Golf
Only greens and tees are permitted any non-native materials
Realising that his childhood dream was about to be fulfilled by someone else, David became determined to join the project as course architect
Dunes, David struck out on his own and established DMK Golf Design, with father Jimmy drafted in as Director and Consultant on all agronomic matters.
How Machrihanish Dunes came into being
David has always known Machrihanish as a special place, having spent many holidays at the family’s summer home. Here he would run along the sandy beach and hide amongst the dunes, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that he and his father initially discussed the possibility of creating a golf course amongst the virgin dunes.
As his career flourished through the nineties, and his reputation for designing stunning courses grew, the dunes of Machrihanish were never far from his mind but, even as he was seeking potential investors for the project, a second group had begun to take interest in the site.
As far back as the 1970s, photographer Brian Morgan had become instantly drawn to the area. After becoming friends with developer, Brian Keating, towards the turn of the century, Morgan brought
12 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012
him to see the site. Keating loved the idea, and the two friends decided it was the perfect setting to create the world’s next great links course in Scotland. In 2001, Morgan and Keating
approached the Barr family, the owners of the land, and struck a deal to work on the potential project. As primary backer of the endeavour, Keating took charge of the project. He planned to move forward and hired a course architect to draw up preliminary plans.
At the same time, David had decided to develop a new course in Machrihanish with his own funding, but was shocked to find that someone else had got there before him. Realising that his childhood dream was about to be fulfilled by someone else, he became determined to join the project as course architect. He discovered that the contract with the course architect had not been cemented, and immediately put together a presentation for Keating and Morgan. Upon meeting David, it quickly became obvious to Keating and Morgan that here was a man who, with his close association to the area, was the perfect fit to fulfil their vision and, so, the crucial role of
golf course architect was entrusted to him.
How the course was built
With a development team in place, the real challenges and rewards began to accrue. Scottish Natural Heritage, tasked with protecting the natural beauty of Scotland, was wary about allowing course development on a Site of Specific Scientific Interest. This area is under particular scrutiny as it is the home of five rare types of orchid, two of which are on the endangered list.
It was only after the developers and designer clearly demonstrated how the golf course would actually help the land flourish that construction was allowed to begin. In an effort to respect the land, minimal shaping of the course was undertaken. Whilst greens and tees were slightly moulded, the rest of the course was simply ‘uncovered’ and mown down by hand.
David identified twenty-three ‘natural’ holes, of which he chose the eighteen that would best suit the overall layout. To limit disturbance, areas that suffered from sheep and extensive rabbit damage were
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