One Of The World's Most Popular Golf Clubs Is Aiming To Take Things To A Whole New Level. Here's how...

When I heard about Royal Dornoch’s extensive (and expensive) plans for a new clubhouse two years ago, I wasn’t surprised, as the existing one, though homely in a way, had exceeded its sell-by date for a club whose stock has risen markedly over the last half century.

Influential visitors like Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson helped spread the word far and wide, particularly in America, about just how good this Highland links masterpiece in the home town of revered course designer, Donald Ross, really was.

But as the project neared completion in late 2025, you would have thought that would have been it for Royal Dornoch for the foreseeable future, especially as it came with a price tag just shy of £14 million. But nothing, it seems, could be further from the truth.

In May 2025, I received a press release detailing multi-million-pound plans for a third course to join the Championship links and Struie course, which grew to a full 18 in 1999, along with a par-3 course, driving range, short-game area and putting facilities plus further modifications to the Struie layout.

Given that Dornoch is still just a modest-sized, fairly remote Highland town, I decided to fly up and find out more from the club’s friendly general manager, Neil Hampton...

How long is it since Royal Dornoch was just a small Highlands golf club?

Just the 1970s. It’s always been a great course but we didn’t get a lot of people coming. The three things that really made a big difference were, first, the transportation links with the three bridges on the A9 – the Kessock Bridge in Inverness, the Cromarty Bridge and Dornoch Firth Bridge. It used to be two-and-a-half hours from Dornoch to Inverness; now it’s 50 minutes.

Then, in 1979, Ben Crenshaw came here and in 1981 Tom Watson, and both went away and talked very passionately and enthusiastically about how good Royal Dornoch was.

Finally, for me, golf on TV really got going because we got colour and suddenly there was more golf on TV and The Open started getting more air time.

Did the new clubhouse come in on budget?

Yes. It was meant to start pre-Covid and as a result of this delay, we actually changed a few things, mostly to make the interior much better.

Are any of the local members afraid that the club is going to lose its character?

That’s very much what we’ve addressed now with the interior. We had people say, ‘We don’t want to lose the atmosphere, we don’t want it to feel like just a new building – it has to feel like a club.’

The interior designers we took on for the second go made a much better job of it and people are saying, ‘Yes, that’s much more us.’

Having spent £14 million, most people would have thought that would be it for now, but apparently not?

Apparently not, no! We’ve been very good at looking after our cash. We had to borrow from the banks and it turns out that our business trading is very good and we’re not going to use all the money we borrowed.

So the bank said, ‘That’s fine – we’ll still give you all the money and you can use it for something else.’

That said, we always wanted to do what we are going to do next anyway, but in mid-2023, when we knew the clubhouse was going to go ahead, we did a survey asking the members what they would like to see next.

The two things that came out neck and neck and very much ahead of everything else were practice facilities and a better Struie course.

How did you decide on an architect for the project?

We went out to six different architects, who we chose, then three others read about it in the press and asked if they could have a go, so nine different architects gave us their ideas.

We gave them a plan of all the land we’ve got control of and said, ‘Let’s think about 50 years from now. We’ve got all this land – what potential golf facilities can we put in here that people will use?’

They all came and presented to us – two did it remotely – but King Collins Dormer (KCD) were a long way ahead of everyone else with their blue-sky thinking. We had nine on our club panel – a nice variety of people – and all nine unanimously said, ‘That’s the one.’

How did it go from just improving the Struie to a third golf course?

People don’t realise we have another 300 acres or so of land that we don’t use and let out for grazing. If you get to the 10th at the far end of the Struie and look back towards town, everything between the Struie and the town is ours.

Not all the architects saw the potential of that land, whereas KCD did. There were two others who had put a golf course in that area but not to the same standard.

KCD had the whole package of using a piece of land that was not currently used for golf, seeing something in it that could make a very attractive and playable course as well as using the other land in a more novel way to create par-3 courses, driving ranges, short-game areas – all these things.

What are the proposed changes to the Struie course?

What was the 7th hole running along the road with the 14th coming the other way, that’s where you would start and finish, with everything else going out from that point.

The Struie and new course will start and finish in the same place, while the existing 2nd, 3rd and 15th to 17th holes on the Struie are where the driving range will be.

Will the Struie have to go down to nine holes for a while?

No, the commitment we’ve made to the Struie members is that whatever happens, there will always be 18 holes available. We have a number of Struie members who are going to be Struie members for a long time because the upgrade process to full membership of the Championship course is very slow, so we have said there will always be 18 holes to play.

We have to work out what we’re going to do first – build the brand new course or upgrade the Struie holes? Do we keep the holes in play that are already there but add in the new Struie holes that KCD want to put in and bring them into play so we can build the driving range, and then the new course comes after that?

Many people have different ideas about what is best and what should come first.

What is the timescale for completion?

There is no timescale. It’s a question of, ‘This is what we are going to do and it will take as long as it takes.’ It all depends on finance because whatever land is being used for golf at the moment, we can just rejig that.

But the piece of land where the new course would go is virgin land so we need to get planning permission from what we understand. We don’t see any obstacles and the advice we have been given is that there shouldn’t be.

We understand the process will take about a year, which would take us to summer 2026 and we can then decide which one comes first. We can work out how much it’s going to cost and, from that, when we are going to start.

Do you hope to see it all through as manager?

In 2027, we’re going to be 150 years old so we’ve got some nice celebrations planned for that. And in 2028, we’ve been given the Curtis Cup.

At the end of 2028, I’d like to think we’d got these new facilities started – maybe some finished – and that we’ve done the 150th celebrations and the Curtis Cup. I’ve said to a lot of people that is when I think I’d like to take a step back.

A close neighbour’s perspective

Phil Scott, managing director of the Links House hotel right next door to Royal Dornoch shares his thoughts on the new clubhouse and future plans

“It’s great. It provides more incentive for people to come and use Dornoch in the north of Scotland as a destination for golf. As much as I’m an advocate for hospitality up here, I think I’m becoming more of an advocate for golf and feel I want to put my efforts in to that as well.

“I think they’ve done a great job with the new clubhouse and it’s going to be a statement piece that is a legacy for the club and a great place for people to come and spend time. I think it’s possibly a new chapter for the club or a new volume in its encyclopaedia.

“As for our occupancy rates here, I think they’ll probably stay the same with the new clubhouse, but if or when the other courses come on line [Coul Links is another proposed new course in the area] that’s when there will most definitely be a difference.

"There are only so many tee-times available for visitors, but when that new course is ready and people are coming to play the Championship course and staying an extra night to play that new course, they’re going to be staying in Dornoch. A rising tide raises all ships. That’s the way it has to be looked at.

“I’d love to see Coul Links happen and let’s not forget Royal Dornoch still needs planning permission for its third course. If they could position that as another championship course, which I believe Coul Links would also be, that’s when we provide an opportunity for people to have a destination of golf in the north Highlands.

“People often say to me that Dornoch is like a small St Andrews. No, we’re Dornoch. We have our own charm, own product, own delivery, own feeling. And it’s like catching air – it’s intangible.”