In many ways the visitor to the Highlands of Scotland has the best of all worlds. There is no more welcoming place to pursue the royal and ancient game than a Highlands golf tour, where the golf is superb and the scenery sublime. From the great championship links of Royal Dornoch and Nairn, where great golfing deeds have been done in Walker Cups and Amateur Championships, to the wonderful treasures of Scottish golf at Moray, cunning seaside links like Fortrose and Rosemarkie or the magical layout at Brora, where Scotland's master craftsman architect, James Braid, laid out one of the games most sparkling gems. Whatever the challenge, everywhere there is stunning scenery and the famous Highland hospitality. The fact that there is also 'Whisky Galore' can only be viewed as an added bonus!
 
         
 
RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATION
  
         
 
Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness
  
 
 
 
Kingsmills Hotel is a luxury, four star hotel set in four acres of carefully kept gardens in the heart of Inverness. The hotel has 83 rooms, with another 37 rooms available at the Kingsclub and Spa which is located in the grounds of the Kingsmills Hotel . Originally built in 1786 for William Inglis who was later to become Provost of Inverness, the original house is the heart of the hotel, ensuring you can experience a piece of Scottish Heritage, steeped in the elegance and charm of a building of this age. Just a mile from the city centre and the River Ness, which flows majestically through the centre, the Kingsmills has tastefully and yet sympathetically extended over the years to open as a luxury Inverness hotel in 1947. The en-suite bathrooms are spacious, fully supplied with luxury bathing products, soft, fluffy towels and separate baths and showers, plus wi-fi, i-pod docks, satellite television, goosedown quilts, cotton sheets and cleverly designed lighting to work with your mood or let you work if you have to.
  
         
 
GOLF
  
         
 
 

Royal Dornoch

Records show the game was being played in 1616 on the town land on the links along the seashore. It was Old Tom Morris who had the honour of really designing the Championship Course before John Sutherland added the final gloss. Donald Ross also learnt his golf on the links. Dornoch today continues to honour that philosophy. It asks that golfers create shots, play by feel and instinct, and let go of charts and mechanical thinking. The Championship Course rated 5th in the world outside the USA, can be enjoyed by the average player, but offers repeated and fresh challenge to the expert. Royal Dornoch is located away from any large towns. It has a unique atmosphere and is a haven of peace and tranquillity.

 
         
 
 

Brora

Brora golf course represents all the attributes of a traditional Scottish Highland links, with a classic layout, an easy opening hole, and a short hole facing each cardinal point of the compass, you will have to adapt and manufacture according to whither the course is running fast or slow. As with all seaside links there are some very special places throughout this course; the panorama of seascape and landscape from the second tee, the proximity of the sea to the 9th green and the beauty of the 13th green, one of the jewels in Braids crown. Tarbatness, the 17th, so called because of the lighthouse which gives you the line and with the elevated tee, is one of the best driving holes in all of Scotland.

 
         
 
 

Golspie

Set at the foot of Ben Bhraggie in the Highlands of Scotland, Golspie Golf Club offers one of the finest settings for a round of golf. Designed by the legendary James Braid, the course offers a refreshing challenge to all abilities of golfer. Golspie, situated 50 miles North of Inverness, was founded in 1889 and offers a challenge, together with a warm welcome, to all levels of golfer. The mixture of links, heath and parkland combined with the ever changing views from the course offers a unique golfing experience. This is an easy walking course which has brought many golfers back to it time and time again. Is it the golf? Is it the views of Ben Bhraggie and over the Dornoch Firth? We think that it is the combination that makes Golspie such a wonderful experience.

 
         
 
 

Tain

Overlooking the Dornoch Firth, Tain Golf Club in Ross-shire, is a traditional Scottish Highland links course designed by Old Tom Morris, situated 9 miles south of Dornoch and 31 miles north of Inverness. The Championship length links enjoys spectacular views over mountains and sea and benefits from a sheltered climate, which allows favourable golfing conditions for most of the year. With the 3rd hole rated as one of the best 18 links holes in the British Isles and the 17th acknowledged as one of the top 18 holes designed by Old Tom Morris, we believe that Tain offers one of the finest settings and challenges for a round of golf.

 
         
 
 

Fortrose & Rosemarkie

Fortrose lies out on the Chanonry Point, a thin strip of links land twelve miles or so north-east of Inverness jutting out into Rosemarkie Bay and guarding the entrance to the Moray Firth. The club was founded in 1888 but it took all of James Braid's ingenuity in the 1930's to design a full fledged eighteen-hole course on this sliver of links land. It is surrounded on three sides by beach and water. The course only measures 5890 yards, but what it lacks in distance is more than made up for by the small, deceptive, greens, tight fairways and strategically placed bunkers throughout the course. Modern-day writers enthuse over the course, with accolades such as - 'the smallest but perhaps the brightest jewel in the Highlands' golfing crown'

  
         
 
 

Nairn

Nairn Golf Club was founded following a meeting of gentlemen interested in the game of golf in September 1887. Set on the Moray Firth coast in the Highlands of Scotland, Nairn represents traditional Scottish links golf at its very best. Certainly one of Scotland's finest and most picturesque links courses, the par 72 layout at Nairn comprises over 100 bunkers, guarding subtle greens and gorse lined fairways, which unanimously demand accurate ball striking. The course lies directly on the coast and offers all the natural hazards one would expect, including an abundance of heather, whins and burns. Always in excellent condition, its greens are renowned as being fast and true.

 
         
 
 

Nairn Dunbar

Situated on the shores of the Moray Firth, the Nairn Dunbar golf course, founded in 1899, is a highly rated Scottish links championship course representing a formidable challenge with its gorse and whin lined fairways.The club enjoys a growing reputation for high quality competition golf. Renowned for its excellent condition and friendly reception to visitors, it was the chosen venue in 1999 for the Northern Open Professional Championship, the Scottish Ladies Amateur Stroke Play and the Scottish Boys Stroke Play. In 2001 the club hosted the Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship (qualifying rounds) and in 2002 the Seniors Home Internationals and the Scottish Open Amateur Mixed Tournaments.The club was joint hosts with the Nairn Golf Club to stage the British Seniors Amateur Championship in 2007.

 
         
 
 

Moray

A rare treat lies in store for you at Moray Golf Club. Where else could you follow in the footsteps of Old Tom Morris and Henry Cotton in the same day? The old course is considered to be one of the finest links courses in Scotland. A classic links designed by Old Tom Morris with deep revetted bunkers, undulating gorse lined fairways and smooth fast greens. It is a superb test of golf with seven par fours over 400 yards. Henry Cotton's preference for precision golf can be seen with the shorter but somewhat tighter New course with greens smaller than the Old but every bit as good, and equally challenging and rewarding. Moray Golf Club is truly one of Scotland's gems, a fitting tribute to the artistry of Old Tom Morris and Henry Cotton and a must for golfers visiting the area.

  
         
         
 
 
         
 
GOLF FORTROSE & ROSEMARKIE . GOLF GOLSPIE . GOLF TAIN . GOLF BRORA . GOLF ROYAL DORNOCH . GOLF HIGHLANDS . GOLF MORAY OLD