Royal Dornoch
Par 70, 6,748 yards
Website: www.royaldornoch.com
The course: How did one of the world’s great courses come to be built in a sleepy village on the same latitude as southern Alaska? Who knows? Who cares? Royal Dornoch is golf’s ultimate hidden gem.
Dornoch’s remote location means it will never host major events, but no golfer who makes the journey doubts its quality. Ask Tom Watson – a vocal Royal Dornoch fan.
The layout is a classic ‘out-and-back’ links. The outward nine is traced along higher ground, while the back nine skirts the shores of the Dornoch Firth.
One of Dornoch’s features is the raised greens, which will only accept a purely-struck approach and emphasise the penal nature of the greenside bunkering.
While the links feels entirely natural, Dornoch is also less idiosyncratic than many of Scotland’s great courses; there are few blind shots or forced carries and the golfer is always presented with options as to how to build a round.
Signature hole: The short 6th from a raised tee to a tiny, well-guarded green.
What makes it special? Everything! A visit to Royal Dornoch feels more like a pilgrimage than a mere round of golf.