Tain Golf Club

The verdict

Tain is Old Tom Morris in the far north, a links the Grand Old Man of golf laid out in 1890 in the Royal Burgh of Tain, on the shore of the Dornoch Firth in the Scottish Highlands. Remarkably, ten of Morris's original holes survive, five on the way out and five coming home, which makes Tain one of the most faithful Old Tom layouts you can still play. The club calls it his Northern Jewel, and the description fits.

A par 70 of about 6,404 yards, Tain is classic, unforced links golf: firm turf, the Aldie burn winding through the closing stretch, gorse and whin framing the fairways and a famous short hole that ranks among the best Morris ever built. It is also one of the great value rounds in Scotland, a serious links a short drive from Inverness that costs a fraction of the marquee names, and a natural pairing with Royal Dornoch and Brora on a Highlands trip.

The holes worth the trip

Tain plays out across genuine linksland, with the Morris holes giving it a timeless rhythm: wide, walkable fairways, greens set naturally into the ground and trouble that comes from the wind, the gorse and the burn rather than heavy modern bunkering. The ten surviving Morris holes are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th and 9th going out, and the 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th coming home.

The 17th is the celebrated one, a short hole widely rated among the finest Old Tom Morris ever designed, played over rumpled ground to a green that asks for the right club and a steady nerve in the breeze. The Aldie burn becomes a real factor over the closing holes, threading across the run for home and demanding thought rather than brute length.

It is a course that rewards the strategist and the traveler who values authenticity over yardage, a true Highland links you can walk in an afternoon and remember for years, and the best value anchor round on the northern leg of any Scotland golf trip.

Where to stay nearby

Tain itself has comfortable inns and hotels in and around the old burgh, but most visiting golfers base in nearby Dornoch or in Inverness and play the northern links as a cluster. Dornoch puts Royal Dornoch on the doorstep and Tain, Brora and Golspie within an easy drive, which is the classic way to take in this corner of the Highlands.

An Inverness base trades a little driving for more hotels, restaurants and onward connections, and works well if you are pairing the far north links with Castle Stuart, Nairn and the rest of the Inverness area courses on a wider Highlands trip.