Nairn Dunbar

Here you will find a 6,765-yard championship length layout that features a number of demanding two-shotters, a fine quartet of short holes and a strong collection of par fives including the excellent finisher.

Unsurprisingly The Club has hosted many national competitions over the years and will co-host the British Boys Amateur Championship in 2017.

Nairn Dunbar, named Golf Yearbook's Scottish Club of the Year 2015, attracts visitors from far and wide who head to the popular golf destination of The Highlands. Perhaps one of the best ways to play this excellent value-for-money venue is to buy a Moray Golf Pass or look at a Highland Golf Escapes ticket as these offer exceptional prices and include a number of courses. Another excellent way to play here is to enter one of its many annual open competitions. However you book your tee-time though you will get extremely good bang for your buck.

With regards to the course itself the opening eight holes at Nairn Dunbar are of a particularly high standard and serve up all the thrills and spills associated with true links golf; natural movement in the land, deep pot bunkers and some excellent green complexes housing plenty of undulations.

The green is brilliantly sited at the second hole where a deep sand pit guards the front-right of this partially hidden green whilst the long, thin and valley-shaped putting surface at the fifth is another early highlight. You will find the demanding third, a long one-shotter, and fourth, a mighty par four, in-between.

The good golf continues at the sixth as you play to a raised green before tackling the sweeping seventh to yet another fine green location. The opening stretch all culminates with the visually stunning par-three eighth which is necklaced with bunkers and features a sunken green located at the foot of some sand dunes.

As the round progresses the character of Nairn Dunbar changes slightly. The terrain is less linksy, save for the last, but the golf is no less testing and enjoyable. Indeed water, mainly in the form of ditches, makes an appearance on at least five holes on the inward half. It all adds up to a SSS that is two over the par of 72.

Holes 9, 10 and 11 are all very good with a more parkland feel as the turf is softer and trees become more prominent. The 9th is a particularly strong par five whilst the 174-yard 11th is especially good with a steep false-fronted green.

There are three par fives in the final six holes and with the longest stretching to only 529-yards they are all within range for longer hitters. The 18th, the shortest of the trio at just 499 yards, is the best of the lot and has a similar flavour to that of the opening eight holes; authentic links. A good drive is required to find the fairway but the hole comes alive as you play to the green. A long, angled and raised ridge must be negotiated in order to find the blind green that has the most movement of any of the putting surfaces at Nairn Dunbar.

In terms of both value for money and challenge Nairn Dunbar scores highly and I would wholeheartedly recommend anybody spending more than a couple of days in The Highlands to secure a tee-time at this impressive golf course.