The last two days bring up a choice of courses today it is Castle Stuart or Royal Dornoch and it is a tough choice having played both, but as I have played Castle Stuart several times and have only played twice at Royal Dornoch I am on the coach to what Tom Watson once described as 'The most fun I ever had playing golf'.
I am sure this course would be on the Open Championship rota if the access to the course wasn’t such a challenge, not only for spectators but the paraphernalia that now surrounds a modern-day golf tournament. Standing on the tee looking down the 1st hole Old Tom Morris who extended the original 9-hole course to 18-holes certainly wanted to lull you into a false sense of security.
The only problem is its yet another beautiful day in Scotland and the courses main defence is the wind and there is hardly any, I crash my driver down the middle and a gap wedge to four foot seems me open up with a birdie. Now the par 3, 2nd hole I know from experience can wreck your scorecard before you have even gotten underway and last time I was here I took eight! Be warned miss the green at your peril, you are better off being short than missing the green left, right or back. It’s a plateau green and if you don’t get your pitch shot up on to the green you will see the ball coming back to your feet, probably several times if you don’t learn the lesson quickly. A solid 6-iron sees me holing out for par.
Top: The tough par 3, 2nd hole. Above LtoR: 4th, 10th and 16th holes
As you make your way to the 3rd green the course opens out and the rugged views of the Dornoch Firth coast come into view, where caved rock formations give way to a perfect sandy beach that stretches for miles in both directions. The yellow gorse bush flowers that surround the fairways are starting to bloom and my senses are struggling to soak in the sheer majesty of the view.
The course continues out from the clubhouse like a true links course should and its one great golf hole after another, hit the fairway and you can make a good score, miss it and the gorse will not only eat your ball but will have the shaft of your club and wrists as well – my advice is to take your punishment and wedge out. So it’s a shame that I didn’t heed my own advice after putting my second shot into one of the two pot bunkers that protect the front of the green at the 7th.
I am going to blame the view from the tee at the 7th for that lapse in concentration – and I certainly recommend you get your camera ready and take a walk to the back tee, it’s the perfect place for a group photo or a selfie with the stunning view out across the course with the Dornoch Firth and beach as a backdrop – but four shots to get out of the bunker sees me going from 2 under to 2 over!
Around 1946 George Duncan added six new holes from the 6th to the 11th with the original holes being incorporated into the Struie Course. The par 3, 10th hole with its halfway hut sees you heading back towards the clubhouse with the sea now on your left. It’s a welcome break and helps me to recoup and go again.
As I reach the 18th green after smashing a drive and 3-iron into the wind that had picked up, not even my missed birdie chance that I managed to turned into a 3-putt boggy could put a dampener on the day. The wind did pick up but there was no rain, unlike when Tom Watson played here when he made that statement, but that was certainly a lot of fun on one of golf’s most iconic golf courses.
Above: Stunning view across the course from the 7th tee.
