The weather here in Bangor, Maine has improved and the sun is setting later everyday. Consequently, more activities both work and play, have occupied my time. So in the evening I’ve been either busy or tired and the result is my blogging has lagged behind. (How often do you get to write a sentence with two words with double g’s in it?) Back to RDGC.
The 4th, 5th and 6th holes at Dornoch all play along the slope of the raised beach. The fifth, much like the third, as a gaggle of bunkers down the right side and three bunkers right in front of the long narrow green. It’s only 353 yards but it’s one of my favorites on the course. Whinny Brae is the name of the par 3 sixth hole. Hook your shot left and your in the whins, go right and you're far below the green surface. You must climb to the raised beach to tee off on seven. It’s a straight away par 4 of 423 yards (yellow tee). The bunker on the front left of the green can be treacherous, trust me!
Eight plays out and off the raised beach back down to the lower level. At nine you turn and head for home on a par 5 with the North Sea at your left. A number of the inward holes play with ocean on your left, but some are separated from the water by grass covered dunes. Number 10 is a 145 yard par three with five bunkers fronting the green. Don’t be short. Eleven is a longish par four with a wide forgiving fairway. It is the last hole to play directly along the ocean until the tee box on 16.
Twelve is a challenging par five and thirteen an inviting par three. Then comes Foxy, the only hole on the course without a bunker, but it is still the second handicap (stroke index) hole because of the devilish raised green. Fifteen is a short par 4 with a massive mound in the middle of the fairway. If memory serves me correctly, it is where the slain Danes were buried after the battle in 1260 A.D. At 16 you tee off with the North Sea at your back and play uphill all the way, back on top of the raised beach. Seventeen is a bit like #8 in that you drive off the raise beach to the lower level. However, you must choose your line and club wisely lest you go through the fairway on this dogleg into the whins. The second shot is uphill over a patch of gorse to an immense undulating green. And finally Home, the eighteenth, gets you back to the clubhouse.
Don’t forget to go in and thank Andrew Skinner, the pro, for perhaps the most fun you’ve ever had on the golf course. Support his efforts by purchasing a towel, or hat or coffee mug. Then go upstairs to the lounge bar for a pint and a gaze upon the Carnegie Shield!
I was going to include some of my own photos here but instead I’ll just direct you to what looks to me like a newly redesigned website for the Royal Dornoch Golf Club.
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