Journal

Welcome to the epitome of off beat Scottish golf.Things Covesea doesn’t have:🏠 A proper clubhouse💰 A big green fee (it’s £10)🖼 Perfect manicuringThings it does have:Charm, character, quirk, fun and...

Ten minutes along the coast from Castle Stuart is the historic Nairn Golf Club.  In many ways, it is a complete juxtaposition to its aforementioned neighbour. Castle Stuart is a visitor's...

It has been a little while since my last post, but I'm picking up where I left off. From Fortrose and Rosemarkie, the next links we come to is Castle Stuart....

Of Scotland's extensive and varied golfing terrain, Fortrose and Rosemarkie GC might just occupy one of the most unique sites. A peninsula of land juts into the Moray Firth between the adjacent villages of Fortrose and Rosemarkie - known as 'Chanonry Ness'. The tip is given over almost entirely to golf.

In 1895, a write up of the 'St Duthus' club said "the stranger may rest assured that the members of St. Duthus Club will be always ready to extend to him a hearty Highland welcome”. 125 years later, the welcome we received from Gus Gurney - the club's Captain - was as hearty as his predecessors'.

"Heaven itself", Carnegie declared,"is not so beautiful as Skibo".

The hospitality was as good as you'd expect for a club of this ilk. It caters for business leaders and millionaires - a retreat from the stresses of the corporate world. Just as it did for Andrew Carnegie all those years ago.  

 

Dornoch is a subtle test. The greens are generally large and fast - meaning your approach play must find the right parts of them. If not, regularly putting from distance will take its toll. 

The out and back layout across split level terrain is a model that has been widely copied elsewhere - affording views of the sea from almost every hole.

Golspie is a course in three acts. First you play the links holes. The first not strictly in this bracket, but the next half dozen fine examples. Then, you move to the heathland holes - almost as if you had been transported to the Surrey sandbelt. Finally, you close up with a collection of parkland.