"Home of the James Braid Golfing Society; play it as the second half of a Dornoch pilgrimage day and mind the livestock fences on your putting lines."

Founded in 1891 and stretched to 18 holes by 1900, Brora became immortal in 1923 when James Braid stepped off the train, walked the links, staked new tees and greens, charged £25 plus expenses, and left on the next train south. His 1924 course is essentially unchanged — and it is still shared with livestock. Crofters hold grazing rights split 48 ways (each share: five sheep and one cow), so since 1967 every green has been ringed by a low electric fence to keep the animals off the putting surfaces. Fittingly, it is the home of the James Braid Golfing Society.

Links purists and time-travelers. If you are driving north past Royal Dornoch, skipping Brora is the classic rookie mistake of a Highlands trip.

The 162-yard 9th, 'Sea Hole,' plays with the North Sea lapping the right of the green at the far end of the links. The 6th, 'Witch,' has one of Scotland's best par-3 green complexes, and the round ends on a 201-yard par-3 18th — a rarity anywhere.

Honest, fast-running links at friendly length (~6,200 yards) with a famously relaxed welcome. The sheep, cows and electric fences are part of the deal — a genuinely low-stress place to learn seaside golf.

Not on the GSPro master course list we checked. Royal Dornoch — twenty minutes down the same coastline — is in GSPro and is the natural sim stand-in for a Highlands links night.

Visitors are warmly welcomed; green fees are a fraction of Dornoch's, twenty minutes down the coast, and long summer evenings make same-week tee times realistic.