THE SIXTEENTH AT MACH DUNES

In this third and final part of my interview with David McLay Kidd about Mach Dunes (part 1 and part 2, here), the architect refutes one of my and others’ main criticisms of the course- an unwieldy routing with lots of blind shots and long transitions between greens and tees. It was my thought that if David and his team had compacted the routing at Mach Dunes and created a shorter course (7,200 yards was about the yardage from the tips) that wandered over less of the site, than maybe the environmentalists would have been more willing to make a few concessions and allow slightly more grading in the affected areas, resulting in a more playable and walkable course.

David refutes this by saying that he believed that they would look at it in the complete opposite way, that making the affected areas more compact would increase the overall degradation of the natural environment of the site. He also defends the length by saying that Tom Doak has made building shorter courses “half trendy”  and he was trying to build something that would still be a challenge 100 years from now and was different from its 6,400 yard neighbor. If only David was accurate in saying that a trend was developing around shorter courses golf would be in a much better and more sustainable place. (Video after the jump).

Our conversation shifted to the cost of building an extreme minimalist course like Mach Dunes. David shared that the construction cost of the course was half of what Bandon Dunes  cost a decade earlier. This was partly because of the restrictions and also because it was a project without significant backing.

David is very frank in saying that the course may not meet people expectations if they are hoping for a modern, polished golf course- “it could be that people’s expectations are far higher than what the course is not capable of delivering today.” He goes on to say that Mach Dunes is “a step way the hell back in time,” but the fundamentals are there and it will take time for the course to evolve in to greatness.

We also talk about his design at the Gleneagles West development which may open in 2012 and then we talk about an amazing site on the Washington coast that is permitted and was once under construction. Unfortunately the environmental restrictions are such, that in my opinion, a good course could not be built. David poses the question about how far we as golf guys would be willing to go to be able to build a course on sand next to the ocean. And that ultimately is the question. At Mach Dunes, David gives his answer. It is my sincere hope for David and the game of golf, that the course is given the time to evolve and change into the great course that it could be.

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.

AN ERODED BUNKER AT MACH DUNES

Mach Dunes opened in July of this past year at roughly the same time as Castle Stuart to the north. Neither is in the heart of Scottish golf touring area and so few if any have played them both. I did make it out to the Mull of Kintyre a few weeks before it opened and I had been warned in an email from architect David McLay Kidd, to, “just remember it’s a work in progress not a Fazio-esque insta-course!” I took this to heart and did not worry about conditioning as I played my way around. (Video and Interview with DMK after the jump)

There were some aspects of Mach Dunes that I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought the bunker work was excellent. The hazards look very natural and the chunks and clods of the faces that had fallen away and eroded really gave the course a rustic and ancient feel. Much has been made of the wild contours on the greens at the Kidd’s Castle course on the East coast, and similar contours can be found here. I did not find them overwhelming and if kept at the right speed, they will be enjoyable.

There were other elements of the course that I did not like nearly as much, such as its playability and routing. I knew that Kidd had been under very tight environmental restrictions on this project, and when I left the course, I leaned toward believing that if this was the best that could be produced than maybe the land even though it consisted of beautiful dunes should not have been converted into a golf course. Others who have made the trek out to Mach Dunes have had mixed things to say. This site’s co-creator Colin Sheehan who played the course just after its opening went further by writing a negative post on golfclubatlas.com, which immediately met with criticism from a number of sources.

I decided to go directly to David McLay Kidd and get the whole story. The result was a very interesting conversation that I recorded and have edited into a series of videos. In this first video, David explains in detail the background of the project. You can clearly hear his passion for this project. While each of the videos are long, I do believe that they shed some light on how Mach Dunes came to be, why the course is the way it is and where golf course design and development is heading in the face of stricter and stricter environmental restrictions.

The second video will cover the decision to build Mach Dunes, the expectations of the golfing public, and a discussion of using sheep to manage the roughs.

The third video will cover the routing and the future of environmentally sensitive golf projects.