Golf Inc - August 2008 - (Page 15)

Campbelltown and Machrihanish Dunes History in the making DEVELOPMENT SUCCESS New Machrihanish Dunes links course in Scotland draws on the past for its future grants, the golf course at Machrihanish Dunes follows the natural twists and turns of a prime piece of Scottish links land for 7,300 yards. In contrast, its clubhouse will be funded by the sales of 60 fractional freehold, four-star holiday homes which are being built on site and close to one of the project’s three hotel developments. More importantly, the course will be exposed to all that Scotland’s west coast can throw at it with six of its greens and five tees bordering the sea. It will, as its architect David McLay Kidd puts it, return visitors to the way golf began. “The genesis of golf came from such landscapes, so we will be taking a lessis-more approach in and among these precious and fragile dunes,” said Kidd, the architect behind the highly regarded Bandon Dunes course on the U.S. Oregon coast. “To historians of the August 2008 www.GolfIncMagazine.com 15 he west coast of Scotland can be a hostile place, especially when the Atlantic Ocean whips up a gale. The deep inlets and remote islands of the ancient coastline offer little protection from the onslaught when it comes. But just as the sea can cause havoc, it also provides the raw materials that make the area one of the world’s best spots for golf. On a remote and dramatic spindle of land, an ambitious £30 million project by Brightside Leisure Development is utilizing the Scottish coast’s remarkable scenery to create a pay-and-play links course that will appeal to golf fanatics with private jets that they can land at the nearby Campbelltown airport on the Mull of Kintyre. It’s a development that defies conventional golf course design. Yet its construction accounts for less than £2 million of the total project costs. Supported by local T game, Machrihanish Dunes may give an insight into how golf looked and felt to my Scottish forebears centuries ago. Our intention is to create a course as Old Tom might have done in centuries past.” Old Tom Morris left his mark on the Mull of Kintyre 129 years ago when he extended the original 10-hole Machrihanish course, which had opened in 1876. While his efforts created a links legend, his job was made easier by the distinct lack of government-imposed restrictions that now engulf the area and confront his modern-day contemporaries. Machrihanish Dunes is situated on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), meaning it is the first 18-hole golf course to be entirely constructed within such an area. “The proposed development falls within a designated site of national importance http://www.dmkgolfdesign.com/ http://www.GolfIncMagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Golf Inc - August 2008

Golf Inc - August 2008 Contents Editors Column Around the Industry: Big Green in Arizona Data Collectors Combine Forces GPSI Hires Chessler, Files Suit Americas Europe/Africa Asia/Australia Machrihanish Dunes Draws on the Past to Make History Again in Scotland Innovative Superintendent Finds Way to Keep the Nation's First Totally Organic Course Green Latest Clubhouse Designs Reflect Changing Lifestyles: It's All About Casual Camelback Conference Brochure More Operators Embracing Initiatives Aimed at Bringing Families Together on the Golf Course State of the Industry 2008 Muni Maddness? The Last Word

Golf Inc - August 2008

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