I suspect that even among the most intrepid TROON Magazine readers there are few who have felt a burning compulsion to venture as far north as Alaska to test their short game skills perhaps on the little nine-hole golf club on Kodiak Island and dodge the native bears in this sub-Arctic wilderness. I confess I have never felt the urge myself, although I am sure it would be a memorable experience.
Golf this far north on the 58th parallel, where Kodiak bears roam, is rare and has its limitations for climatic and no doubt sound personal safety considerations. But I am about to let you into a little secret. There is a point some distance further east along that northern 58th parallel where the golfing story is a very different one indeed; a spot where there also roam some large and hairy beasts, but where there exists a golfing Nirvana so sublime it will take your breath away.
Here in the far northeast corner of Scotland, along that same 58th parallel with the Arctic not so far over the horizon, lies the little town of Brora.
It has been said in the past that there were two really good reasons to travel to Brora; the first to visit the famous fishing tackle shop there and the second to visit the distillery that produces the fine Clynelish single malt whisky. But there has always been a third and for the discerning golfer the one most compelling; the beautiful links of the Brora Golf Club.
Save for the true cognoscenti, Brora is largely unsung, which is a pity for it exists as one of the purest examples of authentic links golf there is to be found anywhere on the planet. A classic links layout virtually unchanged since five-time Open Champion James Braid upgraded the course in 1924. Since then, it has remained under the radar partly because of its northerly situation and partly because of its near neighbour, the famous links of Royal Dornoch.
Brora lies an hour or so north of Inverness and only a dozen or so miles from Royal Dornoch on the shores of the Dornoch Firth. But despite the constant stream of visitors to Royal Dornoch, a preponderance being American, very few of them take the time to travel the extra few miles to Brora. They know not what they miss.
The great Australian Peter Thomson, also winner of five Open Championships was a great admirer of Brora. He admitted to me on more than one occasion that it was one of his very favourite golf courses — anywhere — and he was a regular visitor with his lovely wife Mary until his death in 2018. Thomson was a great admirer of James Braid not only as a fellow five-time Open Champion but also for his work as a golf course architect. Braid left his imprint on more than 400 golf courses in his long career with his work at Brora among his best.
When he was called in to make the changes to the original layout, Braid took the train north from London and walked the course with Mr A.W. Sutherland, a member of the golf club committee. He returned south on the next train and sent a fee note for his trouble for £25 ($33) plus his expenses. The resulting upgrade was the best investment the Brora Golf Club ever made after it was founded in 1891 when Old Tom Morris travelled not quite as far from St Andrews to lay out the original few holes.
Peter Thomson fell in love with Brora after his first visit when he turned up unannounced to play in the club’s annual open mixed foursomes tournament. It was typical of this remarkable man that he arrived at the pro shop after the long journey from Melbourne, Australia, and paid his entry money without anyone realising who he was. He had come to play recreational golf with his wife, and it was the start of a long love affair with this remote but totally endearing golf course.
Thomson believed Brora to be a classic example of pure links golf routed as it is through the natural humps and hollows of the dunes in classic nine-out and nine-back format. The Brora Golf Club made Peter Thomson an honorary member in 2001, and he was later joined on the honorary members’ board by another five-time Open Champion, Tom Watson, in 2018. Two of the great masters and lovers of traditional links golf.
And Brora’s indigenous hairy beasts? Not Kodiak bears but magnificent Highland cattle that still graze the course and where single wire electrified fences around all the greens keep them off the playing surfaces. With their massive horns and shaggy coats, they are intimidating fairway companions but as docile as a well-fed family cat.
Story by Malcolm Campbell
