Greenkeepers at the renowned Castle Stuart golf course are testing both their long and short game skills due to unpredictable weather.
Expected severe wintry conditions mean staff are preparing for the arrival of snow, but spells of milder December weather mean they will have to cut the greens and fairways up until Christmas.
And wild fluctuations in temperature have meant daily changes to the cutting regime and preparations for the start of next season.
In one extreme case temperatures plummeted to -6C but rose to 14C the next day.
This year a flock of grey lag geese which stops off on farmland next to the golf course on their winter migration, arrived earlier than usual, signalling an early cold snap.
This led to the team starting their winter maintenance work in order to have the course ready for reopening on March 24 next year.
Chris Haspell, Castle Stuart course manager, said: “The geese normally arrive in mid-December, but they came early this year, signalling an early cold snap.
“We use a range of different forecasting techniques, including nature’s indicators, to inform us of weather patterns and we got our maintenance programme under way quite early this year.
“Since then we have had a period of milder weather, punctuated by spells of sub-zero temperatures. Such wild fluctuations can affect your decision-making and means you are working day-to-day and just have to react to the conditions.
“Some days we have had frost on the ground, but then warmer conditions which means the grass is still growing. Normally the last cut of the year is done by late November, but this year we will still be cutting greens right up to Christmas for only the second time since the course opened in 2009.”
The links course on the outskirts of Inverness hosted the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open this year for the fourth time in six years.
The major golfing event was hailed for providing a tourism legacy to the north after being watched from around the world.
