Royal Dornoch Golf Club

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Royal Dornach Golf Club
Club information
Scotland relief location map.jpg
Icona golf.svg
Location in Scotland
Coordinates 57°52′44″N4°01′23″W / 57.879°N 4.023°W / 57.879; -4.023
Location Dornoch, Sutherland,
Scotland, UK
Established1877, 147 years ago
Total holes36
Website royaldornoch.com
Championship Course
Par 70
Length6,748 yd (6,170 m)
Course rating 73
Slope rating 136 [1]
Struie Course
Par 71
Length6,265 yd (5,729 m)
Course rating 70
Slope rating 125 [2]

Royal Dornoch Golf Club is a golf club in Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland. It is generally referred to as Royal Dornoch. The club has two 18-hole courses: the Championship Course and the Struie Course. The older Championship Course is a links course located on the Dornoch Firth.

Contents

Royal Dornoch has never hosted any of the modern professional tournaments. [3] The British Amateur Championship was held there in 1985 and the Scottish Amateur in 1993, 2000, 2012, and 2023. The Women's and Men's Senior Amateur championships were held there in 2022.

The Championship Course was ranked No. 2 on the 2024/24 Golf Digest list of Top 100 International (outside U.S.) courses. [4] David Brice, of Golf International, called it the "king of Scottish links courses". [5]

The internationally renowned Championship Course at Royal Dornoch Golf Club was named No. 1 in the world by the online golf reservation service golfscape [6] and is widely regarded as one of the world's finest links golf courses. [7]

History

Golf was played in Dornoch, over the extensive linksland there, in the early seventeenth century, circa 1616. [8] Expenses covering the cost of a young aristocrat's golf clubs in 1616 have provided the earliest evidence so far of the sport's presence in Dornoch. John, the 13th Earl of Sutherland, was sent to the town in Sutherland to be educated. The reference was uncovered by researcher Wade Cormack, who is a PhD student at the University of the Highlands and Islands. The current golf club was established 147 years ago in 1877, and was awarded its royal status in 1906 by King Edward VII.

The design of the Championship Course is attributed to Old Tom Morris. Several of the original holes were lost to the construction of an airfield during World War II. After the war, George Duncan was commissioned to restore and extend the course over newly acquired land. The work introduced the present 6th through 11th holes on the Championship Course. [9] [10]

Tom Watson is an honorary member of Royal Dornoch, and is quoted as saying of Dornoch: "It's the most fun I've ever had on a golf course" which was the home of the course architect Donald Ross.

Members of the club traveled to the northwest United States in September 2005 for a friendly international competition and cultural exchange with the Coeur d'Alene Tribe at their Circling Raven Golf Club in northern Idaho. [11] [12]

Scorecard

Royal Dornoch Championship Course
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Championship74 / 136331184413422353161479434529330617444956018044536040141745634166722
Medal73 / 134331177413422353161479434529329914644653517144532240140545633276626
Regular71 / 129302167398402312156464389491308114243449014843930039539044631846265
ParMen's434443445353453444443570
SI Men's135113159171714416122188106
RedM:69/126 W:76/139266160389392306137408375435286813242647213740129038738443730665934
ParWomen's434543545373553545453976
SI Women's715193171151316841821012614

Source: [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Championship Course" (PDF). Royal Dornach Golf Club. (scorecard). Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  2. "Struie Course" (PDF). Royal Dornach Golf Club. (scorecard). Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  3. Davidson, Max (14 July 2014). "Scotland: Teeing off for a wee dram at Royal Dornoch Golf Club". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  4. "World's 100 Greatest Golf Courses". Golf Digest. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  5. "Royal Dornoch: King of Scottish links courses". Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  6. "ROYAL DORNOCH TOPS WORLD BEST COURSES LEADER BOARD -". Royal Dornoch. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. Glassonbury, Ed (4 February 2024). "Experience Winter Golf at the UK's Top Courses". Only Birdies. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  8. World Atlas of Golf, 1988 edition
  9. Carroll, Steve (10 September 2020). "Behind the scorecard: The new 7th hole at Royal Dornoch". National Club Golfer. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  10. "Championship Course". Royal Dornoch Golf Club. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  11. Bergum, Steve (14 May 2005). "Scottish team, Circling Raven plan gathering". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, U.S. p. C1.
  12. Bergum, Steve (20 September 2005). "Sharing as a matter of course". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, U.S. p. B1.