Machrihanish Dunes

Now there's two reasons to go to the end of the Kintyre Peninsula on Scotland's west coast. Machrihanish Dunes was designed by David McLay Kidd, and from the tips plays to 7,175 yards, and sits right next to the 100+ year old Machrihanish Golf Club with six greens and five tees on the Atlantic. The course was built on a Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI), and is quite natural and eco-friendly. There's no use of pesticides, chemicals or non-natural irrigation systems at all, and they've left the natural vegetation as it was, leaving a very natural environment, and a golf course which seems a bit left go. But that's what it took to enable the course development, along with only disturbing 7 acres of dirt to build the tees and greens! The course is routed over and around the dunes and through the marram grasses with every green having swales, ridges, and deep hollows, and provides a lot of movement and challenge. Off the tee there's a number of blind shots, save the one-shotters, and off the fairways, the roughs are uncut, and most penal. I enjoyed the travel here, but the round was long at over 5 hours due to the long walks between greens and tees, and navigating the course. Found the overgrown nature of it a little detracting from the overall experience, and much preferred the old Machrihanish, but it was nice to have both courses in one place to camp out a spell.