Brora, Golspie, or Tain?

[Matthew Sander]

Hello all,

My brother and I are in the early stages of planning a 2012 Scotland trip (our first) to celebrate our dad's 65th birthday. Part of our trip will be spent in the Highlands and I was looking for some guidance. For those with experience, would you choose Brora, Golspie, or Tain for 1 round? The obvious solution would be to play them all, which may be possible. However, I think I'll only pre-book one of them. So if you only had time to squeeze in one round, what say you?

I'm leaning towards Brora, but that is only based on my own baseless assumptions. It seems to exude a certain low key earthiness that I'd like to include in the trip. It could just be the lure of livestock on the course and wire fences around the greens, but it stands out to me. However, if you feel Tain or Golspie is a better experience and/or better course I'd love to hear it. I'm sure there is no going wrong with any of them. Thanks for your time...

Matt

[JNC Lyon]

BRORA!!!

I played Brora and Tain with my Dad this spring, and while I enjoyed Tain, Brora was just one of those unique golf experiences that was unbeatable. The sheep fences and rough-mowing sheep are a sight to see, especially if it is your first trip to Scotland.  More importantly, Brora is a phenomenal track.  The sheep keep the rough short, meaning you can play the course with one ball.  The architecture out there is excellent too. 1, 12, and 16 are three very cool short par fours.  The par threes, especially the Sixth are first rate.  Holes 11 and 17 are considered by some to be the finest in Scotland.  Despite the low-budget nature of the place, the greens were some of the best I putted in my entire four-month stay in the UK. Brora is definitely worth a play, maybe two. It is golf the way it should be.

Of course, it is very easy to play all three of those courses in a short span of time.  When we were in Scotland, we left Edinburgh in the morning and drove up to Tain.  We ate lunch in the town of Tain.  We then drove to Brora and teed off at around 2:30.  We finished in well under four hours, drove back to our hotel in Tain, walked down the hill to Tain Golf Club, and played a second 18 there.  We finished up at 9:15, maybe half an hour before sunset. Golspie is right in between the two, and it is probably just as easy to play.

Tain is a solid track, with some great rippling links terrain.  1 is a cool opener, with a second shot over a farm road.  6 is a neat short four at one end of the course. 11 is a very good Alps hole, with the green hard by the Dornoch firth.  15 is a phenomenal short par four with beautiful links ground. 16 and 17 are two cool back-to-back par threes, and 18 is a solid finisher to green directly in front of the clubhouse.  Tain is a notch below Brora, and the gorse makes it very difficult in the wind.  Interesting the land next to the Firth is very flat, meaning that the par-four 12th that runs along the Firth is a letdown. The par five 13th transitions back into the true links terrain, and these holes demonstrate why the course was built away from the sea. Ultimately, Tain is fun, and it is very easy to see in conjunction with Dornoch, Bora, and Golspie.

Make sure you spend plenty of time at Dornoch.  We only got to play Royal Dornoch's Championship Course once, and I regret not playing it a second time.

[Gary Daughters]

I can't comment on Golspie.  But if you're going to be up there you need to do everything you can to work in Brora and Tain.  It's almost impossible to make a call between the two, so you have to do both!

[David_Tepper]

Matthew -

This subject has been discussed here before. I don't know if you will be able to find any of the prior threads.

I have been a country member at Golspie for the past 8 years and have played well over 100 rounds of golf there in that time, so my opinion is more than a little biased. I have probably played 5-10 rounds at each of the other 2 courses.

Here are my thoughts:

Brora is the purest links of the three courses. As JNC Lyon notes, the atmosphere there, with the free range livestock and the little electric wires surrounding the greens, is rather unique.

Golspie is a mixture of linksland, heathland and meadowland holes. I like the course for that variety and for the wonderful scenery that surrounds the course. The conditioning of the course has really improved since the new head greenskeeper was hired in July, 2007.

Tain is probably my least favorite of the three. I downgrade it because the course is more inland than the other two. That being said, the majority of the holes at Tain do look and play like a links.

The good news is that there are no bad choices! Rarely are those courses busy and teetimes should be available almost every day.

I am usually over there early May to early June each spring. Feel free to get in touch if you will be visiting then.

DT

[Bill_McBride]

Golspie is great fun.  There is an embarrassment of riches up there.  But JNC is right, the main attraction is the big course at Dornoch, play it as many times as you can.

