[Alan Ritchie]

A recent vote from members has been in favour (61% to 39%) to finance a major redevelopment of the course by Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert that should see the most dramatic changes to the course in many years. I don't have the full master plan available but following a presentation from Mackenzie a few months ago it seems like the club will approve their masterplan.


The bunkering will take the form of their Turnberry style with more rugged/ natural looking fairway bunkering, whilst retaining the more traditional pot bunkers at the greensides. There will be numerous bunker location modifications to keep the course up to date with the modern length of the ball and lengthening in certain spots to maintain the challenge for top amateur events that the club will be aiming to attract in the future. There will also be the removal of some shorter fairway bunkers to improve playability for high handicap players.


The first will likely change the most with a plan to push the green out towards the Moray Firth and creating a gentle dogleg to the right.


The 7th tee will be moved towards the ocean and green moved back, lengthening the hole but still retaining the midline bunker near the landing zone for second shots.


There will be new bunkering on 15 that will make them more in play on the short par 4.


There are various other shaping changes around the greens that are planned, so it will be interesting to see exactly what gets approved.


Overall, I love the pictures that I have seen and it will be interesting to see how it takes shape over the next few years.

[Michael Graham]

Good to see Mackenzie & Ebert get a chance, they’ve been really struggling of late.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Good to see Mackenzie & Ebert get a chance, they’ve been really struggling of late.

Oh, how we need a like button! To which I'll add
[/color] [/size]
[/color]Perhaps this will give them the chance they can produce some really memorable work!  [/size]
[/color] [/size]
[/color]Not hopeful when the writer adds "it will be interesting to see what gets approved." [/size]

[John Mayhugh]

Good to see Mackenzie & Ebert get a chance, they’ve been really struggling of late.

Indeed.

[Ryan Coles]

Don’t hate the players, hate the game.

[Ira Fishman]

Our caddie who is a member told us that changes motivated largely to stay competitive for top regional competitions.  One of the more controversial proposals is to alter the 14th green to make it a more traditional two tier green because the current (and wonderful) green does not have enough pinnable locations for competitions.


Ira 

[Ally Mcintosh]

I can only say a limited amount about this but I’m sure those who have read a number of my posts over the last year or two can read between the lines

[Thomas Dai]

An upwards escalator at the 13th would be nice.
Atb

[Ian Galbraith]

I played with a member the day before the BUDA and let's just say he was in the 39%.

[Niall C]

What a cynical bunch. For a website dedicated to golf course architecture there is a lot of negative comment. I know Nairn doesn’t get a lot of love from some of you so I can’t imagine it’s thought of as some sacred cow that can’t be touched. Is it basically the architects or is it what’s being proposed ?

It seems to me if it was Tom D or C&C folk would be nodding their heads in approval.

Niall

[Ira Fishman]

Niall, in another thread, I stated that I thought Nairn was underappreciated on this site.  I do not think that it is a sacred cow, but I sure would hate to see a major alteration to the 14th green.  I also understand that they may make changes to the hollows in front of the green on 15, another feature that I thought was very good.


Ira

[Sean_A]

I like the idea of improving Nairn, but mucking with the 14th (one of the best short holes in Scotland) is a mistake.

Ciao

[Niall C]

Ira

I recall the previous thread regarding Nairn and I also agree with both you and Sean that I wouldn’t want to lose the 14th green however it was more the general tone of the responses I was commenting on.

Niall

[Rich Goodale]

Gentlemen


Please remember that Nairn is now "The Nairn."


They can do what ever they want to do.


The R

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Mackenzie and Ebert seem to have quite a lot of work around here. They are making alterations to Wilmslow and Pretbury. It's major work (and controversial) but one gets the impression that they have a ton of work and they have been taking over where Hawtree has become too grand to work.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Mackenzie and Ebert seem to have quite a lot of work around here. They are making alterations to Wilmslow and Pretbury. It's major work (and controversial) but one gets the impression that they have a ton of work and they have been taking over where Hawtree has become too grand to work.

Well call ME cynical (and I self edited my post above ), but it ceratainly seems like the R&A, sorry Dawson, stopped dropping Hawtree's card at every Club he visited after they got into bed with a certain blonde. Or is that just more fake news?

[Ally Mcintosh]

M&E have significantly more clubs on the go at the moment than Hawtree did, even if all the work is primarily renovation with an element of redesign.


