Dorian Fourie
2 months on NCG Top 100s
Verified reviews
Checked and approved by NCG Top 100s before it was published.
Royal Dornoch – Course No. 100 Some golf courses you play and enjoy. Some you remember. And then there are courses like Royal Dornoch. I had the privilege of playing the Championship Course in 2024, and fittingly, it was the 100th different golf course I had ever played. If you’re going to reach a golfing milestone, you might as well do it somewhere rather special. And Royal Dornoch is rather special. Golf has been played on the Dornoch links for centuries, with written evidence dating back to 1616, while the club itself was established in 1877. Old Tom Morris was invited north in 1886 to develop the course, famously declaring, “There canna be better for gowf.” Donald Ross, who was born in Dornoch and became one of the most influential golf-course architects in history, also learned his golf here. So, basically, the place has been producing golfing legends while the rest of us were still trying to work out which way the wind was blowing. I was incredibly lucky to play the course on a cold February day, but what could have been a typically brutal Scottish links experience turned into something rather magical. Blue skies, glorious sunshine and, thankfully, very little of that dreaded Dornoch wind. For once, the weather gods had decided to take pity on a golfer. The Championship Course is everything you hope a great links course will be. Natural, dramatic, beautifully shaped and full of holes that make you think. The famous plateau greens are spectacular to look at and absolutely bloody terrifying to putt on. A shot that looks perfectly good from the fairway can suddenly become a very different proposition when you realise the green appears to have been designed by someone with a personal grudge against golfers. But that is what makes Dornoch so brilliant. It isn’t about simply hitting the ball as hard as you can. It’s about imagination, angles, wind, slopes, bounces and knowing when to take on a shot and when to show a little common sense — something most golfers, myself included, tend to discover approximately three shots too late. One of the great privileges of the day was playing with JD, a member of the club, who made the experience even more memorable. Not only did he share his extensive knowledge of Royal Dornoch’s history, but he guided me around the course, explaining the layout, the strategy and, crucially, the many nuances of those famous greens. For a first-time visitor, having someone who knows the course inside out is invaluable. Rather than simply seeing a collection of magnificent holes, I began to understand why they were there and how they were meant to be played. And that made the experience even better. The setting is breathtaking. The Dornoch Firth, the dunes, the beach, the Highland landscape and the ever-changing sky make the course feel completely at one with its surroundings. There are moments where you genuinely have to stop and take it all in. Although, admittedly, there are also moments where you stop because you’ve just hit your approach 40 yards through the back of the green. Everyone at Royal Dornoch made me feel like a friend rather than a visitor. There was a warmth and friendliness throughout the club that stayed with me long after I had left the 18th green. That is perhaps what I remember most. Yes, the golf is exceptional. Yes, the history is extraordinary. Yes, the scenery is ridiculous. But it is the people and the welcome that turn a great round of golf into a great memory. “Haste ye back.” It’s a wonderfully Scottish expression and one that perfectly captures Royal Dornoch. It’s an invitation to return, but it feels like something more than that. Almost as though the course knows that once you’ve experienced it properly, you’ll already be planning your way back. Course number 100 could have been anywhere. I’m incredibly glad it was Royal Dornoch. A truly unforgettable round of golf, made even more special by JD, the wonderful hospitality of everyone at the club, and the feeling that for one day, I wasn’t simply a visitor playing one of the world’s great courses. I was a friend being shown around. Haste ye back, Royal Dornoch. I sincerely hope it won’t be too long.
