The Missing Links: September 2012

Saturday 15 September 2012

The Machrihanish Golf Club

www.machgolf.com

Mens' par 70
Ladies' par 72

Playing from the 1st tee

Machrihanish is my favourite links course but I have to admit to some personal bias. My grandparents and my mother were members and I played the course as a small child with a cut down 5 iron. It lies at the south west end of the Mull of Kintyre and lies around Machrihanish Bay with its wonderful views of the Hebridean islands of Gigha, Islay and Jura. The first hole is often considered to be the best opening hole in the world with a drive diagonally across the sandy beach. An error of judgement means a shot from the beach which is not out of bounds but a lateral water hazard.

The course was opened with 12 holes in 1876 and then extended to an 18 hole course in 1879 by Old Tom Morris who is famously quoted as describing the course as "specifically designed by The Almighty for playing golf". After the first hole it is a varied test of golf with undulating fairways winding their way through sand dunes, fast and true greens and magnificent views of the sea. I love it - it is a magical place.

Worth a visit? Yes, yes and yes - and even more so for the scenic drive down the Kintyre peninsula.

The Links Project

There are 246 true links golf courses in the world and this blog is a record of our attempt to play all of them. My husband Ron and I are keen golfers and I came up with the idea of this project after he gave me the book by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell 'True Links' which lists them all.

The commonest question we are asked about our project is 'How do you define a true links course?' This will be debated by aficionados for long after we have (hopefully) completed our quest and there will never be a correct answer. The strict definition is from the British Golf Museum:

1. The course must be beside a river estuary

2. It must offer partial or occasional views of the sea

3. It must have few trees

4. It must have numerous bunkers

5. It must have nines that run out and back, the front heading to a far point and the back returning to the clubhouse

Peper and Campbell defined their list as follows:

Terrain - how close is the course to the sea? Do the fairways run fast and hard? Do the greens favour a run-on approach? How open is the site? How natural? Is there a freedom from trees? Is the invasion of gorse and brush controlled? How light is the environmental footprint on the land?

Turf - is there a sand base? What grasses are dominant on the fairways and greens? Is the rough managed ( creating biodiversity for flora and fauna)? How well does the course drain?

Weather - how exposed is the site to the elements? What are the typical wind conditions? Does the course play hard and fast all year round? Must temporary greens and tees be used in winter? Is the course susceptible to winter closure?

Peper and Campbell included courses which supplied the correct answers to most of these questions. But however defined, to me the poem by Sir John Betjeman encapsulates the feeling of links golf.