A mission to Machrihanish

[Kintyre Forum News]

Found this nice article on the following website http://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/artic ... type/5000/



A mission to Machrihanish

IT was, all things considered, perhaps the best day’s golf I’ve ever enjoyed. It is certainly my most fondly remembered. It had excitement, anticipation (which it more than lived up to), a golf course of the highest quality, decent weather and good company. There were even a couple of cold beers at the end of it.

But most of all, and what sets it apart in my eyes, this was a day quite unlike any other. Because never before or since have I arrived at a course by speedboat, and never before or since has a golfing day ended with a sunset cruise between the island of Arran and Ailsa Craig.

Allow me to explain. Our destination was the ancient links of Machrihanish on Scotland’s west coast, laid out by none other than Old Tom Morris, the original architect. It is the most natural and wonderful of courses, and one which every lover of the game should visit at least once.

The only problem is that Machrihanish is located just outside Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula. Part of the Scottish mainland, getting there by car from the Ayrshire coast involves a 300-mile round trip. You have to go north beyond Glasgow, then past Loch Lomond before finally bearing west past Inverary and south down the peninsula.

It is a beautiful journey, but not one that fits easily into a packed golfing itinerary. You can safely assume it will take the best part of four hours each way. And the most frustrating aspect of it is that, as the crow flies, Machrihanish is only 35 miles or so from Troon.

Which is where the Kintyre Express comes in. Skippered by Wilson Smith, this modern and comfortable speedboat specialises in golfing excursions and can be be chartered for the day by your party. It sails out of Troon Harbour and arrives in Campbeltown little more than an hour later. The journey is smooth, there is a separate hold for clubs, shoes and luggage and up to 12 golfers can be accommodated. Unload at the other end and a five-minute taxi ride completes the journey.

Machrihanish is famed for the quality of its opening hole, rated by many as the finest in golf. It involves the most dramatic of tee shots over the beach and sea. The further left you go, the longer the carry to reach the fairway but the shorter the second shot. More timid souls may play safely to the right and treat the hole as a par five.

Blind shots are a repeated feature here and the first of them comes at the 2nd, where the approach is played over the crest of a large hill to the most uneven of greens. The drive at the 3rd must similarly be down to trust and eventually a wide, tumbling fairway is revealed culminating in a green that is the best part of 50 yards deep.

Following a short hole that should only require a wedge, but can call for a wood, come a couple of par fours that may only be modest in length but require precision planning and the occasional walk ahead to see exactly where the target is situated.

Then comes an outrageously difficult two-shotter in name (it is more realistically to be considered as a par five). An elevated tee for once gives a clear view of the fairway but certainly not the green, which is on the far side of a huge hill. Trust the marker post and send a fairway wood in a direction way to the right of where you sense the green should be, and when you have scaled the hill you might just see your ball settled at the front of the green.

The back nine features a couple of the most entertaining par fives you are ever likely to encounter. To describe them as blind barely does either justice. They rise and fall, snake one way then the other and only at the last moment does either green become visible. There are those who will complain about so much being hidden from sight. I say anyone who does not relish the challenge has failed to grasp what the game of golf is all about in its original form.

Frankly, such heathens should leave Machrihanish well alone and stick to their one-dimensional target golf. Moreover, the real pleasure comes when playing such holes for a second and third time when you can bring your previous experiences to bear.

By its own incredibly high standards, Machrihanish’s closing stretch slightly disappoints. Not that any hole in isolation is particularly weak, just that they are not nearly as thrilling as those that go before. At 6,200 yards and with a par of 70, the course is by no means long but it must be borne in mind that the way the holes are shaped frequently calls for conservative play from the tee. Not one of the par fours is drivable – though most involve a second shot with a short iron, and they generally demand accuracy off the tee.

Because of its location, Machrihanish as a club is blissfully free from the excessive commercialisation that has crept into many of our top courses. The clubhouse and pro shop are homely, friendly and offer excellent value. Likewise, the green fees are as reasonable as you are likely to come across. A quick post-round pint later and it’s time to return to the harbour for the return journey. Soon we are accelerating away from the peninsula in style.

With the evening sun painting Arran in an ever-changing golden light, Wilson puts some traditional Scottish music on the stereo and cans of chilled lager miraculously appear from the hold, as if by magic. Within an hour that frankly disappears far too quickly, we are back in the centre of Troon in plenty of time for a quick change and out for dinner.

What could be better? And best of all, the day is not even prohibitively expensive. Individual quotations are readily available by contacting Wilson, but it is likely to be around £100 a man – including green fees. I’m not saying for a minute that is an inconsiderable amount, but when you consider you get your own private speedboat for the day, and get to play a sensational golf course, it must be worth every last penny for the bragging rights alone.

THE Kintyre Express is available for charter and transports up to 12 passengers. For more information, or to obtain a quote, visit www.kintyreexpress.com email info@kintyreexpress.com or call 01294 270 160. For more information on Machrihanish, visit www.machgolf.com, email secretary@machgolf.com or call 01586 810 213

[hugh]

"what the game of golf is all about in its original form."

That'll be knocking a ball into a hole in the ground, then?

[Kintyre Forum News]

Another glowing report about Machrihanish reported in the Northern Echo . Original report can be found here

Tee up for the magic of Machrihanish
By Tim Wellock
ANYONE looking for a golf trip which has something of the magical mystery tour about it should head for magnificent Machrihanish, taking in the splendours of Shiskine on the way.

