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Dunnet Bay Golf Club, Highland. (1921 - WW2)
Golf was played on the Dunnet Links as early as the 1880s.
The following is an extract from a report from the John o' Groat Journal Wednesday 10 June 1885; "THE WICK ANNUAL HOLIDAY - at Elgin there was a bowling match, at Thurso cricket matches, and at Dunnet a golf match."
The course had previously been used by the Thurso Golf Club from 1893 - 1920s (see separate article on this website for the early history of Thurso Golf Club.)
The Ordnance Survey Map below is from the 1900s and shows the Hotel and Golf Course.
O.S. Map Revised 1905; © Crown Copyright {year of publication 1907}.
In 1921 a group under the direction of Dr. McGregor, Castletown, met with the committee of the Thurso club to discuss the future of the Dunnet Links. An agreement was reached which led to the forming of the Dunnet Bay Golf Club.
Northern Ensign and Weekly Gazette Wednesday 27 September 1922. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
In 1925 the secretary at Dunnet Bay Golf Club, Caithness was A W Tulloch, Lisowen, Castletown. The professional was J L MacGregor and the green-keeper W Angus. A nine-hole course with a membership of 60. The professional course record was held by T Jamieson with a score of 74. Visitors’ fees were 5/- a month. The station at Thurso was 5 miles away. The Northern Sands Hotel is located on the A836, adjacent to the village church. It was originally called The Golf Links Hotel.
The sign in the field on the right of the picture below says Dunnet Bay Golf Course.
Two people pass Dunnet Bay golf course (to the right). A rare Valentines A3193 postcard Authors Collection
Above image courtesy of Frank Accleton golfonoldpicturepostcards.com
By 1928 membership had reduced to 50. The amateur course record was held by Dr J G Macgregor (score not recorded) Visitors’ fees were now 5/- a week, 10/- a month. Sunday play was not allowed.
From James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses by John F Moreton and Iain Cumming- "Walton Heath to Dunnet Head is over 600 miles, quite a journey in the cold of January 1933. James Braid was visiting two courses, Dunnet was the original Thurso course, joined in 1905 by another nine-hole course at Ormlie, nearer the town. Thurso continued with both courses until some time in the 1920s. "The Caithness Courier" seemingly fails to record Braid's visit at the time, but in April quotes an article from the "London Evening News" where the author unleashes a poetic panegyric, part of which is "Dunnet is set in in a lovely bay edged with a two or three mile sheet of shell-white sand. Here, in tiny Dunnet Braid has been making the perfect golf links". The context was a new owner of the Golf Links Hotel. The course was mainly a hotel amenity though locals with permission could play it. Braid apparently wanted to make it eighteen, but perhaps business sense prevailed."
Location of the Dunnet Bay course.
Grid reference ND22360,70665, co-ordinates 322360,970665.
Dunnet Bay Golf Club had disappeared by WW2.