Rebuilding one of golf’s finest links layouts
Eoin Riddell, course manager at Royal Dornoch, has worked alongside course architects Mackenzie and Ebert to rebuild one of the finest and oldest links courses in the world.
While Royal Dornoch, in the Scottish Highlands, is counting down to its 150th anniversary milestone in 2027, documented evidence exists of a local aristocrat, the 13th Earl of Sutherland, being invited to settle an account for golf clubs and balls as far back as 1616.
Only St Andrews, in 1552, and Leith, in 1593, have traced a mention of golf back further than the attractive cathedral town on the Dornoch Firth, 43 miles north of Inverness.
A rich history includes the imprint left by Old Tom Morris himself in the latter half of the 19th Century, with another legend of golf course design, Donald Ross, installed as greenkeeper and the club’s first professional before emigrating to the United States.
Custodians of the links have never shied away from enhancing land hailed, in 1630, as “the fairest and lairgest of any pairt of Scotland; they do surpass the fields of Montrose and St Andrews”.
But recent years have witnessed the most ambitious chain of modifications on the renowned Championship Course since the 1940s, when sketches provided by 1920 Open champion George Duncan paved the way to a course enjoyed by generations of members and international visitors.
Tom Mackenzie, founding director with acclaimed international golf course architects Mackenzie and Ebert, and long-serving course manager Eoin Riddell are eagerly anticipating the final piece in an ambitious jigsaw designed to preserve and enhance Royal Dornoch’s reputation as the preeminent example of the links golf genre.
Tom has enjoyed membership of the club since his parents retired to the town 40 years ago, with a spell as a greenkeeper under his belt, along with a season caddying on the European Tour, before going on to complete a degree in Landscape Architecture.
Neil Hampton, general manager at Royal Dornoch, admitted Tom, given his enduring ties to the club and town, was the natural sounding board when changes were being considered.
“Going back nearly 10 years or so we had a safety issue on the 3rd hole, with too many shots being hooked out of bounds, ending up in gardens beside the golf course and hitting roofs and tiles.
“It all came to a head when a ball missed a member’s daughter by a couple of feet.
“She was waving to him playing the 14th when suddenly there was a huge bang as a ball ricocheted off the oil tank a couple of feet from where she was standing. There was a genuine fear someone would get hurt.
“At that stage we brought Mackenzie and Ebert on board for their professional advice. Tom knows the course inside out and he has worked hand in glove with the very talented team we have here.
“Having agreed proposals to amend the 3rd, we asked him to undertake a full review of both courses, The Championship and The Struie.
“Tom came up with several recommendations. That paved the way for changes which were adopted following an AGM in 2016.
“A bunker was moved on the 1st and the tees on the 12th were relocated. Both were well-received. The major changes, however, were mapped out for the 7th and 8th holes.
“We are always mindful we are custodians of a classic golfing links rated among the finest in the world.
“But we firmly believe golf courses should evolve and the work was given the green light with the future in mind as much as the present.”
In 2020, following a delay triggered by the pandemic, Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion and Honorary Member of Royal Dornoch, was invited to officially open the new-look par 4 “Pier,” stretching 485 yards off the blue tee.
While enhancing one of the most photographed vistas in golf was a consideration, being asked to replicate precisely every nuance of the original green posed unprecedented challenges for Mackenzie and the Royal Dornoch greenkeeping team entrusted with the refinements.
“Trying to mirror the original 7th green was extraordinarily difficult,” confessed Tom, whose company's current ventures include a string of Open rota venues and others scattered around the globe.
“We have created a few greens which have been inspired by others - but I had never been asked to replicate an existing green on any of our other projects.
“I must admit I lost sleep over that one, knowing if we got the angle of the green design wrong there would be a major issue.
“Replicating the green was a deliberate decision to pay homage to the original and this is as close to an exact replica as we could possibly get.
“Eoin and the greenkeeping team have been fantastic. It was a real labour of love for them.
“They were constantly going back and forth between the old green, which was still being played, and the new green to double check all the measurements. It was time well spent.
“The challenge has been to improve these holes and enhance the overall experience of being at Royal Dornoch.”
Eoin, who has been in post for 37 years, admitted: “Taking on construction work on a course as iconic as Royal Dornoch is a rare opportunity.
“Like Tom, it has given me a few headaches and sleepless nights, but we are proud of what has been achieved so far.
