What golf looks like on the northern tip of Scotland

Here we’re on a visit to golf’s Mecca, Scotland, and we’re already in a single of the golfiest elements of the nation: the Highlands.

What would make us drive an additional two hours north on tiny, single-lane roads for simply 9 holes?

Durness Golf Club was price each bit of the journey.

Located about three hours north and west of Inverness, the Highlands’ largest metropolis and cultural capital, an indication outdoors the golf course proudly proclaims Durness as mainland Britain’s most north-westerly nine-hole course. Its story begins with one factor: the drive.

The Journey

They say it’s not about the vacation spot, it’s about the journey and Durness was no exception.

We began our drive from Dornoch, our residence base on this Scottish trip, and about 30 to 40 minutes into our two-hour jaunt, we turned onto street A838. One lane from there on out.

There had been passing turn-offs each couple hundred toes, however some of the corners on this street made the hair on the again of your neck arise out of worry. Who is aware of if one other driver is whipping round in the wrong way.

As arduous because it was to provide the street your undivided consideration, the environment demanded it equally (fortunately, I used to be not driving.) The biomes ranged from rocky mountains to grassy plains to lakes to sand seashores.

I’ll be trustworthy, it is likely to be my job, nevertheless it’s very tough to seize the magnificence we noticed on that drive in phrases and even some photos. I encourage you to click on by way of the pictures above.

The setting

Durness is a small village with a inhabitants of lower than 350 individuals, in line with Scotland’s 2011 census.

But on the day we arrived, the street (singular) was packed for the Durness Highland Games. We didn’t keep lengthy sufficient to spectate, however there’s at all times subsequent 12 months.

The golf course was a stone’s throw away from city. At the base of a giant hill and alongside a rocky cliff sat the small clubhouse, no larger than a two-bedroom house, with the phrases “Durness Golf Club” adorning the aspect.

The view from the clubhouse was spectacular, staring straight to Balnakeil Bay Beach and farther out to the North Sea. The peninsula to the north and barely east appeared like it may at some point comprise a bigger, 18-hole course. But such a building effort appeared herculean on this distant locale.

At the entrance door of the clubhouse was an honor field, the first one I had ever seen in my life. There was nobody inside the clubhouse which housed simply two locker rooms and a small eating/picnic space.

The directions written on the “honesty box” had been as follows: “Lift the Lid! Inside you will find green fee tickets, plastic envelopes and scorecards (with map of course on back). Fill in a ticket, put in an envelope with appropriate fee and post through the Letterbox (That is the slot above box!) Many Thanks. Enjoy your golf.”

Later, we met the membership secretary, Lucy Mackay, who, when onsite, runs a small merchandise operation out of a closet in the clubhouse. And these aren’t the £40 hats and £100 shirts you may see elsewhere in the U.Okay. I bought a really comfortable beanie for simply £15.

The membership’s web site instructs guests to electronic mail Mackay to rearrange tee instances. How easy is that?

The course

Durness Golf Club is simply 9 holes, however there are two units of tees for every colour on each gap for if you loop the course a second time. Some are just a bit shorter or longer. Others utterly change the angle of the gap and make for an thrilling twist.

When you play the 1st gap, it would provide you with the impression the journey to this course actually was extra about the journey than the vacation spot. It’s a brief par-4 that performs round a big hill to a inexperienced that’s considerably uphill.

The subsequent eight holes, although, may very well be on some other high course in the world and nobody would bat an eye fixed.

The course is simply 2,753 yards from its longest tees and options six par 4s (none longer than 408 yards), a par 5 and two par 3s. Despite most holes being inland, the unimaginable rolling terrain made the good setting for a golf course. This was a course that was extra so discovered than designed. No main earth-moving operation right here.

The most spectacular gap from the bunch was the eighth, a brief par-4 which performed straight again down the hill, towards the water with the inexperienced perched simply toes from a cliff. Following it got here the ninth, a 150-yard par 3 that performed over the cliff to a inexperienced slightly below the clubhouse. The ninth’s alternate tee stretches to almost 200 yards, and infrequently performs right into a breeze.

Mackay stated the course was designed by three locals and opened for play in 1988 on land now owned and leased to the membership by the Scottish Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

For those that make the trek, it’s effectively price it — not just for GOLF’s No. 12 nine-hole course in the world — however the total journey itself. We had been exhausted by the time we turned again towards Dornoch, one other 18 holes in our future. Our solely remorse was leaving city with out enlisting in the Highland Games.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf group and nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Before becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but additionally producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He could be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.