No 89 - The Machrie
Top 100 golf courses: The Machrie
89 THE MACHRIE
Architect: Campbell
2006 position: 70
Stats: 6,324 yds; par 71; SSS 71
GF: £49-£69
T: 01496 302310
W: machrie.com
Probably the most remote location in the Top 100, Machrie is situated on the Hebridean island of Islay.
The course presents a real rollercoaster and voyage of discovery as you get to find out exactly where all those blind shots lead.
There are very few bunkers and the holes are routed heroically through the tumbling dunes.
You play along the coast line on the 3rd and from the 7th tee to the 10th tee, before threading your ball through the sand hills on the back nine.
It is hard to think of a more natural links course anywhere in the world. SP
+ Great value; wild and unspoilt; a worthwhile pilgrimage
- Some of the amenities are tired; too many blind shots
Enter your review of The Machrie below
Reader comments
Add your commentsDecember 03 13:10
Gregor Clark
Yes, it’s golf but not as you know it. This was how it must have been when those guys played on the moon.
Somehow, out of the most unlikely piece of linksland, a course has been fashioned that is the most enormous fun to play. After a gentle introduction with a relatively tame and flat first two holes, a course unfolds that plots its way over, around and along the towering dunes. It’s not fair of course as there are so many blind shots and in the wind, it is a nightmare. Nevertheless this is a thrilling challenge.
It looks remote on the map but there are frequent flights from Glasgow Airport which makes it surprisingly accessible.
+: golf like nowhere else; utterly enthralling
- : a lot of blind shots, probably a lot of wind and you’ll probably need a lot of balls.
December 12 06:56
CRAWFORD KILPATRICK
The Machrie Golf Links
The Belfry rated higher than the almighty links of Machrie? You have got to be having a laugh!
Machrie is a links course like no other, revel in the solitude, fresh air and some of the best greens you will ever putt on. The course was laid out in 1891 by Willie Campbell and its a testament to his design skills that a course laid out through the dunes nearly 120 years ago is still a challenge today.
From the first hole you know you have stumbled upon a gem. A straight forward drive then leaves you with a delicate shot to a puch bowl of a green with well positioned bunkers just to make sure you are concentrating. Then onto the second where Campbell offers you a chance to open up your shoulders early on. A great par 5 where you decide how much of the O.B. and the burn that you want to cut off. Risk and reward golf was obviously in play long back then too!
From the 4th hole Machrie really starts to show its teeth as you start to enter the gigantic dunes which this layout intertwines with. Campbell didnt have earth moving equipment at his disposal back then and he makes no apologies for the classic linkssnaking its was over and round towering dunes. In fact the 7th at Machrie requires a tee shot to carry a 70ft high dune before the fairway is even found.
November 01 10:10
ron Goudie
To rate The Machrie as a course is as much of a challenge as playing it.Because of it's nature, it will not appeal to everyone. Some people rate a course according to how well they play and , if they don't play well they have to have something to blame.
Machrie has may blind shots, it has penal rough and the weather can be wilder than anything you will encounter in the rest of the UK(fastest wind speed in Uk recorded here)
However there are only 12 bunkers, the fairways are wide and the course rewards a player who does not try to cut corners and as for the blind shots, may people, including me, would rate a course highly because, not in spite of them.
Machrie is the most complete links course and remember. Golf is not a game of perfect, it is a game of confidence.
The golfer who takes his game to the Machrie, to see what happens to it, will be rewarded and will be anxious to return.
I would rate this course in the top 10 links courses in Scotland. Give it a try and prove me wrong.
March 13 09:46
Kenny Kane
The Machrie is a traditional links course that one really should make the effort to experience. It is quirky, wild, exposed to the wind howling off from the sea and a real test for any golfer. Amazing course, stunning...please make the effort and I am confident you will not be disappointed.
Greens are great, views amazing and sheer enjoyment !