The Scottish Highlands - A Golfing Tour

[Andrew Simpson]

Had the pleasure of meeting Kevin at Brora and played with the secretary. It stayed dry but was a bit gusty going out but at the turn the wind got up and was steady high 20s and gusting well into the 30s straight into our faces back in.
Kevin capped his round of by hitting a driver to inside a foot on the last!
http://www.theirishgolfblog.com/2015/10/north-coast-500-scottish-golfing-tour_31.html
Round 2 at 9am at Wick on Monday with a good forecast.

[Kevin Markham]

Pleasure to play with Andy (and looking forward to this morning's round, too) at Brora. I deliberately avoided the 'Recent Course Review' of Brora until after I played it. I read it last night while enjoying an exceedingly good curry, in the town of Wick.


Brora, like Royal Dornoch, was a revelation. Playing with Andy and Tony was not just a pleasure but also a necessity. There are no fairway markers, posts or discs to give you any indication of distance to the green. What joy. Having to use your eye and your judgement always makes good shots so much more rewarding.


Braid has proved here, and at Golspie, to be a master of deception... as well as a master of using the natural shapes of the land to create all kinds of trouble around the green. That shoulder just short of the 5th green is a perfect example, but so often you're hitting an approach towards no more than the tip of a flag. Having someone with local knowledge will stop you making constant mistakes.


As the GCA review says, it is an easy 36 hole day at Brora. If you don't have a local guide accompanying you, I strongly suggest a caddie (a GPS laser/Golf Buddy type thing is an inappropriate substitute) for the first round. In the afternoon you can see just how much you have learned.


A fantastic golf course and the green conditioning here is as good as - maybe better - than Royal Dornoch, which is the best I have probably ever played.

[Mark Chaplin]

Boony when you make it to Applecross make sure you stop a the Kishorn seafood bar on the main road just before you turn off for the peninsula. It's not quite the Shorehouse in Tarbet but not far off.

[Thomas Dai]

Enjoying your blog Kevin. Well done.
Atb

[Andrew Simpson]

 Just played Wick with Kevin in the most glorious weather. The second of November in the North of Scotland without a cloud in the sky and not even a hint of wind, played in shirt sleeves at a balmy 15*C.
 I think I was told off for chatting too much and forgot to point out a couple of hidden bunkers on his line so obviously became magnets for his ball.
 Looks like the weather might say fair for him through Durness and I hope the rest of his trip goes well.
Snapped this at the side of nine, sorry but I missed the green.
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[David_Tepper]

Here is the link to Kevin's blog:

http://www.theirishgolfblog.com/

[Kevin Markham]

I didn't know the North Coast 500 was a thing.  Now I'm jealous.  I have never been on the northern or western legs [the only part of Scotland I've missed].  I bet my wife would be up for this trip one year.


Historical note:  though I have never been there, the town of Lochinver was where Alister MacKenzie's father grew up, and he used to take the family back every summer.  Apparently his time there had a lot to do with his love of the outdoors -- but there was no golf close by, so he didn't take it up until later in life.

Dropped by Lochinver this morning, Tom. Spoke to four people... not one had ever heard of MacKenzie. One old fella actually asked me: "Do you mean McAllister? Aye, he lives down the road." Because McAllister and McKenzie sound so alike, obviously.


The scenery on the way is spectacular. It would be hard to live up here and not love the outdoors. Not the most thrilling village I've ever encountered, mind you!

[Mike Policano]

Kevin,


Loving the blog as always! Glad you are in enjoying Scotland. As I recall, I accompanied you and Finbarr the first time you two ever went to Scotland.


Cheers, Mike

[Andrew Simpson]

I didn't know the North Coast 500 was a thing.  Now I'm jealous.  I have never been on the northern or western legs [the only part of Scotland I've missed].  I bet my wife would be up for this trip one year.


Historical note:  though I have never been there, the town of Lochinver was where Alister MacKenzie's father grew up, and he used to take the family back every summer.  Apparently his time there had a lot to do with his love of the outdoors -- but there was no golf close by, so he didn't take it up until later in life.

