Royal Dornoch: Ross' roots run deep

Golf Digest, June, 1999 by John Huggan

The plaque, if and when it ever materializes, won't say much. Stuck on the side of an otherwise undistinguished house on St. Gilbert Street, close to the cathedral, the message will be a simple one. Something along the lines of "Donald Ross, World Famous Golf Architect, was born here 1872." There will be no museum, no shop for visiting pilgrims. Graceland, it won't be.

The Scots are like that sometimes. The saying, "You are never a hero in your hometown" applies to no one more than Ross. A figure of enormous importance during the growth of golf in the U.S., he remains, as least as far as his fellow Scots are concerned, nothing more than a dour-looking man in a bunnet (cap), staring dolefully out of old photographs.

"Most people in the town would have no idea who he was," claims Neil Simpson, manager of the Scottish National Golf Center near St. Andrews and a Dornoch native. "There is a picture of him in the Dornoch clubhouse, but little or no information on the hundreds of courses he was involved with. It really is a disgrace. One of the most famous men in American golf isn't recognized at all here. And there is no mention of his brother Alex, and he won the 1907 U.S. Open.

"There are only two things in Dornoch-the golf course and the [13th century] cathedral. That's really it. It's a sleepy little village. Come the winter, the place almost shuts down."

Golf was introduced to the town by priests who came from St. Andrews, at a time when the game was being played in only two or three other places. (The earliest written records of golf at Dornoch are from 1616.) Today, Dornoch is one of the world's best courses. Many have made the pilgrimage to play the links where Donald Ross honed his craft. Tom Watson went so far as to claim that he'd "never had so much fun playing golf" as he had at Dornoch.

It isn't hard to see the influence Dornoch had on Donald. Many of the greens are raised like inverted saucers, just as they are at Pinehurst. Nowhere is that more true than at the 445-yard 14th, "Foxy." Bunkerless, the hole is, according to Simpson, "nearly impossible." Then there are the four short holes, one of the toughest sets of par 3s in the world. Ask any local what is the hardest shot at Dornoch and the answer will invariably be "the second to the second." The second hole is 184 yards long.

Royal Dornoch green fee: [pound]55 ($90), [pound]65 ($110) on

Sundays. No visitors on Saturdays. Phone 011-44-1862-810219, or fax 011-44- 1862-810792, or E-mail: rdgc@pop.cali.co.uk. Web site: www.royaldornoch.com.