Wick

Wick Golf Club was formed back in 1870 and the club’s golf course is the most northerly on the east coast of Scotland. The club told us that John Sutherland (secretary at Royal Dornoch for over fifty years) designed their old-fashioned links, Sutherland also set out the original private course at Skibo Castle for owner Andrew Carnegie.

The course epitomises all you could ask for in a classic links course, with nine holes out along the coast to where the Loch of Wester enters the North Sea then nine holes back beside the sand dunes, with firm and fast fairways, well-positioned bunkers and smooth rolling greens.

At the end of the 1990s, former Club Captain John Hunter proposed a number of course modifications which were endorsed by Ronan Rafferty and these have brought the overall yardage up to 6,123 yards. Hole 2 (now a par three) used to play as a par four and hole 3 (currently a par five) was previously configured as a par four. Similarly, on the back nine, holes 16 and 17 (now par fours) were formerly designated as a par three and par five.

As Ronan Rafferty confirmed to us: “The 9th green was rebuilt and the hole made slightly longer. The 13th was also changed, making it longer to. Several new tees were also added, giving more 'scenic' views across the dunes and the sea on the back nine. All in all, it’s a beautiful old traditional links that’s well worth the visit.”

George Peper and Malcolm Campbell omitted Wick from their title, True LInks, commenting as follows: "Occasionally a course that was born as a links loses its links character because of a change in its environment. One example is Wick, in Scotland's Highlands, where meadow grass has been allowed to encroach over the years, with the result that the fairways no longer run hard and fast as a proper links should."