Martin had a few more new builds.

[Alan Ritchie]

What a cynical bunch. For a website dedicated to golf course architecture there is a lot of negative comment. I know Nairn doesn’t get a lot of love from some of you so I can’t imagine it’s thought of as some sacred cow that can’t be touched. Is it basically the architects or is it what’s being proposed ?

It seems to me if it was Tom D or C&C folk would be nodding their heads in approval.

Niall

I would tend to agree with your last point. I have not seen much of their work in the flesh but the pictures from turnberry and portrush to me anyway, look like a marked improvement on what was there before.


Regarding the changes, they had suggested extending the back left of the 14th green to alllow a pin position ( which I think would be excellent to see a ball run up there). I don’t think there were plans to change much of the valley before the 15th green but certainly  more effective bunkering and  moving the wide right bunker into play.


Younger members seem to have been vastly in favour of the changes, with the older generation being more negative ( as in many areas!)

[Jon Wiggett]

Not a surprising move really but one where I hope some of Nairn's character is maintained especially the low key nature of the visuals on the bunkering. Alas however I see they are going to make the fairway bunkers look more natural. A bit of tufty grass and jagged edging and hey presto its got the look. 20 odd years ago when Doak and Coore first used this look extensively it was something fresh but now its a bit long in tooth and well frankly jaded.


Why can't GCAs come up with something new?

[Michael Graham]

What a cynical bunch. For a website dedicated to golf course architecture there is a lot of negative comment. I know Nairn doesn’t get a lot of love from some of you so I can’t imagine it’s thought of as some sacred cow that can’t be touched. Is it basically the architects or is it what’s being proposed ?

It seems to me if it was Tom D or C&C folk would be nodding their heads in approval.

Niall

Niall,


I was commenting on the fact that it's a rather unhealthy situation for British golf if one architectural firm have a virtual monopoly on restorations/renovations etc. as opposed to who the architects are. I've got nothing against M&E. My home club in Edinburgh has hired the firm to do a large scale bunker project. Tom Mackenzie has given a couple of very well received presentations to the members


For what it's worth, the same argument is being had in the USA when it seems like it's only ever one of the great triumvirate of modern designers that get new build projects.

[Niall C]

Michael

Point taken but even still, to me the real issue is quality of design. Basically, are their proposals any good ? It doesn’t seem that long ago that Dave Thomas was hoovering up a lot of work and if it comes to it I much prefer M&E’s sandy waste bunkering to Thomas’s shite roundy moundy bunkering schemes.

Niall

[Ally Mcintosh]

Niall,


That is indeed what it comes down to. But one architectural firm repeating the same style and values over 50% of our well known links courses leads to them all looking and playing more alike than they should.


Plus on a personal level, I don’t agree that essentially flat links courses suit natural edged “blowout bunkers” unless they are used sparingly and backed in to the few higher dunes that actually exist.


But hey-ho, I also don’t know most of these courses well enough. I am sure there are some worthy improvements on balance.

[Niall C]

Ally

The bunkering style is just the varnish used to dress up the design and is in any case subject to the whims of fashion. And who’s to say M&E’s style won’t evolve ? It seems to me that most architects tend to develop and change their style over time. Many of the ODG’s did, did they not ?

Niall

[Jon Wiggett]

Niall,


re: Bunker style. It is very saddening that many of the bigger names all seem to be doing the same [box standard] style of frilly, jagged edged bunkering. C&C, Doak, M&E all look the same to me.  You talk about evolution and the chances of the architect's style evolving but it seems to me that they all started at different points and have ended up at the same place. Doak's Common Ground appears to be the only exception in recent years. If the style is to change it will probably be down to the greenkeepers rather than the GCA.


Ally,


I agree that one company getting so much work is not good. There are plenty of other good people out there though I think Trump's course was a nail in the coffin for Martin Hawtree where what he produced was mediocre for the site.

[Wayne_Kozun]

For what it's worth, the same argument is being had in the USA when it seems like it's only ever one of the great triumvirate of modern designers that get new build projects.

Who is in that triumvirate?  Doak, C&C and Hanse?  There are still lots of other designers around that are building courses - certainly Nicklaus, Rees Jones, RTJ Jr and Fazio come to mind, and I bet I am leaving out a bunch of names.

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