Blinksportsnews247
Americans typically journey up to the Highlands to play Royal Dornoch as part of their golf vacations in Scotland.
They travel to its Championship course, which is considered to be among the best in Scotland.
Like many championship courses, there is a sister course that shares many traits with its relatives but rarely receives the same acclaim.
The Struie course at Royal Dornoch is in that category, but that is likely to change with the purchase of 50 acres of land aimed at enhancing the course’s reputation and maybe posing an appeal challenge to the Championship course.
This piece of undulating farmland was purchased next to the Dornoch Firth and the Struie.
The 50 acres of linksland beyond the tenth hole were determined to be valuable to purchase when Mackenzie & Ebert’s Tom Mackenzie created a master plan for the entire facility in 2013.
The land was eventually sold by the farmer’s family to become a part of Royal Dornoch after the farmer’s death.
According to Neil Hampton, general manager of Dornoch, “Tom stated that this piece of land, which resembles the terrain of holes seven through fourteen, would be ideal for any further development should it ever become available.” “He added a few to his sketches because he thought it had a great deal of potential to make some amazing golf holes.”
Over the rolling acres, five or six holes will be planned, providing ample room for heather and wild grasses to flourish.
The construction of a new par-3 with an infinity green overlooking the Dornoch Firth after the ninth hole and a new teeing ground for the 10th hole, which will play along the shoreline on the Struie, is scheduled for next spring, although the 50-acre plot is for future development, probably two to three years away.
“The views looking down the new hole are stunning,” said Hampton. “It looks like a classic Struie hole, and the definition will be further enhanced once the sand is in the bunkers.”
Blinksportsnews247