Dornoch on TV

[Greg Holland]

Tomorrow from 2:30 until 4pm Golf Channel is showing an Ultimate Match (SWWOG) at Dornoch between Couples and Norman.  

[Brad Tufts]

My DVR says Couples v. Norman at the Carnegie Club.

So we can knock the 5-star alert to a 4-star (and GCA-profiled!) alert.

[J_ Crisham]

Greg, When was this match played?

[Greg Holland]

I got excited, and it looks a bit premature.  My bad.

It is from 1996, so I believe it is at Skibo Castle.

I found this quote from Norman:

At 6,671 yards from the back tees, Skibo is not long by modern standards, but in a wind it will test the best. I played Fred Couples at Skibo in a 1996 Shell's Wonderful World of Golf telecast--a match I remember all too well. The wind was whipping off Dornoch Firth, and we both struggled. Freddie won with a seventy-six, and I finished with a seventy-eight. Believe me, under the conditions, those scores weren't all that bad.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Unfortunately Skibo is not even Dornoch light.

[David_Tepper]

The Carnegie Club/Skibo Castle course is about 3 miles from Dornoch. It sits right on the Dornoch Firth. My guess is it that this course is more exposed to the wind than Royal Dornoch. The Skibo course could not have been more than a couple of years old when the match was filmed in 1996.

I have seen the tape of that match. The wind was REALLY howling that day.

[Brian_Ewen]

This match was for the opening of the course .

[Jason McNamara]

I have seen the tape of that match. The wind was REALLY howling that day.

Indeed - up there with Couples vs. Campbell at Kauri Cliffs

[Gary Gruber]

This match was played in July 96, We do tend to be more exposed to westerly winds than Dornoch and that was certainly the case that day.
During the back nine which played in to the wind they played of several ladies tees to enable them to reach the holes in regulation.

[Mitch Hantman]

The course is a bit different now than in 1996.  Many changes have been made, and the order of holes has been changed as well.  

[David_Tepper]

Gary Gruber -

My sources tell me you are on the greenskeeping staff at Skibo.

I know some of holes on the course have been changed over the past few years. Has all the work been finished? Are any further changes planned?

I am also curious to know what sort of work do you typically do on the course over the winter months.

Any info you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks!

DT

[Philip Gawith]

Ran (I assume) wrote quite an appreciative profile of Skibo last year which appears on Courses by Country.

[Gary Gruber]

David

This year will (hopefully) see the last of the alterations to the course, we are currently making changes to the par 5 , 3rd and 5th holes and the par 4 10th.
Most of these changes involve trying to seperate the golf holes through the middle of the course, that since day one have been rather bunched up due to planning constraints in the initial construction. We hope to have this finished in the next 6 weeks.
The 10th has been lengthend with the addition of a new green and we have just finished the recontouring of the fairway to tie in with this.

As for a normal winter schedule, we try to revett around 20 bunkers per year to keep the faces fresh as well as patching walkway, relevelling tees and an ongoing gorse bush management program amongst other things.

I may add photos to update the course profile on GCA.

Oh! and you have good sources

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