May I please add a PS, with some new thoughts and new information:
1. Vis a vis the latter, I have called Dornoch and they can't give out any guarantees or guaranteetimes until next year's fixture list is settled. This will be in November, so let's all hold our horses for a while on this alternative. That being said, it is likely that next years fixture list will be very similar to last years, which means (as Walter Bart has pointed out) that the May 21-23 slot is probably not possible (viz, 2009 list for comparison--http://www.royaldornoch.com/modify/Fixture%20list%202009.pdf). As a result, my thoughts are turning to a 16-18 May or sometime in the 24-29 May period, so if ther are preferences, let me know.
2. Vis a vis availability, choices, conflicts etc., my view is and always has been that BUDA or BUDA-like or Barona-in-Dornoch or whatever-you-call-it events should be open to everybody, and if some bodies of that everybody can't make one or the other, it's a shame, but as the Brooklyn Dodgers used to say, "Wait until next year!" I've looked at my records of BUDA, and the recidivism rate of attendees on a year to year basis averages well below 50%. The inverse of that fact is that less than half of BUDAites repeat each year, and the serial threepeaters can be counted on one or two hands. The event thrives on newbies, in fact without newbies it would eventually expire! From what I read on the various BUDA VII threads there are a LOT of members of gca.com who would love to come to a BUDA or any such similar event, but somehow feel that it is a privilege rather than a right. We all know that BUDA is and always has been, FIRST COME FIRST SERVED! The more this fact is expressed the lesser one will have to worry about "filling" an event. And, even if numbers are down, we all know that at the smaller, more intimate events, closer friendships can evolve. I do not think it is for nothing that at the smallest BUDA, the strongest Club-BUDA linkages were developed and have been maintained.
Cheers
Rich