I played Ardfin (with my bride) in September 2017 in the middle of the 3 week trip playing some 18 different Scottish courses of which six were first time plays for me (Pat was smart enough to mix in other activities aside from golf). The variety of courses on this journey was astounding, including great great old (and long revered) clubs such as TOC, Muirfield, Prestwick, Dornoch, GE-King's, N Berwick, Gullane #1, as well as some "newer" great well recognized layouts, such as Turnberry (post Trump's brilliant renovation), Castle Stuart, and some possible Hidden Gems that I had never seen....the best of which were two that were unforgettable to me: Brora and Askernish. Ardfin worked into the trip very well logistically between Prestwick and Askernish (followed by Dornoch).
I was an invited guest (I guess), paying a low night's fee at the hotel next to the distillery and no golfing fees. The course was essentially finished except for some clean up on some green to tee walks. Before going there I had heard that there had been ZERO sand on the island of Jura and that sand to cap the entire course was imported from surrounding Islands/areas. Without naming names we played with some of the key people from the SOL construction company who built the course.
First let me say...this is no question the most spectacular site for a golf course I have ever seen or even possibly imagined. It is breathtaking. No question in my mind about that statement, but a golf course in much much more than the "view"...or otherwise I might have to place Ardfin second to the view from the top of Mt. Everest or K-2 (have been to neither). How many hundreds of courses have you seen with better views than TOC??
We played in admittedly horrible weather. However, I have to say that in all my years playing golf in GB&I (starting in 1970) encompassing 114 courses and probably a total of some 300+ rounds I have
never played a more water logged layout than that round at Ardfin. During the round I inquired regarding the sand capping and was clearly told that the original plan was to sand cap the entire course but then due to strong winds and limited facilities to barge in the sand, it became clear it would be impossible to sand cap the entire course (and if it had been logistically possible, the sand likely would blow away before the plantings/seeding would "take" to hold it down (green and tee areas being much smaller in size could be temporarily protected by barriers). In fact the tees and greens were in decent shape and not water logged...but the fairways were another story.
Back in 2017 Coffey (owner) had apparently not decided what he wanted to do with the course...he was relatively new to the game. My impression (I did not meet him) was that the course was to be part of their home here and a place for his friends to visit. After listening to Bob Harrison's podcast, I have a strong sense that Bob's talk about "World Top 100" may have altered Coffey's plans...which also might have been altered by the actual cost of the project (Coffey's reputed net worth while pretty strong is not in Michael Bloomberg's class and I do not think implies unlimited resources for just this project). I suspect that Coffey has felt the desire to generate some income from this investment...and that this marketing and availability is necessary for World 100 status.
Note that none of the residential facilities were even close to finished in 2017...but to my mind, that does not matter...I was there to see the golf course not to evaluate its housing. Analogously, the rooms at Del Monte are frankly nicer that the rooms at Cypress...but how many would choose a room at Del Monte and a round at Pebble for a room and round at CPC.
I very much liked the golf course design with the exception of some long forced carries (due to wetlands) into green settings (particularly the approach to #11) and some long green to tee walks.
I was led to believe Coffey originally planned just one set of tees but by 2017 had been convinced to expand this to three sets totaling 6800, 6445, and 5523 yards. So now name me your favorite track with no tees between 5525 and 6445 yards. Regarding Ardfin as a World 100...not on my ballot until it proves it played firm and fast a reasonable % of the time...and the course I played in 2017 was not even close. Furthermore, I have talked with others who experienced similar soggy fairway conditions since 2017. Yes, I have have also read and heard others who said it was brilliant and very playable (see some above posts). And maybe post 2017 sand capping has alleviated what I played through...but until I hear consistent reports of firm fast conditions, I could never put Ardfin in a World 100.
BTW....you can read more about my visit on my blog post:
https://rudogolf.blogspot.com/2017/10/return-to-scotland-trip-of-lifetime.htmlAnd if you are trying to set up a game for this summer, I would advise against using moi as a reference...I have heard my post and thoughts were not deeply appreciated.
One final point...if you really are interested in something brilliant and fun...go to Askernish....not to hard to get there and too much fun to adequately describe. Three thousand cheers for the likes of Colin MacGregor, Gordon Irvine, Martin Ebert, Chris Haspell, Adam Lawrence, Mike Keiser , and Tom Doak for their wonderful efforts. This is GOLF at its finest IMO.