Picture this: you've teed it up at Royal Dornoch on Monday, hit Tain on Tuesday, and you're staring at a Wednesday morning blank in the schedule between Embo and Golspie. Right now, that blank is a long lunch and a wander around Dunrobin. If the Coul Links planning saga ever ends in a "yes," that blank becomes a sixth round — a brand-new links sitting almost exactly in the gap most Dornoch-week itineraries already have.

That's a big "if." Supporter Ed Abel Smith has just gone public about eleven painful years waiting for a decision on the proposed course near Embo, and the 400 jobs he says are riding on it. We'll leave the politics to the planners. The question for visiting golfers and tour operators is simpler: where would Coul Links actually fit in the week, and what would it do to the drive?

The geographic gap Coul would fill

The classic Dornoch buddies trip already has a shape to it. Run it north to south along the A9 and the yardages tell the story:

Brora (~6,200 yds) → Golspie (~6,000 yds) → [Coul Links, Embo — proposed] → Royal Dornoch Championship (~6,700 yds) → Tain (~6,400 yds) → Castle Stuart (~6,500 yds) → Moray Old (~6,600 yds, down the A96)

Embo sits between Royal Dornoch and Golspie — roughly three miles north of Dornoch as the gull flies. That's why it's one of only five stops named on the speculative Royal Dornoch Gondola route Gary Bethune has been floating (Tain interchange → Embo → Dunrobin → Golspie → Brora). It's also why, in itinerary terms, a Coul Links round is almost frictionless: you barely have to redraw the map.

A "what if" 7-day itinerary with Coul in the mix

Using the same A9/A96 logic we applied to Moray's Old Course back in March, here's how a six-course Highland links week could look once Coul is open. Base yourself in Dornoch town the whole week — no hotel-hopping.

• Day 1 (Sun): Fly into Inverness. Easy loosener at Castle Stuart (~6,500 yds) on the way north. A9 drive to Dornoch: ~45 minutes.
• Day 2 (Mon): Royal Dornoch Championship (~6,700 yds). Walk to dinner.
• Day 3 (Tue): Tain (~6,400 yds), 15 minutes south on the A9. Quick afternoon at Glenmorangie next door.
• Day 4 (Wed): Coul Links, Embo — five-minute drive from Dornoch. This is the round that currently doesn't exist. You'd be back at the hotel for lunch.
• Day 5 (Thu): Push north. Golspie (~6,000 yds) in the morning, Brora (~6,200 yds) in the afternoon. Both ~30–40 minutes up the A9.
• Day 6 (Fri): Down the A96 detour day to Moray Old (~6,600 yds) at Lossiemouth. Long but rewarding.
• Day 7 (Sat): Royal Dornoch second loop or the Struie. Fly home Sunday from Inverness.

Six links courses, one base, no rebooking. That Wednesday slot is the unlock — most operators currently sell it as a "rest day" or pad it with a non-links round further afield.

The A9 reality check

None of this works if you can't get there. The 2026 season is already strained by a 50-mile A9 diversion near Dornoch, and adding a major new course at Embo would obviously pile more traffic onto a road that's wheezing. Two things soften the blow for trip planners:

One, Coul sits closer to Dornoch than any other course on the circuit. If you're already based in town, your Wednesday commute is five minutes of B-road, not an A9 slog. Coul actually reduces A9 mileage on a six-course week compared with substituting a further-flung round.

Two, the Far North Line stops at Dornoch-adjacent halts, and Embo is within a sensible shuttle hop. A future park-and-ride or rail-shuttle play here is more realistic than at most courses on the list — and it's exactly the kind of node the proposed Royal Dornoch Gondola anticipates serving.

What we still don't know

Plenty. The 400-jobs figure needs unpacking (seasonal vs. year-round, construction vs. operational). The current design team and final yardage have shifted over eleven years. The dune SSSI status that sank the first application hasn't gone away. And "approved" doesn't mean "open" — even a green light this year likely means tee times no earlier than 2028.

But for tour operators sketching out 2028 and beyond, and for buddies-trip captains who already feel the Dornoch week has one round too few, Coul Links is worth keeping a placeholder for. It's the missing node — geographically, logistically, and on the wishlist.

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We'll keep tracking the Coul Links decision and what it means for your Highland itinerary. Enjoyed this? Subscribe for updates — we'll ping you the moment the planners actually planet.