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Royal Dornoch Golf Club

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Coordinates: 57°52′44″N 4°01′23″W / 57.879°N 4.023°W / 57.879; -4.023
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Royal Dornach Golf Club
Club information
Royal Dornoch Golf Club is located in Scotland
Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Location in Scotland
Coordinates57°52′44″N 4°01′23″W / 57.879°N 4.023°W / 57.879; -4.023
LocationDornoch, Sutherland,
Scotland, UK
Established1877, 147 years ago
Total holes36
Websiteroyaldornoch.com
Championship Course
Par70
Length6,748 yd (6,170 m)
Course rating73
Slope rating136[1]
Struie Course
Par71
Length6,265 yd (5,729 m)
Course rating70
Slope rating125[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.

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] It was named No. 1 in the world by the online golf reservation service Golfscape.[6][better source needed].

History

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Golf was played in Dornoch, over the extensive linksland there, in the early seventeenth century, circa 1616.[7] 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.[8][9]

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.[10][11]

In October 2024, the club completed the purchase of 50 acres (20 ha) of land from an adjacent farm for expansion of the Struie Course. Five or six holes were planned for the land, but no timescale was announced.[12]

Scorecard

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Royal Dornoch Championship Course
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Championship 74 / 136 331 184 413 422 353 161 479 434 529 3306 174 449 560 180 445 360 401 417 456 3416 6722
Medal 73 / 134 331 177 413 422 353 161 479 434 529 3299 146 446 535 171 445 322 401 405 456 3327 6626
Regular 71 / 129 302 167 398 402 312 156 464 389 491 3081 142 434 490 148 439 300 395 390 446 3184 6265
Par Men's 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 5 35 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 35 70
SI Men's 13 5 11 3 15 9 1 7 17 14 4 16 12 2 18 8 10 6
Red M:69/126 W:76/139 266 160 389 392 306 137 408 375 435 2868 132 426 472 137 401 290 387 384 437 3066 5934
Par Women's 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 4 5 37 3 5 5 3 5 4 5 4 5 39 76
SI Women's 7 15 1 9 3 17 11 5 13 16 8 4 18 2 10 12 6 14

Source:[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ World Atlas of Golf, 1988 edition
  8. ^ Carroll, Steve (10 September 2020). "Behind the scorecard: The new 7th hole at Royal Dornoch". National Club Golfer. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Championship Course". Royal Dornoch Golf Club. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  10. ^ Bergum, Steve (14 May 2005). "Scottish team, Circling Raven plan gathering". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, U.S. p. C1.
  11. ^ Bergum, Steve (20 September 2005). "Sharing as a matter of course". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington, U.S. p. B1.
  12. ^ Dorsey, Kristy (25 October 2024). "Royal Dornoch in six-figure acquisition to expand golf course". The Herald. Glasgow. p. 8.
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