Royal Dornoch Championship

The verdict

Royal Dornoch is the great outlier of British golf, a world top ten course that sits an hour north of Inverness, far from the Open rota and the crowds, and is loved all the more for it. Golf has been played on this ground since the early seventeenth century, and the modern Championship Course, formalised by Old Tom Morris in 1886 and developed over decades by the secretary John Sutherland, has a naturalness and a serenity that the busier famous links cannot match. The raised, shelf like greens are its signature, shedding anything less than a precise approach and rewarding the ground game that links golf was built on.

It suits the travelling golfer who wants the real thing, a course of subtlety and character rather than brute championship length, in a setting of rare beauty above the firth. Pair it with Nairn, Castle Stuart and Brora for a Highland week, and understand, walking the turf that taught Donald Ross his craft, why so many great judges call Dornoch their favourite course in the world.

The holes worth the trip

The defining feature of Dornoch is its greens, and they announce themselves early. From the high ground of the opening holes the course drops to a lower shelf along the firth, and time and again the approach must be flown or fed onto a raised, falling green that punishes the timid and the over ambitious alike. There are no weak holes and no gimmicks; the test is relentlessly fair and relentlessly demanding.

The 14th, Foxy, is the jewel, a long par 4 that doglegs twice across rumpled ground without a single bunker, defending itself purely through shape and a raised green. It is routinely listed among the best holes in the world and is, by itself, worth the journey north. The closing stretch back toward the town and the clubhouse, exposed to the firth wind, completes a round that lingers long after you have left.

Add the constant Highland light, the cry of the sea birds and the sense of playing golf as it was meant to be played, on firm, natural turf far from the modern game, and the Championship Course gives you a day you will measure other links against for years.

Where to stay nearby

The little town of Dornoch is the ideal base, a handsome cathedral town with hotels and guest houses a short walk from the first tee, so you can play the Championship Course, lunch in town and head back out for an evening round on the Struie in the long Highland light. The famous Royal Golf Hotel sits beside the links, and there are characterful inns and lodges throughout the area.

For a fuller Highland week, Inverness an hour south makes a convenient hub for Castle Stuart and Nairn, while the village of Brora to the north adds another fine James Braid links, so the whole north Highland coast strings together into one of Scotland's great golf journeys.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Dornoch.