{"id":373093,"date":"2026-01-16T10:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/373093\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T10:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:33:07","slug":"royal-dornoch-sets-demolition-date-for-historic-clubhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/373093\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Dornoch sets demolition date for historic clubhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n “Unprecedented demand” from golfers at home and abroad led Royal Dornoch to close its waiting list in 2024<\/a> and put it in what many would regard as the enviable position of building a new \u00a313.9 million clubhouse. The club has more than 2,300 members of its Championship and Struie courses, with around 700 based outside the UK in countries ranging from Argentina to Australia.\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n Members of Royal Dornoch were able to access the new clubhouse for the first time at an informal opening last month<\/a>. The multi-level building by Keppie Design covers approximately 22,600 square feet and is an energy-efficient replacement for its early 20th century predecessor.\n<\/p>\n

\n General manager Neil Hampton\u00a0has\u00a0revealed that\u00a0the demolition of the old clubhouse is set to get underway\u00a0on\u00a0Monday,\u00a0February\u00a02, bringing an end to one era and the start of another.\n<\/p>\n

\n Who’s going to be in charge of the demolition?\n<\/p>\n

\n We have appointed Nairn\u00a0specialists\u00a0GF\u00a0Job\u00a0for the\u00a0project,\u00a0and it will take around eight to\u00a010 weeks\u00a0to level the site.\n<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s\u00a0not about\u00a0bringing in\u00a0a wrecking ball\u00a0and bulldozers\u00a0nowadays. The internal work takes place first, with\u00a0different materials\u00a0going into separate skips for recycling.\n<\/p>\n

\n The building officially opened in 1909 (Image: Bannerman Media)\n<\/p>\n

\n Then what?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n The future use of the site has yet to be decided but in the short term it will\u00a0landscaped\u00a0and\u00a0in good shape for the start of the golf season.\n<\/p>\n

\n Many items in the old clubhouse were moved to the new one, but what of those deemed surplus to\u00a0requirements?\n<\/p>\n

\n Despite the heavy snow we opened up the old clubhouse on Saturday. It was especially\u00a0busy for the first couple of hours as members snapped up everything from\u00a0tables\u00a0and chairs\u00a0to\u00a0curtains, shoe\u00a0cleaners\u00a0and\u00a0pots\u00a0and pans, in addition to\u00a0pictures,\u00a0signage\u00a0and locker doors\u00a0for souvenirs.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n We have raised\u00a0well over\u00a0\u00a33,500\u00a0already\u00a0in donations to the captain’s charity, which is supporting\u00a0Mikey\u2019s\u00a0Line<\/a> and the East Sutherland Rescue Association<\/a>,\u00a0and the club\u2019s heritage and junior\u00a0foundations.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n The course and clubhouses were covered in snow this past weekend (Image: Matthew Harris)\n<\/p>\n

\n So that’s it?\n<\/p>\n

\n No, by the time the dust\u00a0settles\u00a0I suspect we might even double that figure because we have had an offer for\u00a0all the kitchen\u00a0equipment,\u00a0and clubs in the region will have the opportunity to\u00a0snap up\u00a0anything that they can\u00a0make use of.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n It seems rather bittersweet, particularly for those who were fond of the history and quaint design of the building from 1909.\n<\/p>\n

\n We\u00a0said\u00a0our\u00a0goodbyes to the clubhouse\u00a0before\u00a0Christmas\u00a0and it\u00a0will be\u00a0fondly remembered by members and visitors alike, but nothing lasts\u00a0forever\u00a0and it\u00a0had\u00a0been showing signs of its 116 years for some considerable time. Plans for a much-needed\u00a0replacement\u00a0clubhouse had been\u00a0bandied\u00a0about\u00a0for\u00a0decades.\n<\/p>\n

\n I\u2019m\u00a0delighted to say\u00a0our new clubhouse\u00a0is being\u00a0warmly embraced by local members and townsfolk\u00a0and we look forward to welcoming golfers from around the world\u00a0to see it for\u00a0themselves\u00a0in\u00a0the spring.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n Neil Hampton (right) welcomes members to the old clubhouse at Royal Dornoch (Image: Bannerman Media)\n<\/p>\n

\n Access the entire series of Around the Greens here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Unprecedented demand” from golfers at home and abroad led Royal Dornoch to close its waiting list in 2024…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-373093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}