Page 105 - Golf World (February 2020)

Travel

How we ranked MacHriHanisH

Design

Wonderful use of contours and
dune corridors sets a rugged yet
mostly visible challenge; large,
muscular greens throw an
emphasis on short-game touch.
25.7

out of 30

seTTing PLAyAbiLiTy

The course runs Under 6,000 yards off yellow
through stunning tees, but wind makes yardage
duneland that allows irrelevant. Inscrutable at times,
the entire front nine to but rewards the classic linksland
track the coast. ground game.
17.5 12.5

out of 20 out of 15

TOTAL

working well; the greens are very healthy and
Starts with a bang, ends with a
holding up.” whimper but the magnificent setting,
With the bunker revetting looking tired and several added to the fun challenge, ensures
traps becoming smaller and more circular, the club has this is a pilgrimage worth making.
also embarked on a comprehensive bunker
improvement programme. Bunkers at the front of the 80.8
13th and 15th have at least doubled in size, becoming
more playable if easier to find. While the programme out of 100
will create some short-term inconsistency, the quality
of the new traps constructed by Barr and his team
show how valuable this work will be to the course’s
presentation and playing experience.
These works have helped Machrihanish climb six
places to 43rd in GW’s last Top 100 GB&I, but with
the work ongoing, it appears set to rise even higher. But HOLes PresenTATiOn
despite these improvements to the course’s Awesome opener gives way to Improving due to an upgraded
irrigation system, a bunker
some wonderful linksland
conditioning, the playing experience remains pleasingly through the first 12, with the 3rd, upgrade programme and an
raw, in keeping with the sense of history and the 5th and 8th standout par 4s. increased focus on top dressing
captivating, native gradients across which Last two make for a bland finale. and organic feeds.
Machrihanish’s fairways flow. These works have
helped the course enhance its status at the hub of a 8.5 10.4
southern Kintyre golfing experience that also offers out of 10 out of 15
Mach Dunes and Dunaverty, a glorious sub-5,000-
yard clifftop track some five miles to the south.
“The fact this is an Old Tom Morris course altered
very little, the stunning scenery, the sense of COnsisTenCy
remoteness… these are the things that make A new revetting programme is
Machrihanish special, and they explain why we get tidying up somewhat ragged
bunkering. Some tees need
people coming back to visit us year after year,” asserts attention, but greens evenly
Ross. “But also we are a friendly, informal club, the coloured and paced.
green fee is just £75, and in 40 years of being a member 6.2
here, and I can honestly say that I can’t remember the
course ever having played better. I doubt there’s ever out of 10
been a better time for a golfing pilgrimage.”

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 105