After a fine breakfast roll (for some) at the Ugadale we took the long walk across the street to the Machrihanish Championship course. 2 minutes.
The course is set near the southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre. It is a historic ‘Old Tom’ Morris links set in the dunes overlooking Machrihanish Bay and is a traditional out-and-back links that head away from the village before turning back home after the halfway mark. Many, including Jack Nicklaus, have deemed the course to have the best opening hole of golf in the world as the tee shot is played over a corner of the Atlantic Ocean. Risk, reward – how much of the bay do you want to challenge??
Running alongside the course is a now-defunct military base where nuclear missiles and other armament were stored. The 2-mile runway was the largest in Europe, able to support transatlantic landings. Quite a large complex.
Machrihanish has been on the ‘must do’ list forever with its remoteness the major challenge. She lived up to her reputation. A great, classic links course. Awesome views of the bay, Islay & Jura, and the Village for the entire track. Our forecaddie, Duncan, is a local and might be the best we’ve had so far. Factor in the absolutely perfect weather – a sunny day (!), 65 degress (!) and little wind (!) to make for a special day. Almost too good to be true – we’re wondering if we somehow left Scotland or have entered an alternate universe. As Popeye would say, ‘poifect!’. One of our group must have done something positive in a previous life.
After golf, we late-lunched at the new Machrihanish clubhouse. The original house burned down some five years ago-quite – a sad end to a historic structure. The new one is nice, but not the same. On the positive side – haggis bon-bons! Awesome! A walk along the shore to catch sunset over the western islands finished off another good day.
Daily Team Stats:
- Lost Balls – 3
- Bunkers – 14
- Low Gross – Dick @ 86
- Low Net – Dick @ 72
- Birdies – 4: Bill 2, Kevin 1, Don 1
- Dram o’ Day – Longrow
Comments (5)
Only 3 lost balls today ? Or have you run out by now ? How many dozen did you take or buying at every course ?
That was 3 for our foursome! I know, I know – sounds too good to be true! I took 1 dozen new and a handful of waters. Haven’t hit the golf store yet for balls.
Well done Ladd!! Thought for sure you’d have taken 3-4 doz .
Damn! Imagine what the first hole would be like if it was high tide! I’m guessing the lengths are in meters. What’s the average length you are playing. How does the GHIN system work? I do believe it’s the same world wide.
I’m writing this on the 26th so you may be home. (Haven’t read each course as yet.)
It’s logged in yards. We’re trying to hit around 6K but some have been 6400, others 5800. Wind is really big. Could be 40 mph! So, we’ve stepped back on a bunch when the gusts are strong. There’s a GHIN value now for most, but to be honest none of us have logged.