Royal Dornoch has entered the early planning stages for a proposed championship-standard third course, alongside changes to the Struie Course and an expanded practice hub on land south of the Highland town.
Royal Dornoch has set out a multi-million-pound masterplan that would add a third course, improve its Struie Course and create substantial new practice facilities. The club has appointed American architects King Collins Dormer for the plans and is at an early stage of discussions with Highland Council.
The proposal follows the club’s purchase of 50 acres of adjoining open grassland south of Dornoch. It comes soon after the opening of Royal Dornoch’s £13.9 million clubhouse beside the first tee of the Championship Course.
A long-term proposal, not a construction timetable
The potential development includes a new championship-standard course, a driving range, short-game area, one-acre putting green and a four-hole par-three course. Tetra Tech has been appointed to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report, covering matters including ecology, birdlife, landscape, traffic and waste management. Royal Dornoch says it has also held initial talks with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and NatureScot.
“With the clubhouse up and running and proving immensely popular with our members and visiting golfers, our focus is turning to the project we mapped out last year,” said Royal Dornoch general manager Neil Hampton. “However, we are very much at the early stages of the planning process with Highland Council and there is no specific timetable in mind for the new course and additional facilities.”
The club’s stated aim is to create more capacity around a Championship Course for which advance demand has remained high since its 2022 full tee sheet. Hampton said a further course and an improved Struie could reduce pressure on the better-known layout while giving Highlands-bound visitors a broader choice of golf.
Building on the Struie’s recent changes
The Struie is already undergoing gradual change. A 175-yard par-three ninth hole, designed by Tom Mackenzie of Mackenzie and Ebert, was added beside the Dornoch Firth; the hole faces south-east towards the firth and is guarded by front bunkers. NEW STRUIE HOLE BEDS-IN NICELY – Royal Dornoch
For travelling golfers, that is an important part of the wider proposition: the Struie is not simply an overflow course. Its tighter fairways, smaller greens and the meandering Dornoch Burn give it a character distinct from the Championship Course, according to the club. The Struie Course
“The provision of a new championship-standard course and improvements to the Struie will also help ease pressure on the Championship Course, which has been chronically oversubscribed in recent years,” Hampton said.
Hampton added that the plans could support local accommodation, restaurants, transport operators and retailers by encouraging visiting golfers to spend longer in the area. For now, though, the project remains a proposal subject to environmental assessment and the planning process.
This article is based on a press release from Royal Dornoch Golf Club.