Dropped by Lochinver this morning, Tom. Spoke to four people... not one had ever heard of MacKenzie. One old fella actually asked me: "Do you mean McAllister? Aye, he lives down the road." Because McAllister and McKenzie sound so alike, obviously.


The scenery on the way is spectacular. It would be hard to live up here and not love the outdoors. Not the most thrilling village I've ever encountered, mind you!

Could have been your accent, it's not exactly local :-) Unless like everyone you don't think you have one!

[Kevin Markham]

Kevin,


Loving the blog as always! Glad you are in enjoying Scotland. As I recall, I accompanied you and Finbarr the first time you two ever went to Scotland.


Cheers, Mike

Thanks Mike,
And as I recall, you were playing Gullane and a dog ran on to the green and stole your ball... n[size=78%]ot a lot of golfers have that shot in the bag![/size]

[Kevin Markham]

Could have been your accent, it's not exactly local :-) Unless like everyone you don't think you have one!



Go stand in front of a mirror and say 'MacKenzie'... Now say 'McAllister'. Even if you had a Welsh Polynesian accent you'd see the differences.


And what's wrong with my accent...


Playing Gairloch today. It's their monthly Medal. I don't have a tin hat. Worried.

[Mike Policano]

Ah yes, the ball stealing dog at Gullane. I don't think the dog understood your accent either.

[Kevin Markham]

Ah yes, the ball stealing dog at Gullane. I don't think the dog understood your accent either.

Ah, I see, gang-up-on-Kev, time is it!

[Andrew Simpson]

Ah yes, the ball stealing dog at Gullane. I don't think the dog understood your accent either.

Probably cheaper than the course on the West coast of Scotland where the par 3 last hole has the lower part of the flag blind with the green very close to the clubhouse and there is a large dip for the golfers to negotiate.
 It seems to have a high % of visitors having a hole in one and being introduced to the ancient tradition to buy everyone a drink :-)

[Thomas Dai]

.....It seems to have a high % of visitors having a hole in one and being introduced to the ancient tradition to buy everyone a drink :-)

The blind 5th at Painswick has I believe a similar reputation!


Terrific photos on your blog Kevin. Well done.

Atb

[Jon Byron]

Truly jealous! And great photos posted. I played Scotland earlier this year and I wish I had been back every month therafter! I managed to play UK and Ireland as well. Scotland is so heavenly I have been to several Scottish music events in NYC this year to enjoy Scottish mist at least. 

[Kevin Markham]

