Overview
The Highlands circuit is for groups who want to go north. Royal Dornoch is one of the top five courses in the world, and it sits in a small town two hours above Inverness. Castle Stuart hosted the Scottish Open four times. Nairn is a proper championship links. Five days in the Highlands, where the days are long and the courses are empty.
Day 1: Arrival & Inverness
Fly into Inverness. The city is small, the welcome is large. An evening walk along the river, a good dinner, an early start tomorrow.
Day 2: Nairn Golf Club
20 minutes from Inverness, on the Moray coast. Nairn is a proper championship links — it hosted the Curtis Cup in 2012. Traditional, demanding, and overlooked by those in a hurry to get to Dornoch.
Day 3: Castle Stuart Golf Links
Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse designed it to host the Scottish Open, and it did — four times. Spectacular cliff-top holes, fast greens, and views across the Moray Firth that make concentration difficult.
Day 4: Royal Dornoch Golf Club
The drive north from Inverness takes 75 minutes. It is worth every minute. Royal Dornoch is consistently ranked in the top five courses in the world — a true links built into natural duneland above the Dornoch Firth. Tom Watson called it his favourite course.
Day 5: Departure
Fly from Inverness or drive south. The Highlands have a way of making the south feel crowded.