Scottish Highlands 2009

[Alfonso Erhardt]

We are planning a trip to the Scottish Highlands in 2009 and would like some tips about where to play, aside from Royal Dornoch.

We will be around for approximately five days and we were thinking of doing Nairn, Brora and Tain. Should Golspie/Fortrose/Moray be played ahead of the others? Should we rather spend more time and repeat RD?

Any suggestions about where to stay (we are a large group - about 30-40)

When is the best time to see the gorse in full bloom?

Thanks,

Alfonso

[Anthony Gray]

  Cruden Bay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Cruden Bay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phil McDade]

Well, Cruden Bay is a hike -- on a difficult two-lane road no less -- from Dornoch, Nairn and the like.

I'd suggest Boat of Garten, an easy trip down the much faster A9 -- perhaps little more than 30-45 minutes south of Inverness, in the middle of some beautiful Highlands scenery. A very good, tight Braid design.

If you do make the hike to Cruden Bay, stop by the very under-rated but worth-it Fraserburgh. A fine links.

[David_Tepper]

Alfonso -

I am one of the several GCA-ers who get to visit Dornoch on a regular basis each year.

Depending on the winter & spring weather, the gorse starts blooming in late-April/early-May and stays in bloom till mid-June. It is usually in full bloom mid- to late-May.

Royal Dornoch is clearly the #1 course in the area. I would certainly recommend playing it twice.

Nairn is clearly #2. There is a new course called Castle Stuart (near Nairn & the Inverness Airport) opening next June that I suspect will be very, very good. (www.castlestuartgolf.com)

Ranking Brora, Tain & Golspie is a matter of personal taste. Brora is very good and is certainly the purest links of those 3 courses. I have been a member at Golspie for 6-7 years and am very partial to it. It has a nice mixture of seaside and inland holes. Tain is the most inland of those 3 courses but still plays very links-like.

Fortrose is a very unique and interesting course. It sits on a small peninsula the juts into the Moray Firth and the course is surrounded by water on 3 sides.

Finding a hotel in the area that can hold a large group like yours in the Dornoch area could be a problem. You could check with the Dornoch Hotel in Dornoch.

DT       

[Bill_McBride]

Golspie is a terrific course with a friendly membership.

David, any talk of bringing back the hotel by the clubhouse?

[David_Tepper]

Alfonso - Here is a magazine article from a few years ago about golf in the Highlands:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/to-the-highlands

Bill - The future of the Royal Golf Hotel in Dornoch is very much up in the air, especially given the property market credit crunch. A new group did buy the hotel in June, but they have not announced what their plans for the property are. I very much doubt the hotel will be open for business any time in 2009.

DT

[Bill_McBride]

Pity, what a beautiful old place that hotel is.

One of our group in June managed to pull hook his opening tee shot off the side of the hotel, luckily missing all the windows!

[David_Tepper]

Alfonso -

Here is another article with comments on the various courses in the Highlands:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/04/07/AR2005041500629.html

DT

[Anthony Gray]

   Cruden Bay........takes a little while to get there but well worth it..... always in the top 100....

[Yancey_Beamer]

I play Royal Dornoch and Cruden Bay when in northern Scotland.
Each course twice.I have played the other courses in the area but they do not come up to the level of these courses ,IMHO.

[David_Tepper]

Anthony W. & Yancy B. -

Cruden Bay is a wonderful course, but it is hardly convenient if you are spending 4 or 5 nights in the Dornoch/Inverness area are a looking for courses you can reach in a 30-60 minute drive of your home base.

Unless you get VERY lucky traffic-wise, it is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Dornoch to Cruden Bay.

If you are flying into Aberdeen on route to the Dornoch area, Cruden Bay, Royal Aberdeen & Murcar are all well worth playing.

DT

[Anthony Gray]

   David,

  Is it worth the the drive? Yes....Top 100 and one of the most unique courses in the world. Seize the day.....Play Cruden Bay !!!!!!!!



                                                       Anthony

[Rich Goodale]

Alfonso

Technically, neither Nairn nor Cruden Bay are in the Scottish Highlands, so if your group is full of geological purists you'll have to stick to in and around Dornoch.   However, even if you include the NE coastal plains, Dornoch is clearly the finest course in the area, and the only one truly vaut le voyage, in Michelin-speak.  I think you have two alternatives.

1.  Sticking to Dornoch as a base (or maybe Tain, given the size of your party and the dire hotel situation in Dornoch mentioned by David T) and playing the Championship course there as often as possible, with occasional forays to (in order of my preference) Brora, Golspie and Tain.  Relax, chill out, and really get to know one of the truly great courses in the world.

2.  Spend two days in Dornoch playing 3 rounds on the Championship course and one at Brora, which is truly vaut le detour.  Then move southeast to Aberdeen (stopping at Nairn on the way if you wish, although I do not think it is quite worth the detour).  In Aberdeen, stay in one of the decent country house hotels near the city and play Royal Aberdeen, Murcar and Cruden Bay.  In my opinion each of these courses is of roughly equal quality and better than either Brora or Nairn.  If you have some free time while you're there take ramble over Balmenie links to see what The Donald is planning.

Regardless, enjoy!

Rich

[Brian_Ewen]

Technically, neither Nairn nor Cruden Bay are in the Scottish Highlands,

Rich , I was always taught anything above the 'Highland Fault Line' was in the Highlands ?