I finished the North Coast 500 last week and came home with a stinking cold... it's the gift that keeps on giving (my wife has it now). Here are my final thoughts on the North Coast 500 route and the golf. (I've put the same piece on my blog, along with a whole bunch of photos.
[/size]
[/size]Nineteen days, 920 miles, 27 golf courses. What started out as a golfing odyssey to plays these courses (Royal Dornoch and Brora in particular) turned into something so much bigger. The landscape is majestic, the history haunting (the Highland Clearances have refrains not dissimilar to the Great Famine) and there is something about the wild, enchanting nature of the Highlands that is so alluring it tempts you never to leave… I met several blow-ins on my travels who never have.
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[/size]The obvious questions are going to be about the golf experiences, but I’m adding in some personal highlights because if you come to this place and take on the North Coast 500, there is so much to see and do beyond the fairway and clubhouse.
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[/size]1. Best Golf Course[/b]
[/size]It’s a straight toss-up between Royal Dornoch and Brora… and I’ll pick Brora. Consider me surprised – the glory of Royal Dornoch has been calling to me for a few years and last June I’d hoped to play it with Tom Coyne (on a golfing odyssey of his own) only to find all accommodation was booked out. I played with him at Cruden Bay instead. And then I tried to play here five years ago, but it was just a touch too far from Nairn, east of Inverness. So this time around, me and Royal Dornoch had business to attend to.
[/size]
[/size]Why did I choose Brora over Royal Dornoch, in all its pristine magnificence? Because there’s an extra sense of adventure and drama to the James Braid-designed Brora. Royal Dornoch has that air of perfection everywhere whereas Brora embraces the natural beauty and flow a bit more. Here you’ll find links greens of perfection, intrigue on every shot and sheep and cattle adding that golf-from-the-ages quality. Braid also liked a bit of deception and making the golfer work to find the green.
[/size]
[/size]I’d play either one, any day of the week, and I’m certainly not trying to say that one is better or worse than the other. Courses of beauty, both, but factor in green fees at Brora of £55 versus £120 at Royal Dornoch, and the odds start tilting towards Brora all the more. Then again, they’re 16 miles apart. Play them both and make up your own mind.
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[/size]
[/size]2. Best ‘Hidden Gem’ (Links)[/b]
[/size]Best links course is the 9-hole Durness Golf Club, in the very, very north west corner of the country. You’ll be heading up and down some big dunes for almost the entire nine holes as the course tumbles along with a couple of blind shots and never-ending and inspiring views over mountains and ocean at every turn.  The course is exposed and with the aptly named Cape Wrath across the bay, you’ll understand that this can be a windy adventure.
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[/size]The condition is excellent – the greens especially – and consider that there is only one greenkeeper. Sheep help with the greenkeeping during the winter, but the young Alistair has done himself and the club proud. It may be too far to venture from Royal Dornoch/Brora on a dedicated golf trip, but as part of the NC500 it is a must-play… and getting here is half of the experience. 
[/size]
[/size]The course was laid out by three locals who decided they needed a course close to home… the nearest course is Ullapool, a rather hair-raising drive over an hour to the south. That they achieved their dream, designed the course and built it themselves (the rocks off to the side of the fairways on holes 2 and 3, were dug up and moved by hand) is a testament to golfing dedication.
[/size]
[/size]Reay and Wick golf clubs are 18 hole links courses north of Brora, and also deserve a mention. Reay is a James Braid design.
[/size]
[/size]3. Best ‘Hidden Gem’ (Parkland/Heathland)[/b]
[/size]Allness is my best parkland gem. Strathpeffer (designed by Old Tom Morris) and Muir of Ord (James Braid) have all the ingredients of a gem as they are quality courses 30 minutes or so from Inverness, but Allness (also close to Inverness) is not a course that anyone would go out of their way for… which is a shame. The condition is not all you would want but it has so much colour, so much fun rippling through the course, that it will put a smile on your face. Through woods, beside rivers, over gentle hillsides, with six par threes and many short holes it’s all about good looking holes and better looking shots.
[/size] [/b]
[/size]4. Least Impressive Golf Courses
[/size]Hardly fair to pull out these two courses as they are not really focused on big-game golfing tourists. Rather, they are catering to local golfers, many of whom volunteer at the clubs to ensure their survival. Helmsdale Golf Club on the east coast, and Lochcarron on the west do not offer the sort of conditioning a golf tourist would demand. The greens at Helmsdale are mere mown patches of fairway while Lochcarron’s fairways are thick with moss and must be wet for most of the year. Both of these nine hole courses, however, sit amidst beautiful scenery.
[/size]
[/size]5. Top 10 Golf Holes[/b]
[/size]So many to choose from and – not surprisingly – Royal Dornoch has a heap of superb contenders. The par threes are brutally tough – Tony, the Manager at Brora, told me that the par three 2nd hole at Royal Dornoch is the only short hole that he lays up on. Going left or right spells absolute doom as you’re hitting up a bank some 8 feet high. Holes 8 and 17 are two par fours that stand out for me, both driving over a black and white post before the hole drops sharply and doglegs left, revealing a beautiful view of the hole as you arrive at the ridge.
[/size]
[/size]Brora is one enthralling hole after another and it’s straight out and back routing is all the more remarkable as the inland holes may well be stronger than the seaside ones. Holes 14 and 17 are my pick, while the par three 6th – named Witch – is a beauty-and-the-beast experience.
[/size]
