Portmahomack - Tarbat

A 9-hole layout was in play at Portmahomack in 1894 but it took another fifteen years until Tarbat Golf Club was established at nearby Seafield on a site identified by John Sutherland, the secretary of Royal Dornoch, and a solicitor from Tain named W.J. Munro.

After opening remarks from the Rev. Donald Macleod, the minister of Tarbat, the first tee shot on this new 7-hole course was played on 17th June 1909 by a Mr Gilroy from Edinburgh, who was a patron of the club and a regular summer visitor.

Over the years, the club has managed to purchase the grounds on which the course is laid out. Glebe-land to the southwest of the property was leased from the Church of Scotland for eighty years until it was eventually sold to the club in 1991.

Land in the central section of the course was rented from several different owners before it was acquired from the Department of Agriculture in 1977 and Bindal land to the east of the other two compartments (leased after the club was formed to add another two holes) came to the club in three stages.

In 1983, a triangle of Bindal land was bought from the Gordon family to allow the building of a new clubhouse. Land already leased by the club was obtained four years later then a further L-shaped 12 acres were purchased to extend the course south towards Ballone Loch in 1990.

Today, the course extends to just over 2,450 yards from the regular tees for the nine holes, playing to a par of 34. There are no par five holes in play and only two par threes. From the back markers, there are two different sets of tees (white and blue) which stretch the course length to 5,188 yards for an 18-hole round.