Skibo Castle (Carnegie Links)

A Modern Links on Historic Ground

The Carnegie Links at Skibo Castle opened in 1995, almost a century after Andrew Carnegie commissioned John Sutherland to create a private nine-hole course on the estate. The earlier layout later fell out of use, so today's course represents a revival of golf at Skibo rather than an unchanged historic routing.

Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie shaped the modern links across coastal ground beside the Dornoch Firth. Further work led by Mackenzie with the club's course team removed gorse, rebuilt bunkers, opened wider views, and altered several holes during the 2000s.

The routing moves through more than one kind of landscape. Some holes sit close to the firth, while others use ground beside Loch Evelix and the estate's tidal marshes. The transitions give the round changing exposure, outlook, and strategic choices without losing its wider sense of place.

This continuing evolution is central to Skibo's identity. Historic estate golf provided the starting point, but the Carnegie Links played today is a modern course shaped through careful revision rather than preserved as a museum piece.