[Sean_A]

Matthew

Regardless of how many times you play Dornoch, Brora is not to be missed.  The course is good enough to be an attraction on its own.  IMO it is head and shoulders above Golspie and Tain. 

Ciao

[RSLivingston_III]

Brora. As much as you can handle. 36 should be the standard and have 54 a day in view.

Question, can you still walk on to Dornoch in the evenings or are they now too busy?

[Kris Shreiner]

Matthew,

You and the clan MUST be playing Dornoch I assume. To be up there and not have a go would be criminal.

As to chosing only one play of the three you stated, I concur with "LP" Lyon and Sean, Brora is the clear call.Though Golspie and Tain are both enjoyable, they are not of the same class in totality.

I woud strongly suggest at least a two-three night stay in the Dornoch area. It's as serene and magnificant region of Scotland as there is in the country. As St. Andrew's is the town for golf there, Dornoch would be the village in my view.  Quaint, historic, and understated, it offers a country, sea-side beauty that doesn't disappoint.

Many make the mistake of trying to cram in too much on one trip...and lose in the end. I'll refer to it as the "trunk-slammer swing." No doubt, you've heard about it, the "We played 15 rounds in 8 days!" Yeh, and they don't remember half of it.

Be smart, pick two locales, and spend three, four days at each, with a travel day break in between. You'll really soak up what it's all about, savor the local interaction, and have a treasure-trove of wonderful memories to add... to your NEXT trip!

It would be hard to imagine a more perfect place to celebrate Dad's 65th! IM me with your contact nfo if you'd like to chat and get more info.

Cheers

[Jason Topp]

Brora is magic although we had no problem just walking on the course so I am not sure advance reservations are necessary.  This is my son making par on the difficult 18th for a 118.

[Matthew Sander]

Thanks guys for all of the responses. It seems my intuitions were leading in the right direction, to Brora. Hopefully, we'll have an opportunity to branch out and play the others as well. For those of you worried that I may be ignoring Dornoch, don't worry I plan on us spending at least one full day there. The question for me is whether or not to add Castle Stuart while we're there.

I have been searching the countless previous threads regarding Scotland golf and related travel threads. There is some great information in those that will prove beneficial. Thanks again...

Matt

[Tom_Doak]

One more vote for Brora.  The other two are okay, but not worth skipping a round at Dornoch.  Brora is.

[Brent Hutto]

Whenever I next return to the Highlands, I'll consider at least one time around Royal Dornoch and once around Brora to be unshakable priorities.

After that I'd play Brora again and again and as much as I enjoyed my morning at Golspie it would have to fit in after at least one round at RDGC and two or three at Brora. I liked being at Brora that much, both for the golf which is excellent and the feel of the place which is otherworldly.

Fortunately, if and when I make the long trip up there I'm sure I'll be staying for at least three or four days. And during June, I'd think playing 54 holes at Brora on a weekday would be no problem at all!

[Jason Topp]

Fortunately, if and when I make the long trip up there I'm sure I'll be staying for at least three or four days. And during June, I'd think playing 54 holes at Brora on a weekday would be no problem at all!

Brent - my picture was taken at around 11 pm if I remember correctly.  You could play 54 holes with 3 hour breaks in between rounds. 

[ChipRoyce]

IMHO, if in the area, you need to play Dornoch at least twice (preferably 3 times), Brora 1-2 times, Tain as time permits, once.
I didn't play Golspie on my trip, but after seeing it and having played Tain, Tain was a great round and a great warm-up for the rest of the trip.

[Jon Wiggett]

Matthew,

if you are up in the summer then it is late till very late and 54 holes is a good possibility without having to rush if the legs can cope .

I would say play 2 rounds at RD and then finish off with a round at Tain one day then 2 rounds at Brora with 1 round at Golspie. For a shorter 3 round then Portmahomack is a fun 9 holer near by as is Helmsdale or of course Bonar Bridge.

Be sure to get in touch as my course and guest house will be up and running though they are somewhat futher south just north of Inverness.

Jon

[jeffwarne]

Matthew

Regardless of how many times you play Dornoch, Brora is not to be missed.  The course is good enough to be an attraction on its own.  IMO it is head and shoulders above Golspie and Tain. 

