I have just returned from a wonderful week golfing in the highlands: Fortrose & Rosemarkie, Brora, Castle Stuart, Dornoch, Golspie and Boat of Garten. My wife and I drove to and from Edinburgh and stayed for the week in a flat in Dornoch, making day trips. All the courses were great fun but I wanted to give a special shout out to Boat of Garten which I played on the day we drove back to Edinburgh. Stopping there was a nice way to break up the 4 hour drive from Dornoch as it is about half way. As described more fully in https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,63531.0.html, it is a quirky James Baird course. Framed golf articles in the locker room indicate it was voted the #1 hidden gem course in Scotland as well as #4 among Great Britain’s top 100 Courses under 50L. (It now costs 75L for a visitor). Even though it is inland (in the Cairngorms National Park), it has the rolling, bouncing sandy fairways of a links course. The website hidden links (
https://www.hiddenlinksgolf.com/scotland-golf-courses/boat-of-garten-golf-club/ ) claims the turf “rivals the finest seaside links”. From my short tour of courses, I would agree. I am curious why there is sandy ground in the middle of Scotland. There are a couple of blind shots and lots of up and down and twists and turns on the course. I was glad to have a rented an electric trolley. It definitely has the feel of an old time course. On the 12th, one hits from a very elevated tee down to a narrow fairway with a view of the mountains in the distance. The 15th hole has a huge gully just where a drive would go so unless one is a long hitter, one is advised to lay up at 160 yards and then make a second shot of equal length in. I hit a 5 wood in, my best shot of the day, and got birdie there. From the 17th tee, one has a view down on the Spey river. The 18th is a 435 yd par 4 dogleg right to an elevated green; more ratings – my host told me this hole has been picked as one of the top 18 holes in Scotland by a well known TV golf analyst.
I can imagine there are great views of the nearby mountains; I played on a misty, rainy day so could not see much of them. In the fall, the colors of the trees would be spectacular. I did see and hear the charming vintage steam train that runs alongside the course. Perhaps because the course does not get much international traffic, they were particularly welcoming. They set up me up to play with one of their club captains who was a most genial host, helping me track down my lost shots in the rough, guiding me around the course and treating me to lunch. I was impressed by their recently renovated bar and restaurant and the modern locker room (better than all but Castle Stuart). Although it was hard to tear myself away from the seaside courses, I was very glad to have made the visit to Boat of Garten and its old timey Baird course.