lots of things from 36 last week with winter prevailing wind (NE)
-1st tee adjacent to clubhouse with drive over the public beach access road, easy birdie hole
-2nd hole ong par 3 great infinity green, and first of many turtle back greens (taught Donald Ross) easy double
-3-5 fun par 4's lined by bloomimg gorse, views of the beach, yes!
-6th strategic short par 3, don't miss left
-7th redoing it with an infinity fairway and green, yes!
views of Lord Sutherland Monument in the distance
-8th blind landing zone over the hill, to be lengthened with new tee, fun
-9th straight par 5 along the ocean, sweet
-10th short par 3 surrounded by bunkers, nice
-11th longish par 4 along the beach
-12th reachable dogleg left par 5 along the beach
-13th shortish par 3, great hole, don't be short
-14th need a great drive and a great 2nd shot to this narrow green...birdied the 2nd round
-15th another beautiful oceanside par 4
-16th don't hit a draw, hit a fade off the tee here unless you hit it along way, old quarry on left of landing zone
-17th great blind tee shot over a ridge, stay left a bit as the fairway can run out, fun!
-18th, back to the clubhouse with a raised green over a ditch
great golf, no rush in May, 3:20 each 18 for a 2 ball with a non-member tee time
just missed seeing DT, next time for sure
https://www.provisualizer.com/courses/royaldornoch.php (https://www.provisualizer.com/courses/royaldornoch.php)
cheers
-14th need a great drive and a great 2nd shot to this narrow green...birdied the 2nd round
great golf, no rush in May, 3:20 each 18 for a 2 ball with a non-member tee time
just missed seeing DT, next time for sure
https://www.provisualizer.com/courses/royaldornoch.php (https://www.provisualizer.com/courses/royaldornoch.php)
cheers
Gray,
You birdied 14!!
David would have owed you dinner (and champagne?) had he been there and issued his usual challenge (par) and if it had been your first time playing it.
Can hardly wait to be there June 16-20.
John
Is it just me or is there a similar feel between RD and Pinehurst #2 - did Ross either consciously or unconsciously use some features from RD in designing #2?
Is it just me or is there a similar feel between RD and Pinehurst #2 - did Ross either consciously or unconsciously use some features from RD in designing #2?
You will pay for missing greens wide left or right on your approach shots, more so on those two courses than almost any other in the world . . .
the linkage of Royal Dornoch, Donald Ross and his design concepts particularly at P #2 are irrefutable and undeniable
given that Ross had nothing to do with RD except learn from it, it makes sense that it is a source of inspiration rather than a direct product of Ross' work. thus the point TD makes is so boring about the lack of similarity between P2 and RD
one in the sand hills and pine trees of Pinehurst and one on the beach in the Scottish Highlands, LOL
"I don't really believe anyone would make that connection if it wasn't so widely known that Ross is from Dornoch. You will pay for missing greens wide left or right on your approach shots, more so on those two courses than almost any other in the world . . . but they don't look much alike."[/font][/color]
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[/size]always needing to be the smartest person, yawn [/color] ??? ??? ??? come on man
cheers[/size][/size]
Dornoch is easily my favorite course in the world. There were only two holes that I thought were sort of pedestrian. The 7th wasn’t bad, but it was certainly a notch below the rest. And now it’s been redesigned. And 18 wasn’t much of a finisher, but the green is spectacular. Hitting into that green late in the day with the sunset highlighting all of the ridges and valleys around the putting surface, with the clubhouse glowing behind it, is an unforgettable experience.
Isn’t there a golf-cliche about the 170 yd-ish 2nd hole at RDGC with its steep sided raised narrow green being a great par-4 and that the best tee shot is usually a lay-up?
Atb
As for the topic of greatness, it is personal and ephemeral. Dornoch's only weakness to me is the fact that it is nowhere nearly as great as it used to be...... :'(
Rich
Dornoch's only weakness to me is the fact that it is nowhere nearly as great as it used to be...... :'(I kind of think the same about a whole bunch of courses in the North or NE of Scotland before they were 'discovered'. Perhaps back in the days when they had less money, less players and not such manicured levels of conditioning.
Mark
As a gross generalisation, I think that most links tend to have greens a lot more at grade than you get at RDGC. I've always imagined that had a bearing on Ross and his design and in some respects wondered if that is why Americans like RDGC so much ie. RDGC's influence on Ross and his subsequent influence on US golf design.
