on the south coast of England it would have held more Open Championships than just about any course outside of St Andrews. It is an amazing course with spectacular views and both fun and challenging holes. It is one of the remotest courses in the UK however and so it seems destined to be a course which will be criminally underplayed but adored by those who do.
The course is far from a secret. The 2020 GOLF Magazine rankings have it up 5 places at number 10 in the world in my Ultimate Top 100 I have it at number 9. The development of Castle Stuart in recent years combined with the not-too-far burgeoning Aberdonian golfing scene will probably mean that more people will find Royal Dornoch in years to come and they are in for a real treat.
The club was formed in 1877 and had 9 holes at that time. Old Tom Morris was invited to visit in 1886 and laid out another 9 holes, although it took several years for the club to get them all done, so it may have been the early 1890s before the full 18 were In play. At the end of the second world war holes 6 through to 11 were constructed and that is the course you find today. It’s an out and back design, similar to St Andrews. The first holes take you on an upper tier away from the clubhouse with the North Sea on your right before you turn from home with the sea on your left, back to the town.
There are many things that make Royal Dornoch such a delight. We played from the members' tees and there was a great variety in length across par 3s, 4s and 5s. The par 4s range from the 300 yard 15th to the 464 yard 7th and the par 3s are all more about brains than brawn. It's a par 70 and the yellow tees at 6,265 yards was plenty long enough for me.
The course runs fast, of course, being perfect links soil and when we played it the bunkering and greens were superb. The greens are probably the thing that stands Royal Dornoch apart from many other famous links courses. Many are elevated with devilish punishment if you miss them. It is hard to run the ball along the ground on to many of the greens. Now, when I have seen that elsewhere it has annoyed me and I have called it out as such (see Sebonack for example). However, here I have no such complaint. Tough as they are they really blend into the course and there is nothing contrived about them.
Dornoch is not a course to obsess about your score on when you are playing it. The fairways can be tight at places but are generally pretty welcoming, green complexes are where the challenges really come. But the colours, the views, the setting are all just perfect. If there was ever one course meant for just taking it all in, reminding yourself how lucky we are to be able to play golf on some of the most spectacular places on earth then this is it. Make the trip and you won't regret it.
If you are considering the trip the No Laying Up Tourist Sauce series is a great way to see what is to come. They finished their 2018 trip at Royal Dornoch and it’s well worth a look -
BOOKING THE COURSE
There are certainly no obstacles in booking Royal Dornoch. The course is accessible to visitors 7 days a week and it's easy to book online. The online widget allows you to book months in advance, it really couldn't be simpler. Some slots are reserved for members only - typically pre 10am and lunchtime - but if you want a game on any given day if you book far enough in advance you should be fine. You do need to book a long way in advance though for the peak summer months as it can be heavily booked a long way in advance.
The green fee is also a little cheaper than it is at other courses approaching similar quality, although it has risen quite a bit in recent years. In the summer it's £280 for a round (in 2024) - it’s gone up quite a lot in the last couple of years - but twilight tickets available for £150 and if you tee off at 6 you will still have plenty of light when you come on. You can play 36 holes in a day with your second round almost half price and given the quality of what’s on offer here that’s well worth considering. Winter tee times are available from £155.
There are deals in place where it is possible to play, for example, Castle Stuart, Nairn and Royal Dornoch in April or October for £565 including accommodation. That's a really fantastic offer. If you were to book those separately, including accommodation at the Royal Dornoch Golf Hotel, it would come in at almost twice that. So if you plan your trip well you can get some really impressive discounts.
Another route to consider is entering one of the Open competitions they hold on the course which you can find here. You don't need to be one of the world's leading amateurs to take part - they take handicaps up to 24 and they represent tremendous value - entry is around £40 for non-members. If you can plan a trip around one of these it will not only save you money but also provide a great way of meeting some other golfers and giving you a unique experience.
TOUR TIPS
It may seem remote but actually this area of the world isn't as hard to get to as you may think. Inverness is the nearest airport and main railway station. There is a lot to be said if you are coming from overseas to fly directly from London or Amsterdam into Inverness rather than drive up from Edinburgh or Glasgow. Inverness is about an hour south of Dornoch. There is a huge amount of golf in the area and you could happily base yourself here for an entire trip If you do try to combine with somewhere further south it is about a three hour drive to Inverness from Edinburgh or St Andrews, a little further from Glasgow.
When we did the trip we stayed in Inverness. It's not a bad place to base yourself for a few days with good restaurants on offer. We had a great meal in Rocpool and there are plenty of accommodation options. It would be criminal to leave without a trip to Johnny Foxes which caters for an eclectic audience and there are plenty of clubs but beware the midnight curfew to be in a club..
Having said that next time I go I will try and stay in Dornoch for at least a night or two. There are plenty of accommodation options and tearing up and down for a day to such a special place feels wrong. The Royal Dornoch website is probably the best golf club site I have seen when it comes to resources for planning a trip so I won't try to better it. However, accommodation does book up a long time in advance so my advice would be to make sure you plan well ahead if you want to stay locally.
On our trip we played at Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Nairn and Fortrose and Rosemarkie. This was a fantastic quartet of courses which it would be hard to better anywhere. The weather is often surprising benign (there will be much local talk of microclimates on a pleasant day) and the nights in the summer are unfeasibly long - you can happily come off the golf course at 11pm. Next time though we will also head a little further north and get in Brora, Golspie and maybe if the budget allows Skibo Castle.
So, as you can see there are a huge number of options and the summer light means that you can play 36 holes a day here with ease. If you are a fan of links golf in its purest form a trip here needs to be on your list.
CONTACT DETAILS
Royal Dornoch Club Golf,
Golf Rd,
Dornoch,
Sutherland IV25 3LW
Phone: 01862 810219
E-mail: bookings@royaldornoch.com
Web: https://www.royaldornoch.com
