Most will look towards Portugal or Spain for their winter golf trip, but if you fancy staying in the UK, the Scottish Highlands is the perfect place!
This might sound like a ludicrous thing to say, but if you don’t want to risk your clubs getting damaged on a flight, then this is your best option.
Yes, you do have to appreciate that you’re taking a 50-50 chance when it comes to the weather, we know that! However, our trip this year saw us bathed in sunshine across the entire week!
We took on four great courses, enjoyed incredible views and stayed in a wonderful spot, and we would do it all over again…
Where should I play golf on my winter foray in the Scottish Highlands?
The term ‘golfing paradise’ gets thrown around about a lot of places, but that is certainly a good way to describe the eastern coastline of the Scottish Highlands.
No fewer than twelve courses from the region feature on the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list, including three venues which rank in the top ten.
Our four-day run saw us visit Brora and Golspie, sandwiching two days at Royal Dornoch to play both the Championship Course and the Struie Course. And rather beautifully, it was all played under the sun.
I am not going to go as far as to say it was warm, but it was warm enough that a quarter zip over a polo was enough, and there was no need for a woolly hat or gloves, despite being by the coast.
Brora Golf Club
The northernmost venue on our trip was Brora, a classic James braid links design on the eastern coastline of the country.
RELATED – NCG Top 100s: Brora
The opening hole tees off with the beach right alongside it, and the course runs along the coastline throughout the front nine. It is a true out-and-back links course, and not much has changed to the layout since James Braid made his alterations a century ago.
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A number of short par 4s make this a fun and interesting layout, and with the cracking long par 3 18th to finish – one that has been known to wreck many a good card thanks to its false front and three greenside bunkers – it is a great place to start your winter golf trip to the Scottish Highlands.
Green Fees at Brora:
November 1st-16th – £80
(Course closed to visitors after Nov 16th)
Royal Dornoch
Perhaps the most well-known golfing venue in this part of the world, Royal Dornoch dazzles both guests and members with its two glorious golf courses.
RELATED – NCG Top 100s: Royal Dornoch (Championship)
RELATED – NCG Top 100s: Royal Dornoch (Struie)
The Championship Course has played host to the Amateur Championship, Scottish Ladies Championship and the R&A Home Internationals among many other events, showing its class.
The layout runs north from the clubhouse, up and along the coastline for a stretch (like all links courses). At first glance, it might look relatively easy as there are no pot bunkers, and some pretty wide fairways. Oh how wrong you can be!
It is a very tough test, but one you appreciate as you move your way around the course. The views out to the North Sea are incredible, especially on the bright sunny day that we were there.
In recent years, MacKenzie (of MacKenzie and Ebert) has made significant changes to the 7th and 8th holes of the Championship Course, opening up the course somewhat at this point to provide more incredible sea views.
The Struie Course is the second option at Royal Dornoch, and despite being cheaper and less desired than the Championship, it still makes for a great layout to have some fun on. The par 3 18th to finish is a cracking little hole, and one we thoroughly enjoyed finishing our round with.
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The venue is currently undergoing a major transformation as well. A new clubhouse is currently under construction, and set to be opened in 2025. Following that, the old clubhouse, which has been around since the late 1890s, will be demolished to make way for townhouses.
Almost 60 acres of land has been bought to the south of the Struie Course, with the idea of adding new holes and bringing the Struie up the same standard as the Championship – all with the intention of making Royal Dornoch one of the best 36-hole venues in the country.
Green Fees at Royal Dornoch (November-March):
Championship Course – £175
Struie Course – £75
Combination Ticket – £210 (play both courses in one day or over two days)
Golspie
The final day of our trip saw us move back north up the A9 to the small village of Golspie. Located next to the village is this glorious strip of golfing land, that takes you on one hell of a journey through three different types of golf.
RELATED – NCG Top 100s: Golspie
From the picture above, and the clubhouse (which you can see just to the left of the road), Golspie looks like it is a true links test. That is not the case however.
For the early part of your round at Golspie, it is as a links test. The opening four holes, which you can see in the picture, including the short par 3 2nd at the bottom of the photo, are proper links holes, with blind shots, crisp turf to play from, and with the 3rd, 4th and 5th running along the coastline of the North Sea.
From there, though, the course moves its way into the trees and turns into a proper heathland course, one you would not be surprised at seeing in Yorkshire or Surrey. There are also some parkland holes as well, with Golspie managing to bring the three main types of British golf into one strip of land.
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As the final stop on the tour, it was another cracking afternoon, with the weather gods shining down on us once more. With the sun out, there simply isn’t anything better than golf on the coast.
Green Fees at Golspie:
November – £80
December-March – £45
Where else could I play during my trip?
There are plenty of other venues close by, adding to the reasons why you would visit the Scottish Highlands for a golf trip.
Tain is the closest venue which also has a spot on the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list to the three venues we visited. Skibo Castle, which is a private members club, is also nearby.
The likes of Nairn, Nairn Dunbar, Fortrose & Rosemarkie and Cabot Highlands (formerly Castle Stuart) are also within a two hour drive from Brora – the northernmost venue of our trip.
Those four venues make up the Highlands Spring Swing on the NCG Top 100s Tour – which is another great way of enjoying a golf trip to the Scottish Highlands – although in April and not the winter months.
Check out the Highlands Spring Swing on the NCG Top 100s Tour here
Where to stay on your winter golf trip to the Scottish Highlands?
As with every hotbed for golf in the United Kingdom, there are plenty of options when it comes to accommodation. There are plenty of places in Brora, Golspie and Tain, but the best place to stay gives you a view of Royal Dornoch’s Championship Course.
That is the Dornoch Station, run by Marine and Lawn, who operate a number of hotels around the United Kingdom, all next to high-level golf courses.
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The hotel has a classy theme, and you can tell that golf runs through the building’s veins. The pillars next to the stairs are wrapped in golf clubs, while the lounge area has golf balls on the ledge around three walls.
The Bar Ross is the perfect spot of an evening to relax and to have some food and a glass of wine, or a Scottish whisky if your heart desires, while the Golden Gorse is the hotel’s restaurant – the spot for a proper sit down meal.
Each of the rooms at the Dornoch Station has been carefully decorated, and those with a sea view also look out over the opening hole of the Championship Course at Royal Dornoch.
For those perhaps coming on the trip but not playing golf, the Dornoch Station Hotel also welcomes dogs (for a small fee), while there are also some great cycling trails in the region.
Yes, there are plenty of other options for your stay, but the Dornoch Station has everything you could possibly need.
Now have your say
Have you been up to the Scottish Highlands to play golf in winter before? Have you been that far north in the UK before? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
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