Royal Dornoch goes green with £13.9 million new clubhouse featuring solar panels, battery energy storage, underfloor heating and automated lighting

ROYAL Dornoch Golf Club is on track to complete its new £13.9 million clubhouse in June 2025, it has been confirmed.

However, the new building is not expected to be open to the club’s 2,400 members and visitors until the following November.

Work on the new 2,100 square metres clubhouse, located near the first tee, began in December last year with the contract awarded to Morrison Construction.

The new building will replace the current clubhouse which was built in 1908 and has been refurbished several times over the years.

And it has been revealed that sustainability is at the heart of the new structure which will be as energy efficient as possible.

The business secured a £5 million funding package from the Bank of Scotland to support the new sustainable measures through its Clean Growth Financing Initiative (CGFI), a product designed to provide discounted lending for sustainable measures.

The new clubhouse will feature 136 solar roof panels and a battery energy storage system to capture and store energy for reuse within the business.

Underfloor heating and automated lighting will also help to reduce the club’s energy consumption.

A new archive room will also be created where guests can explore the history of one of the oldest link courses in the world.

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The club is currently working to ensure all memorabilia including historic trophies and completion details are collated and input into museum-based software that guests will be able to access during their visit.

The opening of the new clubhouse is expected to create a further three full-time jobs and increase the number of seasonal staff.

Neil Hampton, the club’s general manager, said: “Royal Dornoch is often named one of the finest golf courses in the world. While we’re about to celebrate our 150th anniversary, it’s time to make sure our facilities are as world-class as our Championship Course.

“Our current club has changed a lot over the years, but we wanted to create a new space for our guests and club members to explore our history while enjoying a more energy efficient space.

“We have a long-standing relationship with the Bank of Scotland, so having their support to introduce these sustainable measures has been brilliant.

“They understood that we wanted to create somewhere that didn’t detract from the nature and surrounding area here in the Highlands but also that we wanted to be as energy efficient as possible.

“We look forward to opening the doors to our spacious and environmentally friendly clubhouse next year as we continue to enhance the overall Royal Dornoch experience for current and new members, guests and visitors for years to come.”

Michael Thomson, relationship director at the Bank of Scotland, said: “We have been very fortunate to have worked with Royal Dornoch for over 40 years, supporting their growth aspirations, including their latest project involving the development of the new clubhouse.

“By choosing to put sustainability at the heart of this project, Royal Dornoch joins many of our clients in making environmentally friendly decisions and reducing their carbon footprint.

“The business will also continue to provide first class facilities to members and visitors from across the world.” Royal Dornoch’s Champion Course was ranked second in the 2024 Golf Digest World’s Greatest Courses.

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