“We completed the new 7th hole while golfers were still playing the old one.
“It took three weeks to get the shaping right for the green after working on a vast mound of soil. Very precise measurements were being followed, down to the last millimetre.
“First time visitors always reach for their cameras and phones for photographs on the 7th tee. But the views vanished until the second shot on the 8th. Now both holes are making the most of the fabulous views.”
Over the winter months, the focus of Tom, Eoin and his team has turned to completing major landscaping work on the 8th hole, Dunrobin.
Hundreds of tons of gorse and turf were stripped from the top half of the hole and removed to be recycled on the courses in years to come.
Where possible, soil has been taken from the site of a multi-use games facility being created for the local school.
The removal of swathes of gorse that had blocked out sweeping panoramic views, the construction of five new tees and a re-aligned fairway are all designed to encourage the hole to be played as envisaged more than 70 years ago.
“When I first played the Championship Course it was firmly in the Persimmon era. Technology has advanced so much,” said Tom. “Back then, it was difficult to drive over the brow of the hill. There was a decision to be made whether you wanted to stay on the top of the ridge with a clear view to the green or to face a long shot in from the bottom of the hill.
“Gradually it has been overwhelmed, with many players booming it down as far as possible. Unless you have a caddy or someone with local knowledge you have no idea that remaining on the upper level might be the better option. Traditionally, that’s not what that hole was all about.
“It has been a combination of making the most of the glorious position on the golf course and restoring the hole to the way it used to be in my memory, let alone back in the 1940s when it was built. The shot into the green, dicing with that wall of death and seeing where your ball ends up, is exciting. Playing from the bottom of the hill, you miss out on the drama and have no idea what awaits you when you walk up to the green.
“It is exciting but ultimately it is all about what everyone else thinks rather than what I think of the project. The ultimate compliment is that players returning think something is different but they're not quite sure what it is.
“It’s not about trying to make a statement. It is about making incremental improvements. Royal Dornoch is my spiritual home, without a shadow of a doubt. When something is emotionally close to your heart it brings a different set of responsibilities.”
The Championship and the Struie Courses hosted the R&A Women’s and Men’s Senior Amateur Championships in tandem for the first-time last summer and the club welcomes the Scottish Amateur Championship and the Vagliano and Junior Vagliano Trophies this year.
“The proposals were quite radical I suppose but the vast majority of our members embraced Tom’s vision,” recalled Neil.
“These are the biggest changes carried out on the Championship Course since the 1940s but the feedback we have enjoyed from members and visitors has been very positive.
“The 7th is certainly much-improved, and we are confident the 8th will also be enhanced by the changes being carried out over the winter.”
The Dornoch team, with Tom a regular visitor, have made excellent progress on the 8th, Dunrobin.
“The first task was getting the shape we wanted to make it look and play right,” said Tom. “It was pure gravel we were working with and that had to be covered with varying depths of sand, with a growing medium on top to allow the turf to thrive and to be able to look after it.”
The greenkeepers have added their skills set to ensure the projects have knitted together on time and to budget.
“We work very closely with Tom and his team. He has made regular visits to assess our progress,” said Eoin. “We were delighted to be given the responsibility of making the changes to holes seven and eight in-house. We took ownership and that meant the guys undergoing training on dumpers and excavators. They lapped it up.
“Unlike the 7th, the 8th has closed until next season. Five new tees are being constructed and a new fairway created down towards the ridge. It is the final piece in the overall jigsaw.
“The views have opened up towards 1,302-foot Ben Bhraggie and the fairytale Dunrobin Castle.
“Already they are truly spectacular, and now you see the waves crashing in off the Dornoch Firth when the wind gets up. You couldn’t see that before.
“The view from the top of the ridge will still be familiar to golfers but the outlook from further back was blocked previously by the gorse.
“Hopefully the changes will make golfers think on the tee. It will be a true risk and reward hole again. Do they really need to take a driver?
“The turf has been supplied by County Turf, who have dealt with clubs in this neck of the woods in the past. They know what is required for the climate here it has to blend with the existing fairway.
“The hole will be in play for the new season, although mats may initially be required to afford some protection. That will depend on the weather over the next few months.
“We are looking forward to seeing the finished article as much as any of the golfers making their way to Royal Dornoch this year.”
Eoin is on Twitter at @EoinRiddell
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