Scottish Highlands 2009

[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!

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.

Brent, I was trying to protect your identity by turning you around into a righthander!

Dornoch was fun but boy is it demanding.  I think 5 was my best score of 3 rounds on #2 and #10.     Par 3s both.  Ping Pong golf is not the best idea at Dornoch.

[Brent Hutto]

I can't recall exact scores but would wager that my cumulative score on the tenth was at least a couple strokes higher than the second, even though the latter is supposedly the scarier hole. I think it's because once you get to a spot in front of the second green (tee shot, second shot, third shot, "other") you have an easier job facing you from there than at any place around the tenth green.

When Mike and I played #2 the first time I landed a pitching wedge (or 9-iron maybe) a good 15+ yards short of the green and was thinking I had hit the perfect shot. It was so hard downwind that the ball ended up not only over the green but in the weeds waaay over the green. But later in the week the wind was less and I still never made a bogey or better. What a hole! But the tenth is tougher IMO.

P.S. I think if I had one more shot at Foxy and the wind wasn't blowing too hard I could at least have a reasonable putt at par. I played it better each time around but still not good enough.

[Tony_Muldoon]

P.S. I think if I had one more shot at Foxy and the wind wasn't blowing too hard I could at least have a reasonable putt at par. I played it better each time around but still not good enough.

Dornoch stays with you at least as much as any other course I've seen.  I have a similar thought that comes to mind nearly every time I pick up a golf club at a driving range.  I practice playing Foxy over and over in my mind. I had 3 rounds, 3 summers ago and I've used the time since to improve my ball striking. Despite seeing approximately 650 new golf holes since then, my dream is that one day I'll return and get on that green in regulation.

I might also say that I've been waiting for two posters on here to tell the world about the round there that started 3, 3 - definitely my best start to any round. (I just got tired of waiting; D)

[Ally Mcintosh]

Gents,

Is the best place to stay in Dornoch (for a group of 16) the Dornoch Castle Hotel?

Thanks

[David_Tepper]

Ally and All -

Greetings from Dornoch!

For a place where there is not a whole lot going on, my first 2 1/2 weeks here have passed by much too fast.

Due to the closing of the Royal Golf Hotel and the Burghfield House, hotel rooms in Dornoch are not easy to come by right now.
Your best bet for a group of 16 would probably be the Castle Hotel. The Eagle is also a possibility. In either case, I would suggest booking well in advance (like for 4 to 6 months!) to make sure you can get as many rooms as you need for your group.

DT

[Rich Goodale]

Alfonso

If you have a sense of humour, a lust for adventure and a Scottish attitude towards "value for money," go for the Dornoch Hotel.  As it is by far the biggest hotel in town, it should be the easiest to fit in a party of 16.  I have stayed there and would recommend it.

Rich