At Skibo Castle, instead of a genie you have a telephone. Just dial zero and make your wish. Over the course of our three-day family visit, we tried increasingly hard to test the capabilities of the estate but nothing we asked for was either impossible or too much trouble. Yes, The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, to use its full title, is an experience like no other. 

 

This isn’t the kind of place where you come to be seen. Quite the opposite, in fact. The kind of people who are members here are beyond the stage of flaunting their wealth. This Highlands estate is to be found, or not as the case may be, just off the A9 before, heading north, you reach the golfing paradise of Royal Dornoch.


Visit Skibo Castle's website here.
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Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist, purchased Skibo Castle in 1898 and undertook extensive renovations of the estate. As part of his improvements, he commissioned the creation of a golf course on the castle grounds. 

Carnegie's golf course at Skibo Castle was one of the earliest examples of a private golf course associated with a grand estate. The course was designed by renowned Scottish golf course architect Donald Ross, who is known for his contributions to golf course design in the United States. 

Since 2003, it has been owned by Ellis Short, the American businessman whose portfolio once also included Sunderland FC.

Short acquired Skibo Castle from Peter de Savary, under whose stewardship the estate became a favoured retreat for high-profile celebrities. Most famously, in 2000, it was here that Madonna married Guy Ritchie. They doubtless appreciated Skibo’s sense of discretion.

Today Skibo Castle remains a private members' club, known as the Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle. It offers luxurious accommodations, fine dining, outdoor activities, and a golf course, continuing its tradition of exclusivity and hospitality. 

And that golf! Say it quietly, because that is the Skibo Castle way, the course here has been transformed since the original opened in 1995, designed by Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie. Not many people realise just what an incredible job the director of golf here, David Thomson, has done, along with some practical assistance from Mackenzie, over the last decade or so.

The Carnegie Links is designed to provide a challenging yet enjoyable experience for golfers. The course layout takes advantage of the natural terrain, including undulating fairways, strategically placed bunkers, and coastal features. It offers a mix of holes that require precise shot-making and strategic course management. 

Yes, it helps that only a handful of rounds are played here on any given day but the conditioning is sensational. The course seemingly has water all around – occupying as it does a tongue of land. The Dornoch Firth is on two sides, with the River Evelix emptying into the firth on a third. Beyond, and a constant backdrop, looms Struie Hill, Skibo’s answer to Royal County Down’s Mountains of Mourne.

Thomson’s first challenge was to enhance these vistas by clearing out trees, foliage and gorse and encouraging the growth of fescue grasses. A course previously unsure of its own identity was therefore given a personality.

Thomson says practically every hole has undergone significant change over time, though none more so than the 2nd, now a sublime left-to-right dogleg where the second is usually played blind or semi-blind over the shoulder of the dune that protects the angle. It would grace any Open Championship venue. This hole has involved bulldozers and movement of earth. Elsewhere, the changes have been subtler. Bunkers have been moved (and lovingly revetted in the old-fashioned way) into positions that force the better player into making decisions. They accept a ball running towards them rather than being concealed in the rough, just as bunkers should.

From Inverness, it’s an hour’s drive. You won’t notice it unless you know to peel your eyes as you cross the Dornoch Firth, and even then you could be forgiven for missing the left turn a few hundred yards later. 

There are no signposts for Skibo Castle; but then most guests arrive by helicopter or in one of the estate’s black Range Rovers, having been collected from a private air field. It isn’t possible to stay here unless you are either a member or seriously thinking of becoming one. 

Skibo Castle closes for business over the winter months (apart from over Christmas and Hogmanay). When members return the following spring, Thomson and his team have invariably completed surgery on another hole or two, whether tweaking a back tee or redesigning a green. 

The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle is a members-only club and only offers its facilities to members and their guests. If people wish to be considered for membership, they apply to the club's committee for a one-time visit before deciding to apply for membership. Members do not have to book times to play and can use the facilities when they wish.

There are a small number of public tee times available from May to October.

Membership costs £9,500 per year, in addition to a £30,000 joining fee. Nightly charges start from £1,400, inclusive of all food and drink.


Visit Skibo Castle's website here.
Go back to the NCG Top 100s Homepage.