[/size]Golspie, Tain and Fortrose and Rosemarkie, which sit just behind Brora and Dornoch in the pecking order, all have some beauties, and even the weaker courses, like Ullapool (holes 2 ,3, 4), Invergordon (9) and Thurso (9, 13) promise a couple of sweet moments. Inverness has a lovely run of holes from 6 to 15, and Gairloch, on the west coast, has two blind par threes in its nine hole layout.
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[/size]Top Ten Holes (only one allowed per course)
[/size]Hole 1: Royal Dornoch par four 8th.
[/size]Hole 2: Brora par four 17th.
[/size]Hole 3: Durness par four 5th/14th (same green, two tees).
[/size]Hole 4: Golspie par four 7th.
[/size]Hole 5: Tain par four 9th.
[/size]Hole 6: Carnegie Club par four 17th.
[/size]Hole 7: Fortrose & Rosemarkie par five 4th.
[/size]Hole 8: Reay par three 7th (Index 1)
[/size]Hole 9: Alness par four 12th.
[/size]Hole 10: Strathpeffer par four 1st.
[/size]
[/size]6. Best Clubhouse[/b]
[/size]Hard to beat Royal Dornoch’s – for the facilities, the size, the welcome and the food. And then there are the views from the bar… something you’ll also get at Brora and Durness.
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[/size]Best Halfway House
[/size]Only Royal Dornoch and The Carnegie Club have halfway houses and Royal Dornoch’s was closed. The Carnegie Club’s sits between the 5th and 12th.
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[/size]7. Best Views[/b]
[/size]Several courses have stunning views, but there aren’t many clubs anywhere that can compete with Durness. Bays, beaches, islands, headlands, lochs, mountains, valleys and, quite possibly, navy shelling
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[/size]8. Best and Worst Accommodation[/b]
[/size]I stayed at B&Bs mostly (due to budget constraints) and they were all good. Everywhere I went the hosts seemed to be able to add that little extra and the personal touch always made a difference. The most comfortable B&B was Valleyview in Thurso.
[/size]
[/size]I spent three nights at the Royal Marine Hotel, in Brora, and not only was it very good value, but the food was superb and the hotel has its own, dedicated James Braid room… which is only fitting as it’s a one minute walk to the golf club.
[/size]
[/size]As for the worst, there’s only one contender for this and that’s because I didn’t book accommodation for the night in question and was driving around desperately trying to find somewhere with a spare room. The Lochcarron Hotel is a bit old and certainly tired and while I had a perfectly comfortable night, I was put in the disabled room which, to be frank, was a health & safety disaster waiting to happen. Power cable extensions stretched across the floor just begging to be tripped over. Not the worst place I’ve ever stayed in, but you will find better nearby.
[/size] [/b]
[/size]9. Non-Golfing Highlights[/b]
[/size]The North Coast 500 is a fantastic drive. The scenery is mind-blowing – along the west coast especially as the road slides above lochs, through valleys and over mountain passes. There are few houses here so you can feel utterly isolated. You could pick any 50 mile stretch and not be disappointed but Gairloch to Applecross is mind-blowingly beautiful, with the island-studded Loch Maree, the 16,000 acre Torridon national park and the final coastline drive to Applecross summing up the beauty of a Scottish landscape that just stretches on and on …
[/size]
[/size]… for me, the rainbow over Ardheslaig village, not far from Applecross, sums it up perfectly.
[/size]
[/size]I’m not one for wrapping history in glass cases but I understand why the Shandwick Stone had to be protected. The carved slab stands nine feet high and was erected by the Picts over 1,000 years ago. It is close to Shandwick Village, east of Tain. The east coast was home to the Picts for thousands of years and their history and legacy is everwhere.
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[/size]The dolphins at Chanonry Point (Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club). They appear next to the lighthouse every day to feed, I was told… an hour after low tide, I was told… as regular as clockwork, I was told… They didn’t show. All summer long you’ll see them, only yards from the beach, but come late October and they have better things to do.
[/size]
[/size]Distilleries. They’re everywhere, as in almost every town has its own. Tain has the Glenmorangie distillery, but drive west for another 10/15 minutes and you’ll come to the smaller Balblair Distillery. It’s really rather exceptional
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[/size]
[/size]10. Personal Highlights[/b]
[/size]I trust I won’t hurt anyone’s feelings at Failte Ireland when I say that the North Coast 500 makes the Wild Atlantic Way look like a pleasant seaside drive. This Scottish Highlands landscape is truly epic in scale.
[/size]
[/size]Hotels and B&Bs offering excellent Broadband connections wherever I went. These days, that is a key selling point and, as one of my B&B hosts pointed out, it’s the first question they’re asked, 90% of the time.
[/size]
[/size]The Northern Lights. I’ve never seen them (maybe for 2 minutes in Norway a few years ago) but up at Thurso they came out for a 90 minute show. While I was there, a barn owl flew directly over my head.
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[/size]Discovering that Royal Dornoch is everything it’s cracked up to be… and that Brora is every bit as good. Discovering that Durness is a little slice of heaven. Discovering that golf in the Highlands is embraced with real spirit and passion... no matter the quality of the course.
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[/size]Playing Tain in two and a half hours, with a three ball right behind me every step of the way. That's how golf should be every day of the week.
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[/size]Enduring mild sunburn… in Scotland… in November.
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[/size]
[/size]In Conclusion
[/size]Anyone coming this far north to play golf has plenty of choice, but you should look at the North Coast 500 for other reasons.
[/size]
[/size]While so many golfers nowadays just rush from one course to the next, trying to cram in as much golf as humanly possible, the North Coast is a perfect opportunity to slow things down and turn golf into a much bigger and more colourful adventure.

