GOLFERS of Ross-shire and Sutherland are in for treats in 2012 when their three outstanding links courses situated at Brora, Tain and Royal Dornoch all host championship events.
First to arrive in May are the Scottish Ladies Golf Union with their Women's (closed) Championship event which will be played during the third week of May 2012, Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 at Tain Golf Club.
It is the first time this championship has come to the Old Tom Morris designed links but not a first visit from the Ladies Union. In 2005 the Scottish Girls championship was played at Tain but it arrived just one or two years too early for Tain's rising stars of that year, sisters Sammy and Julie Vass. 2012 may give both of them the opportunity to emulate the club's heroine of twenty- three years ago, Lindsey Anderson, who lost in the final of the championship at Lossiemouth in 1989.
In the same May week but starting a day later, May 16 to 18 the men's Senior Northern Counties Championship returns to the James Braid links of Brora where the host club will be hoping to repeat their winning form of 2006.
Next year the Scottish Men's Golf Union return to Royal Dornoch for a third time and from July 31 to August 4 the cream of Scotland's amateur golfers will do battle over the world renowned links.
Royal Dornoch previously hosted this championship in 1993, when the winner was Dean Robertson (Cochrane Castle), then in 2000 Steven O'Hara (Colville Park) triumphed.
The return of the men's championship to Dornoch has as it did twelve years ago causes some disruption to established local fixtures.
To avoid a clash Tain Golf Club have held over their highlight four-day tournament until week commencing Monday August 6 and the Carnegie Shield at Dornoch will not start until Sunday, August 19 ending on Saturday August 25.
Ignoring the clash with the Scottish Amateur, Brora Golf Club have stuck to their traditional end of July/August week to play their five day premier event for the Clynelish Salver. It will commence on Monday July 30 ending Friday, August 4. Brora will end the championship visits on Friday September 7, 2012 with the North District Senior championship for the Macallan Trophy.
STILL despondent at not regaining their place in Golf World's Top 100 UK golf course rankings Brora Golf Club can look forward to a 2012 year of bounteous till receipts after gaining a top ten place by National Club Golfer magazine in their recent review of 100 best value for money golf courses charging a visitor's green fee of under £50.
Brora's James Braid designed links golf course skirts Kintradwell Bay in the inner Moray Firth of Sutherland's East Coast and has changed very little from 1924.
The course received a ninth place in the review which is published in their February issue available now in clubhouses.
Brora is one of only three courses in Scotland to appear in the top ten, the two others rated on value are Boat of Garten in fourth position and Montrose number seven.
Yet even better news for the golfers who choose Brora is that last season's green fee of £45 which brought the club a record income of £120,000 has been retained for 2012.
The Boat of Garten green fee is £37 and Montrose £40.
On completion of the rankings which placed the Welsh club of Royal St Davids at number one with a green fee of £48 National Club Golfer's deputy editor, Mark Townsend raised Brora's profile even higher when he selected it as his favourite pick of the one hundred featured courses.
He wrote, "Picking just one course from the list was a genuine heartache but if the criterion was to take away a group for a great day then you would struggle to beat Brora.
"The Highlands is special for plenty of reasons but if we are concentrating on golf courses this Highland beauty has plenty to boast about. It has a gentle start, generous fairways throughout and is as soothing as anywhere you rarely make it look even slightly silly. Whatever the case a visit here is looked back upon as the day of days".
The magazine's editor, Dan Murphy as his favourite pick went for Tenby in Pembrokeshire which is ranked at number five.
Two season's ago Brora linked up with Golspie, Royal Dornoch and Tain to launch a Dornoch Firth Golf Pass which proved very successful the four clubs were nominated for a 2011 Highland's Tourism award.
The Golspie and Tain courses have also features in the value for money rankings, Tain at Number 15 with a £44 green fee and Golspie number 56 for £40. Royal Dornoch was omitted from this latest survey as it's championship course green fee has for some years exceeded the £50 upper limit but in a previous National Club Golfer survey carried out on courses with green fees under £80 the Dornoch championship links was rated first.
Other courses in the North who have been listed in the under £50 category include Fortrose and Rosemarkie (35) fee £38, Nairn Dunbar (39) fee £40 and Inverness (91) at £35 per round. The magazine lists Shiskine as best value for money at number twenty nine and a green fee of just £20.
It might just cost you that little bit more to get to Arran for the twelve holes on offer, but then if you have just come off the Wentworth course where you would have stumped out £360 last summer then the flight to Arran should not be too much of a worry.
