Big Hairy Coo

For its scenery alone, the Scottish Highlands is a bucket-list bullseye! And there’s whisky! Need I say more?

Royal Dornoch has long been the top of the Highland experience but it was a long way to go for a round or two of golf, almost a 4-hour drive from St Andrews.

In 2009, Mark Parsinen created the breathtaking Castle Stuart Golf Links from a few arable fields overlooking the Moray Firth, much as he had with the perennially popular Kingsbarns in the Kingdom of Fife.

Castle Stuart hosted the Scottish Open several times. The late Parsinen’s dream was to build another course alongside his Highland sanctum and now that hope has been realised.

Purchased by the Canadian ‘Cabot Collection’ in 2022, Castle Stuart was renamed ‘Cabot Highlands’ and later this year will open a second course, ‘Old Petty’, named after the nearby hamlet & church with the emblematic Highland Cow or ‘Hairy Coo’ as its trademark. Tom Doak is responsible for the design routing the course along a scenic river estuary with views up and down the Firth.

The Great North Road (A9) is increasingly a viable golf getaway. With Royal Dornoch, Trump’s two links near Aberdeen,

There are a host of other northern courses worth considering, such as Brora, Boat of Garten, Fortrose & Rosemarkie and the superb seaside links at Nairn.