Royal Dornoch may be the best Scottish venue to have never hosted an Open Championship. Its Championship Course is every bit as compelling and competitive as the myriad of courses that actually have hosted the British major.
But Dornoch’s sister course, the Struie Course, is making strides as its own first-rate play. And it just got markedly better with the addition of a 175-yard, par-3 hole.
Club member Tom Mackenzie, a founding partner of the golf course architecture firm Mackenzie and Ebert, had a vision for a new hole on a parcel of the club’s land along the Dornoch Firth. The club was embarking on a new clubhouse and this was an ideal time to consider changes to the course.
Mackenzie identified a piece of land that looks over the Firth and plays toward the Portmahomack lighthouse.
“It is the only hole on either of the courses that faces in the south-east direction towards the Dornoch Firth,” course manager Eoin Riddell said. “It is a stunning addition to the Struie Course, a real cracker.”
Club general manager Neil Hampton admits that the new hole created brief consternation.
“This addition has also allowed for new tees to be created for the 10th hole, which now runs along the coastline,” he said. “There was some anxiety among members about how those changes would impact a hole which is among their favorites. We retained the two landmark trees, and I’m delighted to say that the feedback has been excellent. It is definitely an improvement.”