Crofters embroiled in bizarre row with golf club over grazing their cattle and sheep as it battles to overturn rights

Published: 20:43, 18 June 2026 | Updated: 20:43, 18 June 2026 It is an ancient way of life which brings with it certain historic rights. But one group of crofters are involved in a bizarre row with a golf club over grazing their cattle and sheep. The 18-hole Brora links course, in Sutherland, want to take away the rights of local crofters to graze their livestock on the site. Brora Community Council is now seeking a meeting with managers of the club to establish why. Crofters have a historic right to graze cattle and sheep on the course. Sixteen crofters hold a total of 48 shares in the common grazings with a total of 48 cows and their calves or 240 sheep and their lambs permitted on the course. Brora Golf Club is a member-owned sports and social club that operates on a not-for-profit basis. In 2021 it bought the land on which it is located from Sutherland Estates with the help of community benefit funding. One group of crofters are involved in a bizarre row with a golf club over grazing their cattle and sheep Now the golf club, established in 1891, has applied to the Scottish Land Court to remove crofters’ rights to graze their animals on the course, a process known as a ‘resumption’. A hearing is expected to take place later in the year. However, no date has yet been scheduled. The club has been asked to comment. However, it is understood they are concerned about structural damage to the course caused by livestock and the amount of animal manure scarred across the fairways, tees and rough. Jan Dunn, the grazings committee clerk, attended a community council meeting on Tuesday alongside crofter David Sutherland. Ms Dunn said that resuming the grazings would significantly impact the crofters by preventing them from making silage in their home fields during the summer while livestock grazed on the course. She added that this would have a knock-on effect on businesses. Diana Royce, an associate member of the community council, highlighted the historic nature of the agreement and asked why the status quo could not remain. She said: ‘This is no ordinary grazings - it is a fantastic grazings. ‘This would probably be the first resumption of a complete grazings..Small areas of grazings have been resumed across the Highlands, but never a complete one, so this would set a precedent. ‘The golfers and the crofters have co-existed for years, and I do not see why this cannot continue. Brora Golf Club in Sutherland are due to vote to stop local livestock owners from grazing their animals on the course ‘I recognise the importance of the golf club but I do not think that we owe them anything. They used our community benefit money to buy the golf club, and have received a lot of community benefit funds for equipment and other things. ‘I do not think we should feel sorry for them and I think the crofters are the ones we should speak for and not the golf course. They are not going to lose their jobs or income. Once the grazings are gone, they are gone for good.’ Ms Royce was keen that the community council write a letter to the Land Court in support of the crofters. The Scottish Land Court has confirmed that there is a ‘live case involving Brora Golf Club Limited and crofters with right to the common grazings of the township of East Brora Muir, Dalchalm and Greenhill.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.