Royal Dornoch Golf Club, Dornoch, Scotland

We could not conceive of visiting Scotland without playing our favorite course in Britain, the Royal Dornoch Golf Club. The original home of the raised green design, this is the place where the great Donald Ross learned his craft. Dornoch's upside-down saucer greens, always firm and incredibly fast for a links course, are nearly impossible to hit. This glorious stretch of linksland hugging the sea is one of the most natural courses in the world. A perfect example is the 14th, cunningly named “Foxy,” slyly meandering through the dunes to one of the best raised green locations on earth, all with nary a single bunker to navigate. Our personal favorite is the 8th, at the far end of the course towards the village of Embo and distant Dunrobin Castle, where you can lay up to the crest of the hill and have a longer approach at a better angle, or blast a driver blindly over it for a shorter and trickier approach. Dornoch has so much atmosphere, from the 14th century cathedral to the bar at the Dornoch Castle Hotel, once the local court where scores of people were sent to death. The town is said to be haunted by the last witch in Scotland, Janet Horne, burned at the stake in 1722 on the evidence that two of her fingers were joined. A stone in the greenskeepers’ backyard, called “The Witch’s Stone,” marks the spot! How special is Dornoch? Just ask Tom Watson, who called it the most fun he has ever had playing golf. We can’t say it any better than that!