Highland Fling

8th Fairway at Royal Dornoch

Hi again,

I've been very lucky this year to be able to add an extra week to my April trip to St. Andrews, and play some golf in the magnificent Scottish Highlands.

Andy Murray's Post Box in Dunblane.

I drove across to Inverness from Belfast, stopping off at Dunblane to see Andy Murray's Gold Postbox !

The Kings at Gleneagles - in the snow

 It's impressive, but would be nice to have his name and Olympic achievements recorded on it.Good to see nevertheless.

I stopped off for lunch at Gleneagles, only to discover that the courses are closed and have been closed quite a lot since Christmas because of the snow. They still look magnificent though.

The road up to Inverness, once you pass Perth is sometimes one lane and can be quite taxing to drive, so I was very happy when I got to Culloden House, just outside Inverness. With it's sweeping driveways, it's a very imposing structure and looks exactly as I'd imagine a Highland Great House to be. It's very close to the site of the Battle of Culloden in 1746 and was requisitioned by Bonnie Prince Charlie for the days before the Battle.

Culloden House, near Inverness in the Highlands.

The interior doesn't disappoint and you'd expect to see Mr. Darcy ride up on his horse and come in for tea with Miss Bennett ! I spent a very enjoyable few days at Culloden House.

My first game was about an hour away, up across the Dornoch Firth at Royal Dornoch. I had an incredible day at Royal Dornoch. The strong Spring sunshine made for very pleasant conditions and there was virtually no one about ! millionaire's golf. Fantastic day, on what is truely one of the finest courses in the country if not the world.



Here's a little record of my day at Royal Dornoch and the next 2 at Castle Stuart.





Castle Stuart is a very new course, and has staged two successful Scottish Opens. It's a modern links on the shores of the Murray Firth. I had 2 wonderful days at Castle Stuart. More spring sunshine and absolutely magnificent views across the firth. 

The snow glistening on the mountains further north made a wonderful backdrop for the holes by the firth.

Wonderful golf course. Now that I've played it, I'm very much looking forward to watching the Scottish Open this year, and seeing how it should be played !