There are golf courses, and then there are golf courses. Royal Dornoch is the latter, a links carved from the natural landscape of the Scottish Highlands, shaped by Old Tom Morris and refined over more than a century of salt air and hard winds off the Firth. It's widely regarded as one of the greatest golf courses in the world, and it was the backdrop for one of the most meaningful live event paintings I've created to date, the "5th Hole at Royal Dornoch", painted live on-site during the Royal Dornoch Member-Guest tournament 2026.
Royal Dornoch has been rated one of the top golf courses in the world by Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and links purists who make the journey here specifically because it hasn't been overengineered. The fairways roll as nature intended. The rough is honest.
Live event painting at a golf tournament is a particular kind of challenge and thrill. You're painting in the experience, the sounds of the course around you, players moving through the holes, the weather doing whatever the Highland weather decides to do. It's part plein air painting, part performance, and part race against the light.
I set up at the 5th tee box, with the green visible in the distance across the links. The composition draws from both an early morning reference photograph I took earlier in the week, when the light was low and long and the landscape itself as it looked during the tournament.
That combination of early morning reference and on-site observation is central to how I approach live golf painting. The reference photo captures the light you can't always wait for. The live observation captures the feeling of being there.
The 5th hole at Royal Dornoch has been one of my favorites for years. Just tucked back with the 6th before you make the climb to the infamous 7th tee box.
Oil paint on canvas, worked wet-in-wet, building from the sky down. The painting came together over the course of the tournament, visible to members and guests as it progressed. One of the reasons we opted for more of a "live painting" vs plein air for this was the entertainment factor. Guests love seeing the behind the scenes of the painting.
On the final night of the Member-Guest, the painting was auctioned as part of the evening dinner. It raised £3,000 for charity, part of a total weekend fundraising effort of £26,000 supporting two incredible Highland organizations:
Mikey's Line (@mikeysline_) — a mental health support lifeline serving the Highlands
East Sutherland Rescue Association (@esraphotosdornoch) — providing vital search and rescue services to the Highland community
I'm incredibly proud that this painting went from a blank canvas on the 5th tee box to raising £3,000 for people who genuinely need it. That's what live event golf art can do at its best.
Royal Dornoch joins a growing body of work I've built focused on the great Scottish links courses, from Cruden Bay to St Andrews to Dornoch itself. There's something irreplaceable about painting these courses on-site, in person, in the weather.
I believe original oil paintings of Scotland's greatest golf courses are some of the most meaningful art a golfer or collector can own, not just because they're beautiful, but because they carry the specific quality of light and place that defines links golf.
If you're looking for Scottish golf art, links course paintings, or live event golf paintings, whether for your home, your club, or a corporate event, let me know. Let's chat and get a few ideas developed.
I take on a small number of live event golf painting commissions each year. Whether it's a member-guest tournament, a charity golf day, a club championship, or a corporate scramble, a live painting activation adds something genuinely extraordinary to the experience, and you leave with an original oil painting of your course, created on the day.
Interested in a live event golf painting? Get in touch here, I'd love to hear about your event.
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