World famous Scots golf club buys 50 acres of land for potential new course on back of £13.9million revamp
ROYAL TRANSFORMATION World famous Scots golf club buys 50 acres of land for potential new course on back of £13.9million revamp
IT's one of the most storied golf clubs in the world but for decades it was somewhat held back the size of it clubhouse.
Now as completion of a new £13.9 pavilion nears, plans have been unveiled for not one but potentially TWO new courses on the property.
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Royal Dornoch Golf club is one of Scotland's top venues
Credit: Getty - Contributor
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A new clubhouse is scheduled to be completed this summer
Credit: KEPPIE DEISGN
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The club purchased 50 acres of adjacent farmland last year with plans to expand
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Another angle of the clubhouse
Credit: KEPPIE DESIGN
Royal Dornoch is a pilgrimage destination for golfers across the globe and is one of five Scottish courses that feature in the UK top 10.
And last year it was voted the second best course in the world.
However, its somewhat remote location in the Highlands of Scotland and its small clubhouse mean it has never hosted a major professional tournament.
But a new building is scheduled to be finished by the end of June and late last year the club purchased 50 acres of adjacent farmland with a view to constructing new holes on the property.
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Further details of those plans have now surfaced with Royal Dornoch teaming up with an international design firm to work on the land.
The US-based King Collins Dormer Golf Course Design (KCD) has come up with a masterplan that includes the potential creation of a par-3 course and improvements to the existing holes at the famous links venue.
Royal Dornoch's Championship course is the one that takes most of the acclaim but it has another 18-hole course, the Struie, as part of its offering.
The new land is adjacent to the Struie course and KDC has been invited to rework some of the holes there.
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On top of that, they are looking to potentially add new ones from within the new parcel of land - either for the Struie course or the new short course.
It will put the Highlands club in the position to offer three courses for visitors in the future.
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Royal Dornoch general manager Neil Hampton said: 'These are exciting times for everyone connected with Royal Dornoch and with the clubhouse on target to welcome golfers from around the world next season, our thoughts are already turning to the next project.
'Usually, the opening of a new clubhouse which has been mooted for 30 years or more would mark the end of the journey for any golf club but for Royal Dornoch it is about what the next step is going to be.
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'The investment being made will pave the way for even greater economic and employment benefits for the wider community and, hopefully, there will be more good news to come as and when the Coul Links project gets the green light from the Scottish Government.
'Golf has long been the key economic driver in this part of the country and additional, high quality, eco-friendly championship courses created by highly regarded designers can only enhance our reputation as a golfing destination and encourage visitors to extend their stay in the Highlands.
'It is early days in the process, but the nine panel members were unanimous in selecting KCD as the preferred architects we will be working with in the years ahead.
'KCD have also been invited to create new holes for the Struie Course which will complement those being preserved on the existing course.
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'The parcel of land we have secured provides scope for us to offer three fine courses at Royal Dornoch in the future.'
Hampton revealed that they had multiple offers
Hampton added: 'We were very impressed with all the golf course architects who pitched to us, and we are lucky that so many highly respected players in the industry were eager to be involved with Royal Dornoch.
'But the KCD team's imaginative concept and passion for Royal Dornoch and using the land at our disposal in a different way, captured our imagination.'
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Next in the pipeline is a driving range and a new putting green.
And the club has insisted the Struie will remain open as an 18-hole course regardless of whatever changes are being made as the transformation takes place.
Hampton said: 'They will be very much hands-on from start to finish, taking the project from the drawing board to the construction phase and completion.
'We are at the early stages of the process and detailed plans and costings will be put before the membership further down the line for their approval.
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'Whatever the final lay-out is for the new course, the Struie must be available as an 18-hole course for members and visitors throughout the construction phase.
'A driving range has long been on the members' wish list but working towards a new clubhouse always assumed priority status.
'With everything moving along smoothly on that front the time is right to broaden our horizons.
'Now we can look confidently towards leaving an even more impressive legacy that will be embraced by future generations golfing at Royal Dornoch.'
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The layout of the Struie course at the moment
Credit: Alamy
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Royal Dornoch bosses with members of the King Collins Dormer design team
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