Portmahomack

Portmahomack Golf Club sits on the Tarbat Peninsula in the northeast of Scotland, and it is an oddity to say the least. 

Unusually, it is a venue that has ten holes. During an 18-hole round, you play eight of them twice, while playing the 7th and 16th – both par 3s – once each. 

Portmahomack is not a long course, at just 2,600 yards on either nine, but it is a solid test of links golf, and in a glorious location. 

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The first iteration of the Portmahomack Golf Club was founded in the late 19th Century, but the club only lasted as an entity for six years.

In 1909, the club was founded once again, with the 9-hole course being laid out on the same patch of land as the original club.

Today, the course has ten holes, with a further short par 3 being added to the layout to provide a change when playing an 18-hole round.

Portmahomack is only a 10-hole course, but there is plenty of character and charm to the layout on the Tarbat Peninsula. Although there are generous fairways, the course is undulating, as you would expect with a seaside links course. Throughout a round, thanks to its location on the Tarbat Peninsula, golfers are blessed views across to Dornoch and the Moray Firth as well. Playing as an 18, this 10-holer pushes up to 5,200 yards, and with that quirky difference in its configuration from first nine to second. 

The routing begins with a quartet of par 4s, the first of which being drivable at just 280 yards from the tips. The only danger on the opening hole is long of the green, as long as you can avoid the two pot bunkers around the 200-yard mark. The 2nd is slightly longer, but again, another birdie chance at 320 yards. Sand comes into play on both sides of the fairway, while the three traps sitting in front of the green mean the approach has to come in from a height. 

The 3rd is the longest hole at Portmahomack, and a real test at 420 yards. OOB lines the left side thanks to the road so the miss is out to all the green space on the right side. The same can be said of the 4th, though at 265 yards, this might well be a drive that is aimed at the putting surface... The first of the par 3s comes at the 5th. It is 170 yards with a boundary wall on the left side. Two pot bunkers sit short of the green, but there is space to run the approach up to the green in between them. OOB comes into play once more down the left side of the 6th. At 390 yards, it is one of the longer holes on the course, and with three bunkers guarding the green, it is a tricky prospect to get right.  

You then come to the interchangeable par 3s at Portmahomack. The 7th is the shorter of the two at just 130 yards. Bunkers sit to the front left, front right and back left of the green to make this hole more difficult than it might first have seemed when glancing at the scorecard. On the back nine, you will play the 16th instead. At 165 yards, and with a green angled diagonally away from the tee, it is a tricky hole to get your distance right. There are no bunkers, so there is more space if you are going to miss the putting surface. 

The last two holes at Portmahomack are somewhat reminiscent of the first two. The 8th hole is a short, drivable par 4, with the 9th being slightly longer. 8 moves slightly from left to right, and there is a pair of bunkers sitting in front of the green. Don’t go long of this surface, as the road runs behind it as well, marking the OOB line. The closing hole is 330 yards in length and plays as a dog-leg left over the corner of the nearby cemetery. Anything out to the left off the tee may well see you reaching into your bag for another golf ball. Anything out to the right will be safe, but will leave you with a longer shot into the green.

Where is Portmahomack Golf Club located?

Portmahomack Golf Club is situated on the Tarbat Peninsula, on the eastern coastline of Scotland. It is just outside the town of Portmahomack, and sits off the B9165. It is in its own little world on the Tarbat Peninsula, some ten miles from the nearest big town, Tain. The city of Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands, is around 40 miles to the south of Portmahomack. 

The city’s airport is the fourth busiest in Scotland, behind only Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and sits just shy of 50 miles south of Portmahomack Golf Club, on the eastern side of the city. Tain is the home to the closest train station to the golf club, but that is also around ten miles west of the venue. Trains run through Tain on an infrequent basis, between Inverness in the south and Wick in the north.

Are there any other NCG Top 100s: Scotland venues nearby?

The eastern side of the Scottish Highlands is home to many venues that rank on the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list. The likes of Tain, Brora, Golspie and Royal Dornoch - home to the Championship Course and the Struie Course – are all within 35 miles to the north. Fortrose & Rosemarkie is within the same distance to the south.

What golf facilities does Portmahomack Golf Club offer?

The club has a putting green and a short game area, but due to the lack of land, there is not a driving range at Portmahomack.

What are the green fees at Portmahomack Golf Club?

The price of a green fee at Portmahomack Golf Club changes throughout the year, depending on the season. It is also different depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend.

For more information on current green fees at Portmahomack, visit their website here.