Brora Golf Club

We played this course on a Saturday afternoon as part of the 2014 SES links golf-fest to the Scottish Highlands. We'd played Golspie in the morning and 36 at Royal Dornoch the day before, so we were starting to get warmed up.

Brora is probably the most northerly top class course on the British mainland, way up in the Scottish Highlands, 60 miles north of Inverness. It has been described as the most natural links in the world and that sounds about right to me.

You can see and hear the sea everywhere and views are truly spectacular, as is required for the very best golf in my opinion. It is always very windy here and the highlands air has a great feel to it. It is completely unmanufactured, with untamed land, wildly sloping fairways and sheep / cows that roam the course in places.

In our game every hole on the front 9 was into the wind and played very long. Even the big hitters were using woods and long irons on most par 4 approach shots. However, there is no better feeling in golf than hitting long irons into the wind on this kind of terrain.

The course is in excellent condition, though rugged rather than manicured. Some good strikes off the tee are needed to clear the rough and reach fairways, which are then quite wide. As for all courses in the region there are strong par 3s protected by deep bunkers. Greens roll very true but have subtle breaks that I found difficult to read.

The course has great traditions, being founded in 1891 and designed by James Braid. There's a nice clubhouse where you can get lunch and look at the sea, or at golfing exhibits about the club's history.

Visitors are made to feel very welcome at Brora, and there is none of the self importance you experience at some courses. Green fees are around £50 which I thought was excellent value for such beauty.

Having played it once it has become my all time favourite golf course. If you're ever in the region and you're a golfer, you absolutely have to play this one.