[/size]
[/size]Tain or Dornoch (and Inverness for golf to the east and south) are the ideal spots to stay and play on the NC500, but take on the full 500 mile route and you can stop off at Wick, Reay, Durness and Gairloch golf clubs along the way. That should keep your golf habit sated.

[James Boon]

Kevin,

Looks like you had a wonderful trip, but then how could you not! Thanks for the regular blog updates which I followed.

Glad you enjoyed the Balblair Distillery! Shame you didn't see any dolphins... Seeing the northern lights more than makes up for that! (in all the time I've been up there, I've never seen them!)

I look forward to your next adventure.

Cheers,

James

[Dave McCollum]

Great journey.  Playing Gairloch and driving south (to Fort William and Machrihanish in the long days of May) was truly an incredible stretch in the Highlands.  You captured it perfectly.

[Kevin Markham]

It's taken a while... a rather long while... but here are my Flickr photos of the bigger courses along the North Coast 500.


In order from south to north:


Fortrose & Rosemarkie


Tain


The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle


Royal Dornoch (Championship)


Golspie


Brora

[Daniel Jones]

Outstanding, as expected, Kevin. What a day at Dornoch!

[Thomas Dai]

Kevin,


Magnificent.


Ref the 2nd at Royal Dornoch...the significance of the little hump a few yards short of the green is very apparent from you photo.


Seems like Skibo needs a visit. Might take a while to save up enough pennies to afford it though.


Do you have any photos you could let us see of some of the 'sweet moment' holes at the other courses you mention above?


atb

[Kevin Markham]

Seems like Skibo needs a visit. Might take a while to save up enough pennies to afford it though.


Do you have any photos you could let us see of some of the 'sweet moment' holes at the other courses you mention above?

Yep, Skibo will set you back a bit - £300. Although I think it's £1200 for the line, regardless of the number of golfers. You could play the other five courses for £300, so it's hard to justify.

I'll be getting the other courses up on the Flickr page shortly. Plenty of 'sweet moment' holes alright.

I've made up a calendar of shots from the courses on the North Coast 500. I'm not selling them, but I am giving one away on the blog, if anyone is interested. 

[Michael Graham]

Kevin,


Fantastic photos. You were much more fortunate with the weather in later October/early November than I was in June when I was up in Dornoch. Your photos of Skibo in the sunshine are really great. It was a damp, dreich day when we were there. The couple of holes around the loch on the back nine are the weak point of the course but overall there was a lot to like.

[Adam Lawrence]

I haven't seen Skibo since Tom Mackenzie's renovations a few years ago. I had heard it was pretty special, and it did remarkably well in National Club Golfer's top links course rankings. Must go see it.