Durness

Chapter 11 extract:  The fifth tee box is located back from the fourth green along a path almost parallel with the fairway.  The yellow and white tees are some distance apart but the route to the green, which looks deceptively close, is much more obvious from the yellow tees on the back nine.  From both approaches you are presented with a large hill covered in club-snatching, ball-hiding long grass – navigating your way around this over-size obstacle is the secret to a reasonable score, something I failed to achieve out and back.  Once around The Hill, which bears some resemblance to the 1965 Sidney Lumet film of the same name, it is plain sailing to the generous green; except, unlike the setting for the film, this is not Libya.  On the day I played the course it was a dreich day with hardly a whisper of wind and yet I suspect this is untypical.  The receptive greens and a ball that for good or bad stayed on its projected course made for enjoyable yet flattering golf.