Wick Golf Club

Overview: The entry for Wick Golf Club lists 6123 yards and par 69 for its links layout. The course runs through natural links terrain with views towards Wick Bay, Sinclair Bay, nearby castles and the Pentland Skerries. Its traditional out-and-back character keeps the wind in play throughout the round, while firm fairways, dunes and changing lies ask for a thoughtful approach to trajectory. The layout is not built around excessive length; it is the ability to keep a ball in position and judge the bounce that gives the course its identity.

History: Wick Golf Club was formally established in September 1870 and first played on a small course in Society Park. Golf moved to Reiss Links in the 1870s, where a nine-hole course was laid out in the natural coastal ground. In 1907–08, John Sutherland, then associated with Royal Dornoch, redesigned the course and extended it to 18 holes. The club’s history also records the disruption of the Second World War, when the links were mined and damaged by military use before repair work restored the course after 1945. Later changes have refined safety and routing without removing the traditional links character.

Did You Know? Wick once staged a midnight competition that began at 2:30 in the morning and finished at 5:30. The unusual 1908 event took advantage of the long northern summer light and remains one of the more distinctive stories in the club’s history.