THE BEAUTIFUL SETTING AT MACH DUNES
This is the second part of my lengthy discussion with David McLay Kidd about his new course Mach Dunes in Scotland (Part One, here). One aspect of Kidd’s perspective on the course that I really respect is his bravery to put a product out there that he and the rest of the team knows has flaws. As he tells me, he wants the course to be judged on what it will become in fifty years when it has had a chance to evolve through grow in, management and environmentally sensitive alterations and not in one snap shot on opening day. You don’t hear an architect say this very often because it is sign of his lack of control. It is also show of humility that is often wanting in today’s top architects. (Video and Interview after the jump)
As Kidd says, getting the course in the ground was only the first step of many which may be tough story for many golfers to understand after making the trek out to the Mull of Kintyre. I am looking forward to seeing how the course changes over the decades, and I do think that is time frame we are looking at without a major change in environmental regulation.
Mach Dunes is a rarity in modern golf, a throwback to the 19th century where man did not have the ability to move large amounts of earth. Of course many of these course have been altered over the past century to make them more playable. At Mach Dunes, Kidd and team certainly had the technological ability to move dirt, but they were simply not allowed to. The restrictions seemed draconian and it seems like every minor grassing line, bunker, and tee site were endlessly argued over. The question is whether enough golfers will enjoy this rugged and different form of golf to make Mach Dunes a regular stop on their tour of Scotland.
One element that I did not get to experience is the grazing of sheep to control the rough. When I was there the rough was very thick as there had been very little play to thin it out. Kidd points out that the sheep had always been part of the ecology of the site and in fact the construction period was the only time that they not been on the site for as long as he can remember which has led to a denser native rough at opening. “The sheep are not a tourist attraction,” says Kidd. The black faced sheep were chosen because of they type of vegetation that they do or do not eat. As Kidd points out, Mach Dunes is breaking ground when it comes to looking at a site’s ecology and how it functions before and after the construction of the golf course. Golf will only benefit from this holistic approach.
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Thanks for this, very interesting interview.
I was lucky enough to play Mach Dunes last September, two days after the wonderful Machrie on Islay, which gave an interesting comparison.
Mach Dunes is clearly a new course; there were daisies on a couple of fairways, some greens were settling in, it was a long walk between some holes, a couple of holes are super hard due to the routing, there are a couple of slight misfit holes, I lost two balls with tee shots that were just over the blind markers…but what fun ! Super views, lots of secluded spots, great facilities, we were just sad not to have time to take advantage of the excellent value stay and play deal.
Compared to The Machrie, which is I think my favourite golf course, there were definite similarities in the naturalness and fun of the golf. As Mach Dunes settles in it will improve, and as Mr Kidd says hopefully SNH will bend slightly and allow them to make incremental improvements over time.
Highly recommended, and with Old Machrihanish and Dunaverty well worth the beautiful drive down the Kintyre Peninsula.