The Machrie

The old Machrie was far from everyone’s cup of tea and, as a result, the tee sheet and hotel were both usually sparsely populated. The property changed hands in 2011 and the new ownership embarked on a complete reimagination of the hotel and golf links. The transformation was nothing short of spectacular.

The redesign of the Machrie Links was spearheaded by European Tour player DJ Russell. With the exception of a handful of greens, no stone was left unturned in the process. The new routing removed most of the blind shots, and the frustratingly narrow fairways were replaced with an abundance of width off the tee. Although the course is just a few years old, the fairways roll and tumble over the land in a way that feels like they’ve been there for 100 years. The same is true for the putting surfaces, which are beautifully contoured and fit as naturally to the property as Wille Campbell’s original greens.

As you make your way around the Machrie Links, a few observations may come to mind. First, you’ll notice a delightful absence of bunkers. In a holdover from the original links, there’s fewer than 10 traps on the entire course. The keen eye will also see a few parallels to Castle Stuart, Kingsbarns, or many of the modern links-style courses of the U.S. Specifically, the Machrie is a downright fun golf course that doesn’t believe in punishing the golfer repeatedly, but instead embraces their enjoyment above all else.

Finally, as you stand on the tee of the par-3 9th hole and look down to the green pressed hard against the ocean, one final observation will be inescapable: The Machrie is a sublime place to play the game and worth every step off the well worn path to get there.