[Sean_A]

Alfonso

It depends on if you like windshield time.  I am not a fan of driving around looking for the next great course and with only five days and such a huge group it can be especially tiresome.  As such I would recommend two days each at Dornoch and Brora.  Both are terrific and well worth more than day each.  In fact, I think as a day out, there isn't much to choose between the two.  Sure Dornoch is a better course, but much of that "quality" difference is down to being more a championship course if that makes any sense.  I have just as much fun going round Brora as Dornoch.  The final day could be whichever course is convenient for for traveling.  Nairn and the new Castle Stuart are close to Inverness airport if that makes any difference.  Nairn seems to consistently have greens in great shape - some of the very best I have seen - if that makes any difference.  I am partial to Fortrose because of its setting, compact design and atmosphere (feels like old time golf), but it is short with only a few really good holes.

Ciao

[Rich Goodale]

Brian

As you can see from the following, the definition is fuzzy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Highlands

To me, places like Nairn and Aberdeen just don't have the same feel as Cape Wrath, Pitlochry, Loch Ness or even Dornoch.

Rich

[Alfonso Erhardt]

Sean, Rich, David et al,

We are most probably going to stick with courses around Dornoch, as we rather play a course twice than spend time in the car. We can also pack two rounds a day if we go in June.

We will for sure go for Dornoch and Brora. I guess going to other courses will depend on availability for a large group like us. I also think that Nairn and/or Castle Stuart are also a chance as we arrive or depart.

About the weather, what is it like in September? At what time does it get dark? Can we fit two rounds in a day? I guess that it is a less crowded month than June, am I correct?

[Sean_A]

Sean, Rich, David et al,

We are most probably going to stick with courses around Dornoch, as we rather play a course twice than spend time in the car. We can also pack two rounds a day if we go in June.

We will for sure go for Dornoch and Brora. I guess going to other courses will depend on availability for a large group like us. I also think that Nairn and/or Castle Stuart are also a chance as we arrive or depart.

About the weather, what is it like in September? At what time does it get dark? Can we fit two rounds in a day? I guess that it is a less crowded month than June, am I correct?

Alfonso

The weather is what it is.  Could be great, could be crap.  Pack for the worst. 

Given the size of your party and likely restrictions of when you can tee off, it may be difficult to get 40 golfers around twice in September, but I think it is doable.  With a party your size some of the smaller clubs like Golspie, Fortrose and possibly Brora may go out of their way to make room for you - 40 folks is big money.  They all tend to be very accomodating.  In any case, book asap.  Find out when the diaries of the clubs are finalized (often times by the start of December) on get on the horn the following day.  In fact, organize a draft itinerary now and call.  Some places will get you on a list of some sort and make provisional bookings (I think Dornoch does this).  Anyway, call Dornoch first and work your itinerary around the date(s) they offer.   

Ciao

[Alfonso Erhardt]

Sean,

Thanks for your suggestion.  I think we will do as you recommend.

Regards,

[Chris Haspell]

Hello Alfonso,

I have just read your post on GCA regarding golf in the Highlands next year and felt obliged to make contact with yourself. I am on the Staff here at Castle Stuart Golf links, and we are open for Business from the 13th of July 2009.
My advice would be to play Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Brora, and here at Castle Stuart Golf Links, possibly playing one or more of the courses twice.
If you make contact with Fraser Cromarty on fcromarty@castlestuartgolf.com, he can advise you on your trip. I say this because Fraser worked with Golf Highland for four years which was set up to help individuals such as yourself plan trips to the highlands. (www.golfhighland.com)

Kind regards

Chris Haspell
 

[Mitch Hantman]

Alfonso,

Castle Stuart is definitely going to be one of the truly special golf courses in all Scotland.  If you get there in July, it should be open by then.  Also, don't forget Lossiemouth (Moray Golf Club) Old course.  It's about 15 minutes further than Nairn, and is a wonderful links course.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I think the Dornoch / Nairn / Brora / Castle Stuart trip that Chips suggests is probably a good tip...

But unril Mitch mentioned it, I had completely forgotten about Lossiemouth which is a wonderful old style crumpled links course...

[Rich Goodale]

Alfonso

Sun rises about 6:30am and sets ~7:30pm in September in Dornoch, so two rounds is possible, if you can get the times and play and eat lunch quickly (note that until 10am only 2-balls are allowed on the big course).  You should also note that there are a number of competitions during September which will restrict tee times, and that the club usually closes the big course for a week for maintenance in mid-late Spetember.  Check the fixture list on the club website (www.royaldornoch.com).

Rich

[JMorgan]

Go with Rich's suggestions.

For future reference, though, I highly recommend the Edwin Muir Scottish Journey route myself, with the Hebrides thrown in.

[Brent Hutto]

Pity, what a beautiful old place that hotel is.

One of our group in June managed to pull hook his opening tee shot off the side of the hotel, luckily missing all the windows!

Bill,

Before you and the rest of the Pensacola contingent arrived...at my first stroke with a golf club in Scotland...I managed to strike the hotel with a lefty toe-push-fade. As you might have noted, the rest of my game deteriorated from there as the week progressed.

In fact, come to think of it the only decent round I played at Royal Dornoch, score-wise, was in our little match which you nontheless most efficiently ended on Foxy. With a par IIRC. You seem to do OK on that hole, don't you? Must be a pushover.

Alfonso,

The best place to spend a week is Dornoch. The best place to play a round by yourself (except for the sheep) is Brora. The best morning of our trip was a game with the members at Golspie who are fine hosts and great company, the course is also very sporty. Especially the stretch back away from the water IMHO.

If you happen to travel between Glasgow and the Highland along the A9 do yourself the favor of a round at Pitlochry along with a meal and a pint in their fine new clubhouse. A very homey and welcoming stopover about midway on that journey. If I'm not mistaken 2009 in the club's Centenary year. I love the mountains there in the geographical center of Scotland.