Royal Dornoch Golf Club and the Royal Burgh of Dornoch
Written: May 28 '00 (Updated Aug 12 '04)
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Pros: Spectacular scenery and championship golf in the north of Scotland
Cons: No quick and easy way to get there
The Bottom Line: Royal Dornoch Golf Club and the Royal Burgh of Dornoch offer outstanding golf, dramatic scenery, and the charms of a rural community.
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| DAnneC's Full Review: Scotland |
Okay, I'll admit it. We made our way to Dornoch because of the golf course. Golfers will need no further explanation. Royal Dornoch Golf Club boasts one of the best-known seaside links-style golf courses in the world—topping the list right after the Old Course at St. Andrews.
One doesn't get to Royal Dornoch by chance. Located on the east coast of the Scottish mainland about 50 miles north of Inverness, it shares the same line of latitude as Canada's Hudson Bay, just 4 degrees south of the Arctic Circle. This out-of-the-way location has earned the course its nickname among Scottish golfers as "the Star of the North." Nonetheless, golf has been played at Dornoch since at least 1616, probably much longer, and the course is counted by some as the most beautiful of Scotland's seaside links.
And Royal Dornoch is indeed glorious, especially in the spring when the gorse (or whin) is in full bloom. The deep, bright yellow of the gorse on the new green of spring set against the backdrop of the North Sea and the Dornoch Firth with those spectacular mountains in the distance—all these elements combine to lend a special enchantment to Royal Dornoch. One need not be a golfer to become caught up in the spell. For readers who have never seen gorse, these hearty shrubs make the spring come alive in Scotland much as forsythia does here in the States, except that gorse is far more pervasive. This perilously thorny plant is often used as part of the rough on golf courses throughout the British Isles. A ball lost in the gorse is lost indeed.
Royal Dornoch has been a work in progress for centuries, changing gradually with the dunes on which its links are built as well as through the less subtle impact of human intervention. As with the Old Course at St. Andrews, the name of Old Tom Morris is indelibly associated with the shaping and planning of Royal Dornoch as it appears today.
Blasphemous as it may sound to golf's true believers, even without its famous course, the royal burgh of Dornoch would be worthy of a visit. What remains of Bishop's Palace has been incorporated into the picturesque Royal Dornoch Hotel, and the old jail is now a museum. Off the small central square, pleasant shops line well-kept streets: I recall an antique shop, the Dornoch Bookshop on High Street, the woolen mill outlet, a bake shop, a butcher, a post office—all those tiny shops required to meet the needs of a small rural community and to provide tempting purchases for visitors.
Quite literally, the focal point of the town is Dornoch Cathedral. This tiny Gothic treasure was consecrated in 1239 and destroyed by fire during the 16th-century clan wars. When the structure was rebuilt in the 16th and 19th centuries respectively, great pains were taken to retain and accentuate architectural details surviving from the 13th-century original. The reconstructed walls of the chancel include several 18th-century mortality stones and the cathedral's original piscina, a stone bowl built into a wall nitch and connected by a pipe to the consecrated ground of the cemetery beyond. Before the Reformation in Scotland, priests would dispose of wine that remained unused from celebrating the Mass into the piscina to be drained into consecrated earth.
Even a short visit to the cathedral provides an opportunity to experience the peace and timelessness so often evoked by sacred surroundings. It was at Dornoch that I learned how the six-pointed Magen David (the Star of David), which symbolizes the unity of Israel in Jewish tradition, is regarded by Scottish Christians as a double triangle, each symbolizing the Trinity. This fact helps explain why so many Stars of David are displayed prominently on Scottish churches.
In keeping with British tradition, several fine walking trails can be found in and around Dornoch, including one that hugs the western edge of the famous golf course (clearly marked with signs warning against the hazards of flying balls) and leads down to the beaches of Embo Bay. Yet another path takes walkers through the Struie Golf Course (Dornoch's "other" seaside links) and past the spot where Janet Horne was executed in 1722, becoming the last woman in Scotland to be put to death for practicing witchcraft.
Visitors wanting to stay overnight in Dornoch have several choices. In addition to the Dornoch Castle Hotel on the town square, a number of small country hotels and guesthouses adjoin the links of Royal Dornoch and offer comfortable accommodations. There are also several fine bed-and-breakfast establishments in the area.
For more information on Dornoch see:
http://www.dornoch.org.uk
http://www.royaldornoch.com
Recommended:
Yes
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DAnneC
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