It initially involves a three to four-hour hour drive from the North-East to catch a ferry from Ardrossan, north of Ayr, to the Isle of Arran.

By taking another short ferry ride, Arran offers a delightful stepping stone to the long peninsula of Kintyre beyond, ruling out the need to drive a further 120 miles via Glasgow and Inveraray to reach Machrihanish, which is near Campbeltown.

advertisementCaledonian-Macbrayne ferry trips are never particularly cheap, but the value offered by the golf courses more than compensates. Where else could you play two of the top 100 courses on the same trip for £70 in total?

Although usually around 60th, Machrihanish has stood as high as 22nd in the various lists of the top courses in the British Isles, while Shiskine usually creeps into the top 100, despite being only a 12-hole course.

Founded in 1876, Machrihanish has long been acknowledged as one of the great Scottish links but tends to be overlooked because of its supposed inaccessibility.

But after your day at Shiskine you can take a ferry from Lochranza, where one of Arran's other six golf courses can be found, and after the 40- minute crossing to Claonaig it's a 50-minute drive to Machrihanish.

It would take longer if you followed the main road through Campbeltown, but cutting a corner via the airport road saves a good 15 minutes and serves as a reminder that it's possible to fly here from Glasgow if you can stand the extra expense.

It is said that two weeks after the inaugural meeting to form the club the members were playing their ten-hole course, and when three years later they called in Old Tom Morris to advise on an 18-hole lay-out he pronounced the ground "specially designed by the Almighty for the playing of golf."

The same quote is attributed to Old Tom in a few other places, but nowhere is it likely to be more appropriate. Nor is the claim that the first is the finest opening hole in Scotland likely to be challenged. Some say it's the best in the world.

If you go straight at the flag on this dramatic 428-yard par four the drive involves a 200- yard carry over a sandy bay - or Atlantic rollers if the tide is in.

The further right you aim they more you reduce the carry, but the less chance you have of getting anywhere near the green in two. If you fall short it's not a disaster - the beach is not out of bounds.

The green provides a clear indication that putting here requires either a good deal of skill or luck in hitting the approach shot to a position from which it is possible to get near the pin.

The slopes and hollows on the front nine can leave some quite frightening putts, but this is in perfect harmony with an outward half which exhibits all the joys, or despairs, of true linksland.

At the second, 393 yards, the longest hitters have to lay up short of Machrihanish Burn, leaving a mid-iron which must carry a steep rise to a green even more undulating than the first.

This is the start of dune country, featuring blind shots into valleys snaking through the sandhills. The fourth is a mere 121 yards and is stroke 18, but with a bunker in the bank in front of the green you'd better hit the target with enough height for the ball to stop. If it's downwind, you've no chance.

The airport intrudes on the scenic splendours at the far end of the course, with the marker post at the ninth getting lost in the background of landing lights.

But that's soon left behind as you turn inland at the 502-yard tenth, the first of only two par fives and swiftly followed by the other at the 12th.

Both are fine holes, and with the 437-yard 14th being the stroke one hole, followed by two testing par threes, the back nine is more difficult. It is also less interesting, but that's purely relative as the front nine takes some beating.

Personally, my only disappointment was that my romantic vision of a rustic old cabin afloat on a sea of dunes in this tantalisingly remote spot was wide of the mark. There's a modern pro shop next to the first tee, with a solid and welcoming clubhouse across the road. There's nothing particularly romantic about it, but it does afford lovely views of Gigha, Jura and Islay and I'm told the sunsets can be stunning.

Probably not quite as stunning, however, as the view which unfolds when you crest the rise to assess your second shot on Shiskine's superb second hole.

The ground falls again to a stream, with the green nestling on the far side, and beyond that are the Drumadoon cliffs mingling with the vivid blues and yellows of sea, sky and gorse.

If I have played in a bonnier spot I do not recall it, and coming from a lover of Kerry, Connemara and Donegal that's praise indeed.

The 357-yard second at Shiskine is a great hole by any standards, as is the only par five, the 506-yard ninth, which also wanders up and down and crosses a stream.

Of the remaining ten holes, seven are par threes of varying eccentricity but only the last, a nondescript 120-yarder, is a disappointment.

The third, known as Crow's Nest, is only slightly longer but involves a steep climb to a green which requires a very tall marker post to give you a clue as to the flag's whereabouts.

With the cliffs just to your right, the next tee shot is about as elevated as they get, then there's a long par three and a short par four along the craggy shoreline before coming to the hole dubbed the Himalayas.

Again it's a blind par three over a high hill, with the path down the right flanked by an old railway signal to allow you to let those behind know when the green is clear.

There are so many blind shots that the first round should be seen simply as a reconnaissance because after a lunch in the delightful tearoom you will not be able to resist going round again, especially as it offers exceptional value at £30 a day.

Shiskine can be found alongside the lovely village of Blackwaterfoot on the west side of Arran. Founded in 1896, the course was extended from nine to 18 holes when former Open champion Willie Park was called in to supervise the work in 1912. His fee of £600 is displayed with other memorabilia in the tearoom.

Six holes enjoyed a very short left as they fell into disuse during the great war and it has remained a 12-hole course ever since.

That alone makes it distinctive, but the sheer beauty of it has to be seen to be believed.[/url]