At just 6000 yards the terrain is mildly undulating and ideal for the holiday and senior golfer. The first eight holes follow the shore with beach or sea awaiting a hooked tee shot, and with whins bordering most of the fairways, accuracy rather than length is the preferred option. There follows an inner loop of holes from the 9th, to the 15th, with a final inner circle comprising of 16 to 18.

Course architect lames Braid's remarkable achievement in designing 18 challenging holes within the narrow Chanonry peninsula is instantly obvious and admired by first time visitors. Modern day golf writers enthuse over the course layout and condition, with accolades such as 'a gem of a course by the sea' - 'the smallest but perhaps the brightest jewel in the Highlands golfing crown' - 'one of the most pleasant rounds of golf in the north' - 'a unique course with a special character to be found nowhere else'.

What Fortrose and Rosemarkie may lack in yardage is more than compensated by its small deceptive greens and strategically placed bunkers - challenges which are multiplied in the mind of the player by a public road dissecting the course, the proximity of the sea to eight of the holes and the dense island of gorse that awaits the wayward shot at numerous others.

Playing to one's handicap, therefore, is never easy, especially on a windy day. Par is 71 but the standard scratch score is 69.

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