Ciao

Play Brora early and often.
Plan a 36 hole day there as it's a friendly, easy place-and an easy walk.
Dornoch is great but frankly I'd play Brora twice first.
(I played both Brora and Dornoch twice when I was there which is unusual for me)

and yes it's OK to play 15 rounds in 8 days (for God's sake it's light 19-20 hours in June)
I also played Tain and Golspie.

[Chris DeNigris]

While Dornoch has become my favorite course on the planet I'm glad I struck my first shot in the Kingdom on that short slight dogleg right hugging the North Sea. No majestic dunes to navigate..just 18 gorgeous, natural holes where you somehow feel the essence of linksland on every shot. For me it was truly spiritual.

On my next trip back I will again make Brora my first play. There is no better way to begin a trip!

[Matt Harrison]

Sounds like the vote is in, and Brora is a winner.  Since I asked a similar question about a different part of Scotland recently, I can't resist commenting.  Brora is an absolute treat, and if you have the time to play somewhere other than Dornoch, you should not miss it. 

I am sure my well-traveled friend, jb, would agree.

[Scott Warren]

Brora is truly magical. Yet, between it and Dornoch I'd maybe split 10 rounds 7-3, I thought Dornoch was that good.

Having said that, Golspie was such a wonderful discovery, with holes like 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 16, 17 and 18. It's definitely worth squeezing it in if you can. The way it transitions from links to heath to meadow and back to links is worth experiencing.

[Mickey Boland]

A few pics from Brora.  
Sign near #1 tee



Electric fence around #1 green



#6 tee



#12 I think

[JNC Lyon]

I agree that it is fine to play a bunch of rounds in a few days.  However, I think many of the rounds should be spent on replays.  Like I said before, I wish I had played Dornoch and Brora more than once.  Even though I am able to commit a lot of courses to memory, several holes at both of those courses are still a bit fuzzy for me to describe.  When I went to Prestwick, I went out for another nine holes, it was a great decision.  I remember each of those nine holes (1-3, 13-18) vividly now, and I can still recall the rest of the course very well.

If you played Royal Dornoch twice, Brora twice, and Golspie or Tain once, it would be a great golf trip to the Highlands. Generally, I would avoid playing modern, expensive courses (like Castle Stuart) while in Scotland.  However, we got the opportunity to play Renaissance while in East Lothian, and I loved every minute of it, so go figure. Ultimately, though, I would focus on the classic courses in Scotland.  There is so much history at each of those clubs, and most courses have their funky features that you would never see anywhere else, especially not at a modern layout.

[RSLivingston_III]

I agree that it is fine to play a bunch of rounds in a few days.  However, I think many of the rounds should be spent on replays.  Like I said before, I wish I had played Dornoch and Brora more than once.  Even though I am able to commit a lot of courses to memory, several holes at both of those courses are still a bit fuzzy for me to describe.  When I went to Prestwick, I went out for another nine holes, it was a great decision.  I remember each of those nine holes (1-3, 13-18) vividly now, and I can still recall the rest of the course very well.

If you played Royal Dornoch twice, Brora twice, and Golspie or Tain once, it would be a great golf trip to the Highlands. Generally, I would avoid playing modern, expensive courses (like Castle Stuart) while in Scotland.  However, we got the opportunity to play Renaissance while in East Lothian, and I loved every minute of it, so go figure. Ultimately, though, I would focus on the classic courses in Scotland.  There is so much history at each of those clubs, and most courses have their funky features that you would never see anywhere else, especially not at a modern layout.

Easily the best, but most ignored recommendation for playing in Scotland is to do multiple plays on most of of the courses. They are all usually such different courses between playings. North Berwick is the best example of this I have run across. Every time I have played 36, the morning and afternoon the wind has swapped 180 degrees and that makes it a COMPLETELY different course.

[Scott Warren]

Mickey Boland,

To re-size you pics, go into the first set of square brackets where you have IMG and change it to IMG WIDTH=800 and the pics will resize and stay in the correct width:height ratio.

[Mickey Boland]

Fixed!  Thanks, Scott.

[Matthew Sander]

While my inclination would be to spend the entire trip experiencing links golf, the variety at Golspie (links, meadow, heathland) seems attractive as a change of pace. What other courses, if any, could you recommend that have similarly varied settings? Furthermore, what are the best Scottish heathland courses? I know England touts the majority of the heathland greats, but I imagine Scotland would have some as well. Thanks...

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