BOOK EXCERPT
No one really knows the full measure of work and time Morrison pours into Dur- ness – the pre-dawn starts, the missed family moments, the physical toll that accumulates like interest on a debt that can never quite be paid off. This reality sometimes leads to quiet moments of doubt, when he can’t help but wonder if all the effort, all the sacrifice, all the pieces of himself he’s invested in this place are truly worth it. It’s towards the end of the season, and anyone who’s spent time on a grounds crew can testify, even the most ardent lover is ready for a separation at sum- mer’s end. The course can become a skin that you’re unable to peel off. Morrison can’t because he is all Durness has got. “It becomes a part of you, right? Good and bad,” Morrison says. “This is some of the best scenery in the world, but it takes effort not to let it become normal.” So the question’s worth asking: Why Durness, why home, when almost any club would hand him a blank cheque for a job not as taxing? He doesn’t require much time to respond. “Other clubs, they’re sort of a con- veyor belt, you know? They get you in,
It can be taxing in ways that accumu- late like layers of sediment, building pressure over time. The physical labour alone would be enough to test anyone’s resolve, but being constantly exposed to the mercurial Scottish elements does a particular kind of number on the body. The wind carries salt and bite, the rain seeps into bones, and the rare sunny days demand their own toll in sweat and sunburn. Each season brings its unique challenges, writing its story in aching joints and weather-worn skin. When your profession transforms into your passion – or perhaps it’s the other way around – the lines between work and life blur until they become nearly indistinguishable. You can’t simply leave work at work; it follows you home like a shadow, filling your thoughts dur- ing dinner and staying with you until your head finally hits the pillow. Even then, it can keep you from finding peace in sleep, as your mind races with tomor- row’s tasks and unsolved problems from today. It can be testing in ways that few out- side this world could truly comprehend.
Why Durness, why home, when almost any club would hand him a blank cheque for a job not as taxing?
move you through, move you away,” Morrison says. “Here, nine-hole courses don’t get the respect they should. They get downgraded un- necessarily. Durness
GRAND EXPOSURE The North Atlantic Ocean
commands views on most holes.
proves that wrong. There’s pride in do- ing that. There’s pride in what this is, and where it is, at least to me.” Morrison continues to list several links to punctuate the idea, although the point has been made. His words trace the delicate threads connecting ambition to purpose, success to mean- ing. Other clubs may extend their hands, offering paths paved with prestige and promise, but they lack something es- sential, something that speaks to the deepest chambers of his heart. It’s writ- ten in the way his eyes soften when he surveys the grounds at dawn, in how his shoulders square against the challenge of each new day, in the pride that fills the spaces between his words when he speaks of this place that has become not just his work, but his calling.
28 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026
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