The primary reason for our visit to the Mull of Kintyre was to play this course. Originally crafted as 10 holes in 1876, Old Tom Morris extended the course to 18 holes in 1879. It is ranked at 92 in the world top 100.
Tom Morris also created this. Well not the beach, but the hole that wraps around it. The first hole here at Machrihanish is widely regarded as the best opening hole in world golf, requiring a drive across the beach to a fairway angled across, and generally into the prevailing wind. Fortunately for us, today was dead calm, so we had no external forces making the tee shot more difficult than it already is.
John Hay and Michael Merrett took the opportunity to loosen up on the driving range before starting their rounds.
It was Alan Pritchard who stepped up to the challenge first, and nailed his drive beautifully across the Machrihanish Bay to the fairway waiting beyond. This set the scene for all who followed.
The winner of the black sheep cup yesterday, Sharon 'Bo Peep' Marks, ready for her opening drive.
Sharon did not quite get the member's bounce off the beach that Kim Hay received, but was able to play her shot from the sand (a hazard not OOB) successfully back into play.
The pressure was on for the opening drive, in particular for Patrick Carlisle. Patrick had fallen victim to some less than ideal opening tee shots previously, generating the nicknames 'burnie', 'ditch' and the 'conservationist' based upon areas where the drive had finished not so far from the tee.
Michael 'chairman of match' Merrett had been running a book on the success of Patrick's first drive, adding plenty of pressure to his first swing. A big crowd formed around the tee and Patrick swung. Not only did he strike it perfectly, but he also imparted a gentle draw which shaped the ball brilliantly down the angled fairway. A huge cheer erupted, and Patrick departed the tee to a succession of high fives. It was very impressive.
The course works it's way through the sand dunes, and unlike the views from it's newer sibling, it is very rare to catch a glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean.
The course has quite a lot of quirky blind shots, like your second shot into the par four 2nd. Your drive must finish short of the burn, and then you approach over a dune into the blind green.
Whilst not overly long, it would play very differently with a strong breeze from the ocean.
The outward nine possesses the majority of the interesting holes, with the only really memorable inward nine hole being 13 with it's green that has a big false front and then slopes away to the back.
It was a very enjoyable day, although everybody struggled on the putting surfaces.
John 'the scud' Hay performed brilliantly, scoring a 42 point round that with some luck on the greens, could have been quite a bit better. He was able to take possession of the 'seagull' prize, which we were informed is actually an 'Oyster Catcher'. Well done John!
The afternoon was free time for everyone to do as they please, with some taking the opportunity to visit the thriving metropolis that is Campbeltown. Once that 5 minutes was filled in, we all made our way to the local pub for dinner.
We were in luck because it was quiz night in the pub! Local Harry was the quizmaster, and was nothing like Tony Barber or Eddie McGuire. He fumbled through the questions (with many requests to repeat in English) and then completely messed up everybody's scores. The answers were re checked with a magnifying glass, and I think all tables in the bar had the scores adjusted.
After that string of questions were informed that we were only through round one, with a few more to go. That was enough for our group, although Alan Pritchard was disappointed at missing out on the chance to win last prize, a round at Mach Dunes.
Prior to leaving, Patrick decided to stir up the locals by asking about the upcoming referendum. A very very heated discussion erupted, laden with many expletives, resulting in the poor young barmaid laying down the law. A very strange and entertaining evening to the end our time in Machrihanish.
Tomorrow is a travel day as we make our way around to Turnberry Resort.
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