Neil/James
I’m a big fan of Machrihanish as a course and certainly don’t wish the club any harm however I note that despite being fully insured they are looking for charity to build something grander. How does that chime with the other thread on “How to put a golf course out of business” ?
To my mind the two most detrimental things that a lot of UK clubs have been guilty of over the last 50 years have been uncontrolled and ill-considered planting of trees and shrubs on the course, and secondly expense extensions and rebuilding of clubhouses when times were good. While trees and shrubs can be readily removed, expensive buildings remain and often become expensive white elephants. I’d hate to see Machrihanish go down this route.
Niall