Hickory Courses we Love to Play: Machrihanish

Back to Scotland for this month’s featured course. A classic links layout, Machrihanish is away down the Mull of Kintyre, three hours by car from Glasgow and just a few miles from Campbeltown. It’s beautiful country, mostly farmland. Getting there by car takes you north toward Inverary, then south along the A83 past lofty crags on one side and the Firth of Clyde and scenic Loch Fyne on the other, until you reach Tarbet, that is, and then it’s the North Atlantic on your right. It’s a poke, unless your driver is Roger Hill who is an absolute maniac along those narrow British roads. Ferries and even a 25-minute flight will get you there, too.

However, upon surviving the drive down with Mr. Hill, who also is a member at Machrihanish  and must return, like a pilgrim, every so often to soak in the braw Scottish atmosphere, one finally arrives at the tiny village after passing by the famous Springbank distillery in Cambeltown. The hamlet is little more than a string of cottages, a few homes and hotels on the western side of the peninsula. The Gulf Stream keeps the climate somewhat moderate. Its remote location has spared the village, and the course, from ruinous commercialization.

The course winds away north of the village. Machrihanish is known by most links golf fans for its extraordinary first hole, which requires the player’s very first shot to carry a sizable measure of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a tough start, particularly into a breeze. Choose wisely how much you wish to bite off of that neck of ocean.

From the Machrihanish Web site:  “It is a joy to play and, most of the time, very quiet, allowing the visitor to relish the ups and downs of the fairways and the tussle with undulating greens. There are also arresting views across to the islands of Jura and Islay, which provide a delightful backdrop on an idyllic summer’s day with the firm Machrihanish turf underfoot, the majesty of the dunes, and wheeling seabirds providing the only sound.”

I can tell you from firsthand experience that Machrihanish is a testing track. It is not cut and dried, it is unpredictable at every turn. A par 70, it plays 6,462 from the back and 6,235 from the whites, which is quite challenging enough, thank you, especially when the wind is blowing… which is almost always. Narrow fairways between grassy dunes demand accuracy. The greens are accommodating, but never a push-over. The 5th is a par 4 with a severely undulating fairway (I’m sure it is the burial ground of dinosaurs); the 10th offers an interesting dogleg challenge with a narrow neck. It was somewhere out in the back, the exact hole escapes me, but one comes up against a fence that demarcates the adjacent airbase. It’s a mysterious looking base, wide open and lonely looking, with one of the longest runways in the world. Locals compare the base with the legendary Area 51 in the U.S.

The Pans Course, a shorter nine-hole golf course with a dedicated ladies clubhouse, is just nearby.

Some few players had been playing 10 holes with gutties as early as 1871. A club was formed in 1876 with 41 members and the 10 holes became 12. In 1879, Old Tom Morris was engaged to expand the course to 18 holes. ‘Twas then the first hole was moved to its current location and that dramatic opening shot created. J.H. Taylor altered it a bit in 1914 and, later, Sir Guy Campbell tweaked it into the form we see today.

By 1897, membership had increased to 300 members. Soon thereafter ladies were allowed unrestricted access to the course. In the late 1960s, the ladies came into their own with a dedicated course and clubhouse. Royal Troon is perhaps the only other course in Scotland with a ladies club.

Though it’s a journey to reach, Machrihanish is well worth the effort.

But wait… there’s more! (Sorry, couldn’t resist that.)

The nearby Machrihanish Dunes, a course designed with the touch of none other than David McLay Kidd, offers additional and very wonderful, links course among the rolling dunes. This layout is just north of Machrihanish. As I have not played it, I am unsure of its suitability for hickories as it is 7,175 yards from the back; but I have to think that, playing it from a suitable tee length, it surely must offer a fine golfing experience. That dune land is absolutely wonderful. One thing to like is Kidd’s reluctance to bash over the land with bulldozers. Only seven of the course’s 259 acres were landscaped (for tees and greens), the rest remain as nature sculpted them. Well, the fairways are mown just a bit shorter.

Plenty of stay-and-play packages and other amenities in and around both Machrihanish and Campbeltown. Check out the Web sites for course details, lodging possibilities and other things to see and do in the area.

 

The Machrihanish Golf Club

Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland, PA28 6PT

Tel: +44(0)1586 810213

Fax: +44(0)1586 810221

Email: secretary@machgolf.com

www.machgolf.com

 

Machrihanish Dunes

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