IT has been dubbed the fairway to heaven guide as golfers at one of the world’s most prestigious courses tee up for spiritual advice from a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen.
Rev Susan Brown has written thought-provoking reflections for each of the 18 Championship Course holes at Royal Dornoch Golf Club in the Highlands to help inspire players and “exercise the body, mind and spirit”.
The popular 57-year-old, who married Madonna and Guy Ritchie in 2000 and baptised their son Rocco, walked the course at different times of the day to capture the unique feel of the stunning landscape to create the “Holy Round” to play her part in celebrations to mark 400 years of golf in the area.
Royal Dornoch Golf Club general manager Neil Hampton described the “inspiring and uplifting” reflections in the Champion Course guidebook as an “tremendous asset”.
Mrs Brown, minister of 13th century Dornoch Cathedral, said the thoughts, which are part advice on how to best tackle the links course, were designed to help quieten the minds of golfers and give them a sense of perspective on life.
She said: “Royal Dornoch is a stunning course and golf, for many people, is a spiritual experience.
“I went out at different times of the day and walked the course to get a sense of the uniqueness of each hole and then from what I saw, created a simple ‘thought’ for all 18 holes – plus another for the obligatory 19th which is the club house.
“The thoughts are not designed to provide people with the perfect excuse to go golfing instead of to worship, but offer an opportunity to help the game be a more complete experience that exercises body, mind and spirit.”
Mrs Brown said she believed that the Celtic notion of “thin” places, where the gap between heaven and earth seems to narrow, applied to Dornoch, a community that has been shaped by the twin influences of the Church and golf.
Royal Dornoch Golf Club has two courses and the Par 70 Championship Course was ranked number five in the world and number one in Scotland by Golf Digest 2016.
The glossy course guide entry for the first hole states “In the beginning… draw breath and enjoy the clean score sheet and all the possibilities that lie ahead.
“Choose now to take one step at a time and enjoy what that step holds.”
The entry for the sixth hole says: “Be warned! A bunker with a magnetic draw awaits you. Choose your club carefully and think of the choices you have made in life. You have to live with the consequences!!”
Mrs Brown, who has been a club member for nearly 20 years, said the Holy Round had been favourably received by golfers.
One man wrote to her: “Thank you so much for making my visit to Dornoch so memorable as I was so pleasantly surprised by your comments in the golf course guide which are so apt to the extent that I could relate perfectly, making my round even more pleasurable.”
Royal Dornoch Golf Club, which attracts around 12,000 visitors a year of which 50 per cent are from North America, is one of 37 golf courses in the UK that has a Royal Charter.
It was awarded the title in 1906 by King Edward VII.
The earliest concrete evidence of golf being played in the area can be traced back to 1616 but a journal written by St Andrews University student James Melville, dated 1574, recounts that Robert Stewart, Bishop of Caithness whose seat was at Dornoch Cathedral, was a keen golfer.
Mr Hampton said Church of Scotland ministers had a very long association with the club and former Moderator of the General Assembly and minister at Dornoch Cathedral, Very Rev Dr James Simpson, is a past captain.
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