Niall
Tom
Don't you know those greens have been there since 1616 ! ;D
Yes, even as I typed that post I did wonder if what was there pre Ross and George Duncan had quite as many plateaus. In mitigation, Dornoch was a big favourite of JH Taylor back in the day and he was very fond of his pitch shots so figured there might have been. A bit tenuous I know. Hopefully Rich will pitch in and let us know.
Niall
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Niall
As far as I know, roughly 9 of the current 18 greens on the Big Course were built by Mother Nature and found by the locals and later on by OTM (before DR flitted to the Colonies in 1899), specifically:
3, 4, 5, 11 (which was a short hole played from today's 6th tee), 13 (moved on and off the rota several times, surely including todays green, and probably seen and played by DR prior to the the 20th C), 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Most were tinkered with over the past 120 years, and continue to be so now. The best source for these are John MacLeod's history, published in 2000 and highly recommended to the golf history afficionado and I think it can still be bought at the RDGC clubhouse.
Rich
David
I don't really get the 2nd and 6th are alike chat. Both are relatively penal if you miss them on either side (as most par 3's tend to be) but you are left with different challenges in each case provided you find your ball. The 10th and 13th aren't that short for us moderate hitters and the 10th can be damn hard to hold unless you are a big hitter who can go in with a short club or alternatively adept at jumping the fronting bunker. That's my (limited) experience anyway. Probably the worst hole on the course for me. The 13th I actually think is pretty good if fairly conventional compared to the other par 3's.
As for the 8th and 17th playing the same, I think you are completely overlooking the completely different green complexes.
Niall
I understand David's point entirely as it is something that I have pointed out in the past. The second is a great hole and the sixth is pretty good too though I think it would be improved if one of the left hand bunkers were removed and the slope on the left allowed the ball to descend to greenside. Both however require the same club and both are very much a don't miss the green unless it is short type of hole.
Cypress Point is my favorite course. I could fill a couple pages noting its shortcomings.
Dornoch requires good golf shots at each hole, enough said
Virtually every shot on every hole requires that you take the proper line for the weather conditions on the day (mainly wind). In many cases a five yard miss can cost you a stroke.
Dornoch requires good golf shots at each hole, enough said
"enough said" - is there any other phrase that is as irritating or patronising as that, particularly on a Discussion Board !
Anyway William, how about talking us through courses that require bad shots at each hole.
Niall
William
It looks like you posted in a hurry so did you really mean to say "courses where bad shots are required too" ? I don't know of any such courses but on most courses, including Dornoch, you can get away with a bad shot in a lot of places. Is that what you meant ?
Niall
William
It looks like you posted in a hurry so did you really mean to say "courses where bad shots are required too" ? I don't know of any such courses but on most courses, including Dornoch, you can get away with a bad shot in a lot of places. Is that what you meant ?
Niall
is it Niall or something that begins with an R?
no rush (but thanks for handicapping me again) and I meant what I typed.
are you serious, no sense of humor :(
happiness comes from within and before you type on any blog
if you aren't having fun, do something else
hope you are well ???
Virtually every shot on every hole requires that you take the proper line for the weather conditions on the day (mainly wind). In many cases a five yard miss can cost you a stroke.
Does not this describe the very opposite of classical links golf? Defined shots and lack of options. Not that I think this is a good description of Dornoch. I would agree with Niall in that the tee shot is not very important other to keep it on the short stuff.
John
I think, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that the essence of links golf or golf on any hard running course is the need to judge and control the way the ball will react on landing on the ground which is obviously much harder to do than on a soft inland course. That's what you are basically saying I think. However RDGC, while a very good golf course, IMO isn't really the best example of this. There are too many plateau greens that almost mandate a lofted shot. Not only that they tend to be partially blind.
Niall
I'd play RD 7 or 8 times out of 10 with TOC as the other option.Me too!!! ;)
Sean
I couldn't put a number on it but for me, and it's purely subjective, it's a definite minus for the course. Not that having a carry/aerial shot is hugely bad in itself but for me at Dornoch it is overdone and in some instances not done very well. Variety counts for a lot and I feel a lot of the time you are having to pitch up at RDGC.
Niall
Niall -
The only holes at Dornoch where one cannot hit a run-up shot on to the green are the short par-4 fifth and the par-3 tenth and thirteenth.
DT