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| Dornoch
... the perfect place to relax |
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Royal Dornoch Golf
Club
Despite its northerly latitude, some 45 miles North
of Inverness and nearly 200 miles from Edinburgh,
improvements to roads help Royal Dornoch to continue
to be one of the most popular golf courses in Scotland.
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| So well is it
regarded that magazine polls across the world regularly
have it in their top twenty, it is well worth the extra
miles it takes to get there. Old Tom Morris originally
laid the course out in 1891 and John Sutherland - Dornoch's
club secretary from 1882 through to 1935 - made subsequent
changes. After World War II the course was again considerably
altered by George Duncan who designed five new holes:
Nos 7 through to 11. |
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| The opening hole
at Royal Dornoch, a simple par 4, is no indication
of the joy - and trouble - to come. It is not until
golfers walk over the headlands to the third tee
that they get a sense of this striking golf course.
Wondrous swards of fair way and green, with clusters
of players dotting the beach-front, unfold a mile
in each direction. The embankments of the old dunes
on the landward side of the course, from late April
until early June, are a carpet of flaming yellow
gorse. |
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| The course is just over 6,500 yards,
but this is no reflection on the degree of difficulty
to be found on many holes. It is classic links with the
first 8 holes following the natural slants and humps of
old dune embankments while the rest flank the sandy beaches
of Dornoch Bay. Raised or sloping greens are characteristic
as well as elevated tees so the target is well presented
although rarely easy to reach. Dornoch, perhaps more than
most, is a thinking golfers course where it is not enough
to simply keep the ball on the fairway. A position has
to be sought on most holes where the green can be accessed
to your advantage. |
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