I've been obsessed with this view for a while. And each visit, I'd try to capture THE Royal Dornoch View, the one looking back from the 7th tee box. Back in 2024, I even brought my paints up to the lookout spot and painted a quick plein air before the wind threatened to turn the canvas into a kite.
That same afternoon, once the plein air session wrapped, we captured the aerial reference photography that would eventually become the original oil painting.
Why the 7th Tee
If you've played Royal Dornoch, you already understand. If you haven't, let me try to describe it.
You step onto the 7th tee, and the entire Championship Course opens up behind you. Royal Dornoch has been drawing golfers to this stretch of the Scottish Highlands for over 400 years, and it's consistently ranked among the finest golf courses in the world. Ask anyone who has stood on that tee, and they won't talk about the ranking. They'll talk about the view.
The 7th hole itself is a par 4 that plays along the coastline. It's a wonderful hole. But it's the look back from the tee, not the hole ahead, that you'll remember.
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Painting at Scale
The original oil painting of this view came in at 5 feet by 6 feet, the largest Royal Dornoch commission to come out of the studio to date. A view like this deserves scale. Something small on a wall doesn't do justice to a landscape that makes you feel small when you're standing in it. Painting it large was the only way to bring that scale, and the atmosphere of that afternoon, into a room with someone.
This original now belongs to a private collector, someone who had stood in that exact spot and never forgotten it. That's really who these paintings are for. A way to walk back into a place that means something.
Bringing the View Home
If the original has already found its home, the view itself doesn't have to stay out of reach. "The View from the 7th Tee" is also available as a fine art print, offered in a few sizes, from a signed 11" x 14" giclée up to a 5' x 6' canvas for those who want the full scale of the original experience.
Shop "The View from the 7th Tee" Fine Art Print
And if Royal Dornoch is a course that's part of your own story, or you're picturing a similar commission of a place that means something to you, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me directly at aimeesmithstudios@gmail.com.
Officially licensed by Royal Dornoch Golf Club.
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