Machrihanish – Old Tom Morris’s Links Above the Bay
A day.
The route
Machrihanish is one of the great old links of Scotland, laid out by Old Tom Morris in the dunes above a long Atlantic beach near the foot of Kintyre.
Play the Championship Course, or the little nine-hole Pans beside it, then sit in the clubhouse with the bay in front of you.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is The Hollies, 38 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Then Glenstriven House, 45 miles away. next free Sun 25 Oct to Tue 27 Oct.
Book the Machrihanish Golf Club
Book a tee time at The Machrihanish Golf Club on its website or on 01586 810213: 18 holes £120 in October and March and £95 from November to February, the nine-hole Pans £25, at the time of writing; book a clubhouse table on the same number, option 2.
The day
Machrihanish
A round on the old links in the dunes above the bay, with the Atlantic beside you most of the way, and a long lunch in the clubhouse after it.
About five hours
The Machrihanish Golf Club
An attraction
The Machrihanish Golf Club is near the southern tip of Kintyre, and its Championship Course is an Old Tom Morris links laid out in natural dunes above Machrihanish Bay. The club quotes Jack Nicklaus on its first: "the best opening hole of golf in the world". Book a tee time on the club's website or on 01586 810213. At the time of writing 18 holes are £120 in October and March and £95 from November to February, with 30% off for Scottish Golf members who ring the pro shop before booking. For something shorter, the nine-hole Pans runs alongside, 2,376 yards of small, quirky greens and tight fairways, at £25. Buggies are £30 and trolleys £5, and the pro shop arranges caddies ahead. Allow about four hours for 18. The clubhouse restaurant and bar look over the course and the bay, and golfers' non-playing family are welcome there too: book a table on 01586 810213, option 2, and ask its hours, which change with the season. If the course has to close for weather, the club says so on its website and offers another date or a refund. From November to February tee off by 11.30am to finish 18 holes in daylight.
If it rains
The links are open to every wind off the Atlantic: in heavy rain or a gale the club may close the course and offers another date or a refund, and the clubhouse over the bay is the place to wait out a shower.