Royal Dornoch’s manager hopes a new layout will ‘help ease the pressure’ on its existing layouts.
Royal Dornoch Golf Club has opened talks about adding a third course to its already world-class offering.
Having opened its new £14 million clubhouse in December last year by the first tee of its Championship course, the club is looking at reopening the enhancement project that began last year.
As well as a third 18-hole layout, there are also plans to enhance the existing Struie course and new practice facilities such as a driving range, short game and putting areas, and a four-hole par-three course.
General manager Neil Hampton says the planning process with Highland Council has begun, with US-based architects King Collins Dormer set to work on the changes.
“With the clubhouse up and running and proving immensely popular with our members and visiting golfers, our focus is turning to the project we mapped out last year,” he told Golf Business News. “I must stress we are very much at the early stages of the planning process with Highland Council and there is no specific timetable in mind for the new course and additional facilities.”
Hampton added that a third course at Royal Dornoch would “help ease pressure building on the championship course, which has been chronically oversubscribed in recent years”.
He continued: “Post-pandemic, in 2022, our tee sheet was full and strong demand for advance bookings has continued year after year.
“The club is confident that the plans being drawn up in partnership with King Collins Dormer will be another feather in our cap and ensure the Highlands takes another step towards the goal of becoming Scotland’s leading golf destination.”
Where does Royal Dornoch rank in TG’s Top 100?
“It’s the most fun I’ve had playing golf in my entire life.” That was five-time Open champion Tom Watson’s verdict of Royal Dornoch – and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that has experienced the magnificent Highlands links who would disagree.
Chris Bertram, the brains behind our Top 100 rankings, is not one.
“If you have golf running through your veins and down your fingers, it is inconceivable you will not one day find yourself in Dornoch,” he wrote of the club’s championship layout. “And when you do visit this quaint Highlands town and play its mesmerizing links, it will surely ingrain the game a little deeper in your soul.”
Royal Dornoch ranks well in a number of our lists – notably 5th in the GB&I Top 100, 3rd in the Scotland Top 100, 4th in the GB&I Links Top 100, and 34th in GB&I Fun Top 100.
Dornoch’s par-4 14th also ranked 2nd in our Top 100 rundown of the best holes in GB&I.