Golf has been played across the world’s most northerly championship links for over four centuries. Entwined in history, at Royal Dornoch the game is inseparable from the ancient Highlands town it belongs to.
Old Tom Morris was responsible for extending the links from nine to 18 holes in 1886. Now, almost 150 years later, Royal Dornoch is rightly hailed as one of the very finest courses in the world.
Offering a timeless and quintessential links challenge, the holes at Royal Dornoch are set against a stunning backdrop of the deserted, windswept beach and the Dornoch Firth beyond.
The Club
Golf at Dornoch can be traced back to 1616 but the club was formed in 1877. Old Tom Morris was tempted north from St Andrews to leave his imprint on the links, remarking “there canna be better for gowf.” Another legendary golf course designer, Dornoch native Donald Ross, embarked on his career as a greenkeeper and professional at his local club.
The Championship Course
Few links are blessed with a more dramatic location, stretching along the north shore and sandy beach of the Dornoch Firth. This vast amphitheatre of natural, tiered linksland is framed by shimmering waters and gorse-clad hillside, gloriously golden in the spring.
The evolution of the Championship Course – a fixture on lists of the world’s top 10 golf courses – has continued in recent times with future-proofing changes made to the 7thand 8th holes.
Play Royal Dornoch
Golfing greats like Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus have all made the pilgrimage to Royal Dornoch, along with Presidents and Prime Ministers, stars of stage and screen and famous faces from the world of sport and commerce.
In the 1960s, American writer Herbert Warren Wind observed “No golfer has completed his education until he has played and studied Royal Dornoch.”
We are delighted to share our Championship and Struie Courses with golfers eager to follow in the footsteps of giants of the game and welcome you to join us here at historic Royal Dornoch.
