
Tain Golf Club
Here at Tain in 1890, Old Tom counselled just 15 holes. Although this was soon reduced to 12, four years on the full 18 was on offer.
Tain’s fortune is that so many of Tom Morris’ original holes survive – either wholly or in part and for this one must be grateful to Dornoch’s John Sutherland whose advice about course design and improvements were much sought-after locally.
When he came to redesign the course with a focus on lengthening it by an additional hole across from where two old ones once stood, he knew instinctively which spots would be worth preserving; not surprisingly then, it is often referred back fondly now as Old Tom Morris’s Northern Jewel.