Tom Watson said Royal Dornoch was the most fun he ever had on a golf course. Herbert Warren Wind said no golfer has completed his education until he's played it. Andrew Carnegie said if there's a heaven on earth it's here. I played Royal Dornoch toward the end of our Highlands trip and my honest reaction was simpler than any of those. Good course. I enjoyed it. I don't feel qualified to rank it among the great spiritual experiences of my golfing life the way the Americans see

Let me get straight to my conclusion. After playing both courses at Cabot Highlands on the same day in the first week of September 2025, Old Petty in the morning and Castle Stuart in the afternoon, my honest verdict is that Castle Stuart is the better course. By a clear margin. Old Petty is excellent and Tom Doak has built something that will rise up the rankings as it matures, and I covered all of that in a separate post.

Booking Old Petty was one of those things I almost talked myself out of. The preview window only ran through August and September of 2025 and you had to commit to playing Castle Stuart the same day, walking only, £190 a round, and the trip up to Inverness from anywhere outside Scotland is not a casual undertaking. I sat on the booking page for about ten minutes telling myself I'd wait for the proper opening in May 2026. Then I clicked book. I'm glad I did.