Helmsdale Golf Club
Nine holes on a south-facing hillside above Helmsdale, par 30 over 1,860 yards. Twice round makes a par 60.
Helmsdale is golf at its most relaxed, a little nine-hole course on the hillside above the village in East Sutherland.
The holes face south over the Strath of Kildonan and wind their way through bracken, gorse and broom, which are a picture in spring and early summer. At 1,860 yards it’s short, so accuracy counts for more than length. From the 9th tee, the highest point on the course, you can look out to sea in one direction and to the old gold diggings of Kildonan in the other. The course is on Golf Road, about 16 miles north of Brora, and there’s no website, so ask in the village before you play.
The last hole, a long par three, plays down from the highest tee on the course to a good-sized green beside the clubhouse, with a row of houses across Golf Road.
18 holes. Par 60 and 3,720 yards from the yellow tees.
The holes tinted yellow are the highlights below. Press one to read about it. The club publishes no card: this is Golfing Record’s, the nine holes played twice, and its first nine adds up to the 1,860 yards the village’s own page gives.
Accuracy matters more than length on these nine holes, which wind through bracken, gorse and broom on a south-facing hillside.
2The 2nd
The shortest hole on the course, and it needs a gentle touch. The pin is about 87 yards away, and five yards past it you’re out of bounds.
- 9
The 9th
The tee is the highest point on the course, with the sea to the east and the old gold diggings of Kildonan to the west. From there a long par three runs down to a good-sized green by the clubhouse.
A nine-hole course on the hillside above Helmsdale, winding through gorse and broom with the sea and the Strath of Kildonan in view.
- Holes
- 18
- Par
- 60
- Yards
- 3,720
Booking
The club has no website and publishes no booking, green fees or hire. Ask in the village before you play.
The clubhouse
The clubhouse sits beside the 9th green on Golf Road.
The course is on Golf Road in Helmsdale, a village on the A9 on the east coast of Sutherland, about 16 miles north of Brora.
Helmsdale has a station on the Far North Line from Inverness.
Scotland, in print.
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More courses in the Highlands, and the collections this one is in.
For further reading, before you go.
- Helmsdale golf, on the village websiteThe village’s own page on the course, kept by the web archive.web.archive.org↗
- The cardPar, stroke index and yardage for each hole, played twice round.golfingrecord.com↗
- Helmsdale relays its greensGolf Monthly on how neighbouring clubs helped relay the greens.golfmonthly.com↗
- Heart of the CommunityGolf Monthly on small nine-hole clubs, with a round at Helmsdale in 2023.golfmonthly.com↗