This is the first in our new series of Luvin’ Links Golf where we will showcase links golf and all the fun that goes with it.
On my first trip to Scotland, like many first timers I wanted to try and do it all. I was hoping to play the Old Course at St. Andrews, experience life in the Auld Grey Toon, check off some big name courses from my hit list and get a feel for different areas of Scotland.
Well, as they say the best laid plans, and I missed out on the Old Course (no luck in the ballot) but it really didn’t matter as I played so much great links golf and it actually gave me a reason to head back for another try on the Old.
Early in our planning, my brother and I agreed to spend a week in St. Andrews and a week in the Highlands and it worked out lovely. We spent plenty of time researching courses and came up with our hit list with the main requirement being it had to be links golf, real, true links golf. At the time we used the internet of course and “True Links” by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell as our guide but I was infatuated by Lorne Rubenstein’s “A Season In Dornoch.”
Rubenstein had spent the summer of 2000 in the small highland village and his account of that summer had me salivating to visit Dornoch. I convinced my brother and we actually stayed as close to Royal Dornoch as anyone could and loved the course and our week there.
But to fill out out playing schedule I made a bold move and emailed Rubenstein and asked for his insights and advice to make our short “season in Dornoch” as memorable as his.
He was so gracious and responded with a long note offering tips on what to do in Dornoch and suggested a course that normally doesn’t appear on many golfers hit list.
Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club sits on a small spit of land jutting out into the Moray Firth and he gave it a grand appraisal, “Most visitors to the Highlands miss Fortrose. It’s a lovely spot on the peninsula, across from Castle Stuart. There are many holes that excite my imagination. I’ve never taken anybody there who left feeling disappointed.” We certainly weren’t disappointed, in fact we absolutely loved it.
The term hidden gem is certainly over-used but if there ever was a course that epitomizes that term it is Fortrose & Rosemarkie. Real links golf over a little peninsula of land with views of the firth, the highlands and even dolphins, yes dolphins.
Golf was played in the area in 1793 and they claim Fortrose & Rosemarkie is the 15th oldest golf club in the world. Big names always add to the lure of these courses and five time Open Champion James Braid redid the layout in the mid 1930’s and the place was even used as a training ground for the D-Day landing during the war.
The day we played it was warm and sunny and it looked more like Bermuda than the Scottish Highlands. With the Chanonry Lighthouse just off the course the scene could easily be confused with the tropics…at least on that day.
And tourists make the trip out to the lighthouse to catch glimpses of the dolphins that feed just off shore. It is on one the best dolphin viewing spots in Scotland.
The scenery alone is enough to make the trip but let us not forget the course. It’s as sweet as many links I have played and Rubenstein is correct, no links golfer could ever be disappointed when playing here.
It’s a firm, fast layout with humps and bumps with fairly big greens to catch those run-ups. But it is far from easy, Braids bunkers are strewn throughout the course and capture more than their share of shots.
And of course there’s the winds off the firth to contend with and the day we played there was a healthy wind that challenged us all day.
The club itself is unpretentious and more like a working man’s local club and has a totally different vibe than the big boys. You won’t mistake this for St. Andrews which can be like playing golf in Grand Central Station with crowds of golfers and onlookers. And it won’t break your budget as you can play in the afternoon for about fifty-two bucks.
Do yourself and your golf game a favor. When planning your next Scotland trip make the ride to the Highlands and tee it up at Fortrose & Rosemarkie. Like Rubenstein said, you won’t be disappointed.
Related Articles
