If a golfer travels to the Highlands without playing Royal Dornochm he must return
I think every golfer must have one. That special golf course where the soles of your feet tingle, your heart beats faster, and your breath comes more quickly as you stand on the first tee. And if you are of a certain age you might be saying to yourself, “God I love this place. I hope this isn’t my last time here.”
For many it’s Pebble Beach, or Pinehurst #2, or Augusta National, or the Old Course, or if they are really lucky, their home course. For me, it is Royal Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands. It is the most compelling golf course where I have ever set driver to ball.
I have to confess a bias in favor of Scottish links courses. They demand your full attention on every shot and every putt. In good conditions both the fairways and greens are hard and fast. Distances and yardages become irrelevant, because the real skill is in the bump and run. How much will the ball release after it lands? How do I marry the break and the pace of this putt? Master these challenges and you might have a chance to score on a course like Royal Dornoch.
Royal Dornoch was designed by Old Tom Morris with tweaks by Donald Ross
The first hole can seduce you because it is easy, especially if you keep your driver in the bag and put the ball in play with a three wood or a hybrid. Avoid the three bunkers protecting the first green and you have a good chance at par. Some golfers think the greatest holes on Royal Dornoch are the par 3’s. Number two makes you get very serious very quickly. It is 167 yards to an elevated green with steep fall-offs into bunkers in the front or collection areas beyond. Tom Watson has famously described the toughest shot on Royal Dornoch to be the second shot on number two. He meant, if you miss the green. Miss this tight green and you are heading north of par quickly.
The third and fourth holes really bring out Dornoch’s teeth. Deep gorse on the left, bunkers on the right, and both of the fairways and greens slope left to right. A faded tee shot or an approach to the middle of the green, and you are likely to end up in a deep sand bunker with a high wall to overcome.
You can catch your breath on number five, a fairly short and easy par 4. But number six brings another of those tricky par 3’s where placement of your tee shot is everything, and a miss to either side will result in a great challenge to make a par. Number seven is a horrendously long par 4, usually into the wind. I’ve not seen many make this green in two. In fact all of the par 4’s from here in are quite long and for women most of them are par 5’s. Dornoch is a par 76 for women with eight par 5’s.
The back nine is less dramatic, but no less difficult. You are facing elevated greens with severe penalties for missing them. The fairways are not wide and they are bordered by that long wispy rough that easily hides golf balls. The greens are magnificent. They roll true, but are difficult to read. The breaks are subtle, resulting in many surprises as your ball takes a path you did not see.
I’ve never shot a great score here, and to be honest, I’ve shot very few good ones. But the setting is mystical. It is a beautiful corner of the earth that seems to have been created for just this purpose. You hear only the sounds of seagulls and golf balls as you walk the links, taking in spectacular views of the Dornoch firth and the hills of the highlands. It’s easy for the mind to wander from the task at hand.
Royal Dornoch's less notable neighbor Brora Golf Club is a great 36 hole day
The golf is pure. There are only two blind tee shots (just follow the poles), no water and no hidden tricks. It’s a difficult course that shows you everything it has and says to you, “Come and get me.”
I met an Englishman in the Gents locker room this summer. He smiled at me and said, “Quite a golf course.” “Yes it is,” I said, “the best I’ve ever played.” He smiled again and said, “Mind you, it’s hard. But we wouldn’t come all this way if it was easy, would we?” No. No you wouldn’t. You don’t come to Royal Dornoch to lay up
This is a guest post by Bill Bauman, a former newsman from Orlando, Florida, who summers in St. Andrews, check out his blog here.
