Royal Dornoch

Earlier this year, we had the privilege of working with King Collins Dormer on their pitch to develop a master plan for one of the world’s most prestigious golf clubs – Royal Dornoch.

To help convey their vision to the club, we created a short teaser animation and a series of renderings focused on the proposed 13th hole of the new course.

Working closely with Rob Collins and Trevor Dormer, we focused in particular on the bunker design, which takes inspiration from ‘heavy chunk’ Nordic sod walls. The intent was to create a natural, time-worn aesthetic, reminiscent of courses from the 1800s – as if the bunkers had always been part of the landscape.

One of the most interesting aspects of the process was how little we needed to manipulate the existing topography, with only small adjustments made to the LiDAR survey we were working from – for example, softening the 13th green to make it playable – reflecting KCD’s approach of working with the land.

Their proposal goes beyond just a new 18-hole course. It also includes a reimagining of the Struie Course, a new driving range, Par 3 course, short game area, two Himalayas putting courses, and a cleverly routed kids’ course using the target greens from the practice facility.