I should have posted this a while ago, but my life has been a bit hectic with the Arawana Golf Course project.
I played Machrihanish Dunes in late July as part of the grand opening that occurred the Tuesday after the Open Championship and I have to tell you, this course is worth the trip.
Architect David McLay Kidd and his chief associate, Paul Kimber, have created an outstanding links golf course, the first layout built on the West Coast of Scotland in over 100 years, with wild greens that nestle into the natural terrain. The course, on the southern tip of the Kintyre Peninsula on Scotland's far Southwest Coast, is within one of the country's most sensitive natural areas that is known as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Because of that, there are no pesticides used on the golf course and artificial irrigation is only allowed for the greens. As a result, this is a golf course that is constantly changing as the natural grasses adapt to the lower heights of cut and the presence of golfers. It is, as the literature says, "the way golf began." The Old Tom Morris-designed Machrihanish Golf Club that was built over 100 years ago and is Mach Dune's next-door-neighbor, transformed over the years exactly as Machrihanish Dunes is doing and will continue to do.
As part of the Machrihanish Dunes, complex, there are the newly-built
cottages in which to stay, creating a perfect home base for journeys to
nearby courses such as Machrihanish, Dunaverty and the wonderful Machrie,
located on the Island of Islay, also home to the distilleries that produce
the lovely Islay single malt whiskies.
The drive from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Kintyre is a delightful trip, and there is also the option of direct flights from Glasgow to Cambeltown Airport.
As well as flying in to play golf on Kintyre there is the option of staying in a local hotel, see listings in the Good Hotel Guide, and don't forget Campbeltown's whisky, regarded as a whisky region on its own, you have to go a long way to beat a Springbank 2001 Vintage.
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