Golfers across the county breathed a collective sigh of relief when the First Minister gave the green light for the sport to resume, albeit with some restrictions in place, at the end of May.

However, the enforced lockdown did bring some benefits with local greenkeepers afforded the luxury of peace and quiet to get their courses into pristine condition before the return of play.

Supported by member Craig Macintosh, director of Highland Drones, Reay Golf Club has used the time to initiate some aerial photography and filming of the course. Once restrictions on travel are eased further, it is hoped that the footage will showcase the course and Caithness in general, encouraging more visitors to come and play golf in the area.

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In addition, it is anticipated that the drone technology can be used to shape the future management of the course by allowing regular monitoring of the greens and fairways from the air. In this way any potential issues such as increased areas of stress, wet areas or areas of dryness can be highlighted, and prompt action can then be taken to address these.

Club captain Andy Bain said: "Using Highland Drones to aid with the promotion and maintenance of the course is a great initiative for the club. They are local to the area and have the necessary permissions in place to allow them to operate near the Dounreay no-fly zone.

"We have already released some of their images on social media and these have received an incredibly positive response.

"Going forward we plan to include hole-by-hole flyovers on our website, so golfers can virtually plot their way around the course before they head on to the links for real.

"Our greenkeeper James Macadie has done a tremendous job during lockdown to get the course looking at its best and, if we can, we will use the drone technology to help him with his work in the future too."

The revised Scottish Government guidelines have also required the club to progress an online booking system, and Bain plans more initiatives to further enhance the club.

He added: "We have been truly fortunate to have such a loyal and supportive membership over the past couple of months, and we plan to do more to encourage more people to come to sample our links.

"Caithness is blessed with four fantastic courses and some wonderful scenery, and we are keen to play our part in encouraging people to come back to the area once we get the green light from the Scottish Government."

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