Golf Inc - August 2008 - (Page 16)

notified for its sand-dune habitat,” Angus Laing, the local area manager for Scottish Natural Heritage, said. “We consider that the development will have a damaging impact on the integrity of the SSSI.” For many developers such an assessment would have sounded the death knell for a project. Not so for Brian Keating, founder of Brightside. “For years I’ve dreamt about creating a great new links course adjacent to Old Tom Morrisí layout and today that dream is coming true,” he says in the development’s marketing materials. Brightside has brought in a subsidiary of Massachusetts-based Southworth Development to operate the lodging, restaurant and golf facilities. With contracts in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, the company also codeveloped the new Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. Keating’s man on the ground is Euan Grant, a greenkeeper who Keating says is the best in the world. Grant led the team at the Old Course in St Andrews before taking on Machrihanish and the SSSI site. He seems to relish the challenge posed by the environmental restrictions. “Basically Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) objected unless a list of stipulations was met, and one of those stipulations was that we worked closely with an ecologist who we funded,” he said. “In terms of construction, it meant we couldn’t do much. To create the greens and tees, we took turf off predetermined areas, shaped and seeded them in consultation with the ecologist and in some cases with the head of SNH for Argyle and Bute. Outside of that, we had to work with what we had.” He said the restrictions created an opportunity to shape holes as they were done centuries ago. “If you can imagine a modern architect sitting in his office designing a golf course to fit into a piece of land, they’d move hills and mountains to make it work,” he said. “We couldn’t do that. The green sites were identified, rabbit damage became the bunkers and tee positions were shifted within reason to make the bunkers hazards. David routed the golf course through the natural landform, which is how it used to happen.” sea level had to go to a south-facing slope, three meters above sea level. It was like a patchwork quilt and very labour intensive, but we can genuinely say we did things correctly.” The challenge of creating a par-72 golf Campbelltown and Machrihanish Dunes look pastoral enough, but the classic Scottish layout and the Atlantic Ocean will test golfers’ skills. In fact, 75 percent of the 42 bunkers on the course were created from rabbitdamaged areas. But that wasn’t the only proviso placed on the project. “We weren’t allowed to bin anything,” says Grant. “Nothing was allowed to leave the SSSI site and nothing was to be brought on to it.” That meant herbicides and fertilizers were restricted to tees and greens and rough and semi-rough areas could not be mowed, only grazed. Even the grass seed, which is red fescue and is being used to fill exposed and rabbit-damaged areas, had to be native to the west coast of Scotland. “Bare areas could only be filled with turf from the site, so when greens were stripped of turf, that turf had to be used to fill damaged areas with the same aspect, same distance from the shoreline and same elevation,” he explained. “So a south-facing slope, three meters above 16 Golf Inc. August 2008 course within a SSSI site often meant the team had to complete tasks by hand rather than use heavy machinery. But along with the three boutique hotels and 60 four-star luxury cottages which are planned, the stipulations have created something that resurrects the past with integrity. A flurry of blind tee shots and awkward lies means this place is time-traveling playground for die-hard golf fans. For the developer, it sounds like a nightmare, although one which with any luck will have a satisfactory conclusion. “Machrihanish Dunes is one of the most exciting new projects for tourism and regeneration in Scotland today,” said Jim Mather, the Scottish minister for enterprise, energy and tourism. When it fully opens in 2009, it might also be one of the most exciting and novel golf courses created in the Home of Golf —Mark Alexander in recent times. http://www.libertynationalgc.com/ http://www.libertynationalgc.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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