You've already booked Royal Dornoch. Brora and Golspie are pencilled in. Tain's in there somewhere too. So why would you burn a morning driving an hour and a half down the A96 to Lossiemouth? Because Golf Digest just reminded the world that the Old Course at Moray is the longer, meatier cousin of the Highland gems you came for — and for the long hitters in your group, it might be the round of the trip.

The Golf Digest nudge

In its rundown of the best golf courses in Scotland, Golf Digest spotlights Moray's Old Course as a stretched-out alternative to Brora and Golspie — same coastline, same firm turf, more yardage to chew through. That's a useful flag for North American buddies trips, where at least one player in every foursome wants a course that doesn't let his driver collect dust.

Our take: don't swap Brora or Golspie out. Add Moray in. Here's how to fit it into a week based out of Dornoch without blowing up the schedule.

The Highland-to-Moray week, day by day

Fly into Inverness, pick up the rental, and head north on the A9. Base yourself in or around Dornoch for six nights — it keeps the laundry in one place and puts every course within a sensible day's drive.

Quick yardage check (approx., white tees):
Royal Dornoch Championship — ~6,700 yds, par 70
Tain — ~6,400 yds, par 70
Golspie — ~6,000 yds, par 70
Brora — ~6,200 yds, par 70
Moray Old — ~6,600 yds, par 71
Castle Stuart — ~6,500 yds, par 72

On paper, Moray sits closer to Royal Dornoch in length than to Brora and Golspie — which is exactly Golf Digest's point. For a group with a couple of low-handicap bombers, that extra 400–600 yards over Golspie matters.

A sample seven-day itinerary

• Day 1 — Arrival. Land at Inverness, drive ~45 min north to Dornoch. Loosen up with nine holes at Royal Dornoch's Struie course or a walk on the beach.
• Day 2 — Tain. 20 minutes south of Dornoch. Old Tom Morris bones, a friendly warm-up before the heavyweight rounds. Green fees in the £80–£110 range depending on season.
• Day 3 — Royal Dornoch (Championship). The main event. Book months ahead. Walk it. Take a caddie.
• Day 4 — Golspie + Brora double. 25 and 35 minutes north respectively. Golspie in the morning (heath, links, parkland in one round), Brora in the afternoon — James Braid, electric fences, sheep on the fairway, all of it. Combined green fees usually land under £200.
• Day 5 — Moray Old Course, Lossiemouth. The detour. Roughly 1 hr 40 min from Dornoch via the A9 and A96, through Nairn and Forres. Old Tom Morris again, laid out in 1889, with the 18th finishing under the clubhouse window like a proper old-school links. Green fees typically £90–£130 in shoulder season. Stop in Forres or Findhorn on the way back for dinner.
• Day 6 — Castle Stuart. 50 minutes south toward Inverness. Cinematic, modern, photogenic — the antidote to four days of traditional links.
• Day 7 — Royal Dornoch (again) or fly out. If your group has the legs, replay Dornoch. If not, drive back to Inverness airport with a story for every hole.

When Moray's extra length actually pays off

Be honest about your group before you commit the tee time. Moray Old rewards:

• Long, straight drivers. The fairways are generous enough that a 280-yard tee shot finds short grass more often than at Brora, where bunkers and gorse pinch you earlier.
• Players who like a finishing stretch with teeth. The closing holes at Moray have been chewing up scorecards for 130-odd years.
• Groups already doing a Speyside whisky day. If half the trip is golf and half is distilleries, Moray slots neatly into a Glenfiddich/Macallan/Speyside loop in a way Brora simply doesn't.

If your group is mid-to-high handicap and loves a quirky, short-ish links where you can hit driver-wedge and feel like a hero — stay north. Brora and Golspie will do more for your trip photos and your scorecard. Moray is the call when the group has at least two players who measure a course in driver carries.

The transit footnote

For now, the Dornoch-to-Moray run is a car trip. ScotRail's Far North Line will get you as far as Inverness but not east along the Moray coast in any sensible timeframe. The speculative Royal Dornoch Gondola — CEO Gary Bethune's proposed "steel below, cable above" cable network with a Tain interchange and stops at Embo, Dunrobin, Golspie and Brora — doesn't reach Lossiemouth either. So budget the petrol, split the driving, and enjoy the A96 in the rare summer evening light.

The takeaway

Golf Digest's Moray shout-out is a real one, but it's a complement to Brora and Golspie, not a replacement. Build your week around Dornoch, keep Brora and Golspie in the lineup, and use the A96 day to give your long hitters the round they've been hinting about since the flights got booked.

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