The Highland Links – Nairn, Castle Stuart and Royal Dornoch
Three days by car, from Inverness Airport and back.
The route
Three rounds on three Highland links, one a day, on the shores of the Moray and Dornoch Firths, from Inverness Airport and back.
Nairn, Castle Stuart and Royal Dornoch are the three links Royal Dornoch's own visitor page offers together for a golf trip. The three clubs sell it as one package too, Highland Golf Links, with two nights' bed and breakfast at a partner hotel. This trip keeps the nights in the golf towns: one in Nairn, the seaside town beside its championship links, and one in Dornoch, the cathedral town whose first tee is a short walk from the square. The rounds run from a course of 2009 on the clifftops near the airport to ground at Dornoch played since at least 1616.
Before you go
Book a bed near Nairn
Book a bed near Nairn for the first night: none of our stays takes a single night there, so look to the town's own hotels, such as the Golf View Hotel on Seabank Road, just over half a mile from the club.
The nearest of ours is Links House at Royal Dornoch in Dornoch, 21 miles away.
Book a bed near Dornoch
Book a bed near Dornoch for the second night, so the last round starts a short walk from your door. The town is small and the clubhouse is under ten minutes on foot from the square.
The nearest of ours is Links House at Royal Dornoch in Dornoch.
Book your round with Nairn Golf Club on its visitors page, by email to bookings@nairngolfclub.co.uk or on 01667 453208, and once the clocks go back ask for a morning time and take a morning flight in, as an afternoon round will not finish in daylight.
Book Castle Stuart at Cabot Highlands
Castle Stuart plays only from late March to mid-November, so book a tee time on it by name (Cabot Highlands has a second course, Old Petty) through the Cabot Highlands reservations team, by the enquiry form at cabot.com/highlands/book-now, on 01463 796111 or at ch.bookings@cabot.com.
Book your Championship Course tee time with the club, by phone on 01862 810219 (extension 1) or by email to bookings@royaldornoch.com, for a morning start once the clocks go back, with a caddie and a table for lunch (extension 4) at the same time; the club takes no visitor bookings from December to the end of February.
Day one
Nairn
The trip opens on the Moray Firth with a round on the championship links at Nairn, where the course runs out along the shore and the Black Isle sits across the water. Afterwards there's a drink in the clubhouse and an evening in the seaside town itself.
31 min at the wheelAbout 11 miles
Nairn Golf Club
An attraction
It's 25 minutes' drive east from Inverness Airport to Nairn Golf Club, at the west end of the town. Old Tom Morris and James Braid reshaped its links, a Walker Cup and Curtis Cup venue. The first holes run west, the beach on your right, and the Bothy by the 10th tee, built in 1877 to store salmon, is the halfway house. Once the clocks go back, only a morning round finishes in daylight, so fly in early. Dinner is at Hickory in the Golf View Hotel, along Seabank Road.
If it rains
Nairn is played in most weather, so bring waterproofs and a warm layer. If it's too wild to play, ask the club about moving your time. For anyone not playing, Nairn Museum in Viewfield House opens Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and on Saturday mornings, with two of its galleries shut for building work at the time of writing.
Day two
Castle Stuart
A morning on the clifftop links at Castle Stuart, above the Moray Firth, then the road north. The A9 crosses the Black Isle and runs up past Tain to the Dornoch Firth, and the day ends in the cathedral town of Dornoch, with tomorrow's golf on the doorstep.
1 hr 42 min at the wheelAbout 61 miles
27 min by car
Castle Stuart at Cabot Highlands
It's 27 minutes' drive west from Nairn along the A96 to Castle Stuart at Cabot Highlands, on the shore of the Moray Firth. Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen laid out the links, which opened in 2009, with wide fairways along old sea cliffs and greens that seem to hang over the water. It plays from late March to mid-November, walking only, and no handicap certificate is needed. Non-golfers may walk round with the group, and with a tee time, lunch in the clubhouse needs no booking.
1 hr 15 min by car
Dornoch Cathedral
An attraction
It's 75 minutes' drive north from Castle Stuart, over the Kessock Bridge, up the A9 past Tain and over the Dornoch Firth Bridge. The bridges can close in a gale, so check Traffic Scotland first. The cathedral on the square was built by Gilbert de Moravia in the 13th century, burned in a clan feud in 1570 and restored in the 1830s; look for the windows in memory of Andrew Carnegie. Dinner is a few steps away at the Dornoch Castle Hotel: book a table.
If it rains
Castle Stuart shuts only for lightning, when Cabot tries to move your tee time; a round isn't refunded for rain, so bring waterproofs, and the clubhouse serves lunch and dinner from noon to 8pm. For anyone not playing, the Highlanders' Museum inside Fort George, about a quarter of an hour's drive north-east past Ardersier, opens every day: 10am to 4pm from October to March (last entry 3pm), and 9.30am to 5.30pm from April to September (last entry 4.45pm).
Day three
Dornoch
The last round is Royal Dornoch's Championship links, laid out along the shore north-east of the town, with the long beach beside its far holes. It's a short walk from the square to the first tee, and after the round and lunch comes the long drive back down the A9 to Inverness.
1 hr 15 min at the wheelAbout 50 miles by carAbout 0.5 miles on foot
7 min on foot
Royal Dornoch Golf Club
An attraction
It's a 7-minute walk from Dornoch's square to Royal Dornoch's new clubhouse on Golf Road. Golf has been played on these links since at least 1616, the club was founded in 1877, and Old Tom Morris extended the course in 1886. Donald Ross, born in Dornoch, was its first professional before he left for America in 1899. The 18th, Glenmorangie, is named after the whisky made across the firth at Tain. Book lunch upstairs. Then it's 75 minutes' drive down the A9 to Inverness Airport: leave in daylight.
If it rains
Royal Dornoch is played in most weathers, so bring waterproofs. In a downpour, Historylinks, the town's museum a short walk from the square, tells the story of golf in Dornoch and of Donald Ross; it opens every day from 10.30am to 4pm from April to October.
Where to eat
DornochDornoch Castle HotelA restaurant
DornochMilk & HoneyA café
TainPlatform 1864A restaurant
TainGreens RestaurantA restaurant
DornochCocoa Mountain DornochA café
FortroseThe AndersonA bar
FortroseIV10 Café Bar DeliA café
FortroseBakhoos BakeryA café
RosemarkieCrofters Café, RosemarkieA restaurant
Rosemarkie Beach CaféA caféPhotograph by David Round via Google