Machrihanish - a life on the Ocean Wave...

[Marty Bonnar]

So, the Vostinaks are in Scotland and wanted to experience the majesty that is 'The Big Mach'.

The new 'Kintyre Express' ferry service is now operating from Troon and it was unanimously decided that, as earnest, trustworthy members of long-standing here at GCA, we would offer ourselves as willing guinea-pigs for the common good of everyone here. (Despite the obvious threat to life, limb and golf swing).

Here attached a brief photo-journal of the grand day:

The jolly sailors about to 'christen the new sloop' (or embark). No sign of potential sea-sickness, lack of sea-legs or other land-lubberly weaknesses here!).

l to r: La Nancy, your correspondent, The man of Redan, the Lady of Redan



the skillful skipper -


- neatly threads the mighty beast between Ailsa Craig:


and the Isle of Arran:


(please excuse poor compostion skills but at 25 knots and over a nice heavy swell this is as good as it gets!)

To arrive unscathed and swinging well at the majesty of Mach..





Having now fully recovered from the rigours of our passage, we can now happily and heartily recommend this mode of transport to all our GCA comrades. BTW, costs approx. £55 for trip (you might be able to haggle!) and £35 for green fees (a fiver off as Kintyre Express users!)

'The Redans' are now in Dornoch with your other Scottish reporter...more later from Bill I assume!

FBD.

[Tom Huckaby]

Fan-freakin tastic.  Great stuff.  

First, gotta love the black socks and shoes with shorts.  

 

Serious questions though:  how long did the boat ride take?  And when do they go and return?  Did you do this as a day trip or overnight it?  Can it be done as a day trip, which of course one would only do if really pressed for time?

TH

[Brent Hutto]

http://www.kintyreexpress.com

Basically Monday-Wednesday-Friday and it takes an hour.

So Huck, when do we leave? I've got my black shoes and socks ready...

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

That is one of the grand places in all of golfdom. I hope to be back soon.

[Tom Huckaby]

Well now sure Brent, I could have exerted some effort and looked it up....

 

Thanks.  Interesting the timetables are pretty much the same as the airplane schedules... boat is a bit cheaper... in any case it is great to have this alternative.  My next big Scotland trip - if such does ever occur - we factor this in without a doubt.

TH

[Marty Bonnar]

All,
the fact that it is a day trip is the finest reason possible for choosing it.
8:15 from Troon marina so if you're down in that corner of Scotland (Troon, turnberry, Prestwick, Gailes, etc.) anyway it would be rude not to!
Very civilised, very comfy, great boat and crew, taxi from Campbeltown takes maybe 15 mins. Enough time for a coffee and bacon roll in Clubhouse, before an 11ish tee-time and return to C'town for a 5:15 return to Troon. Destined to become one of golf's great journeys!
There was a bit of chat about Perry Golf maybe using them next season...aargh! Every silver lining must have a cloud, I guess.


FBD.

[Tom Huckaby]

Martin - seems to me that once word gets out about how simple, nice and easy this is, it's not just PerryGolf who's going to use it... basically all the American and other tour groups will.  The main reason NOT to do Mac to date has been that it's a very long day either driving or flying, and since the flights go from Glasgow the logistics didn't work all that well into a grand Scotland tour, at least not as a day trip.  The way you just described that it may as well just be day 5 of a 7 day trip, with the travel logistics not much different than taking the motorcoach to one of the more distant courses on one's rota.

So I advise you as a local - do it now and often before we descend.

 

[Andy Doyle]

Looks like the perfect solution when the weather's too bad to fly!    

Their home page lists Northern Ireland as well - could this be the long sought-after shortcut from Portrush to Machrihanish?

Andy

[George Pazin]

How'd you get Pat Mucci to drive the boat?

 

[James Bennett]

I'm glad the trip only takes one hour.  What was the name of the Boat for the kintyre Express - the SS Minnow?

I was worried that it might have been a three hour tour, a three hour tour.  I'm glad that when you finally started setting out that the sea did not become rough otherwise the tiny ship would have been tossed.  However, the crew looks fearless ( ) so you wouldn't have been lost

I'm trying to place the Skipper, Gilligan, the Professor, Thurston Howell III (does he post on GCA?, does he know Hamilton B Hearst?) and Mrs Howell , the moviestar and Mary.  I can see the moviestar and Mary and the skipper and I think Gilligan, but I could be wrong.

Looks magnificent.  The skipper often seems to wear black socks with black shoes.  He thinks that is colour co-ordinated.  I think he may have even bought a pink shirt at Plainfield but that was for 'Mary'.  LOL

James B

[Gene Greco]

What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing!

I remember the drive from Turnberry to Machrihanish like it was yesterday - beautiful but long.

Surely one of my favorite places in this world to play golf.

Does one have time for a whiskey at the Argiel Hotel prior to the return?

 

[Jason McNamara]

Looks like the perfect solution when the weather's too bad to fly!    

Their home page lists Northern Ireland as well - could this be the long sought-after shortcut from Portrush to Machrihanish?

Andy

Might have to be.  The Scots put the Ballycastle - Campbeltown ferry route out for tenders back at the start of the year, dangling a 1M-pound subsidy for 5 yrs, and none of the approved bidders (Western, Steam Packet, couple others, but not CalMac) even submitted an offer.

"Wait til next year," I guess.  Or until Perry Golf starts offering trips from RCD to RP to Mach to Ayrshire...*

Jason

* If there's any Perry Golf lurkers here and you use this idea, you owe me a trip.  

[T_MacWood]

Interesting look the redanman is sporting there...no doubt black socks will be sweeping the west of Scotland.

BillV
I'm a little surprised someone in your party didn't mention this to you...but you aren't wearing any pants.

Perhaps I'm not up on local tradition. Is golfing in your boxers a little-known Kintyre tradition?

[cary lichtenstein]

I'm sending the black sock/black shoe picture to Nike...who knows...maybe Tiger will be wearing them next with a swosh

[Jason Blasberg]

fashion consultant to aisle five please . . .  I always new that Bill was a substance over form guy but those socks and dress shoes are too much  

[Tony_Muldoon]

Martin, didn’t anyone comment on the last time there was a shadow like that in these parts it was Finn McCool.  I'm tall but he's a giant!

[SPDB]

Its funny, BillV is so much larger than anyone else, that
looking at the picture again, I just assumed that was his arm
wrapped around "La Nancy" and not FBD's.  

[mike_malone]

 That is some serious asspic there!

[john_stiles]

This same company will let you charter their boat and take you to Machrie.  Now thats an adventure.

Ciao
Sean

Ahh !!   Machrie,  wonderful sporty layout; great fresh mussels at hotel, single malts, and a few blind shots.  Great fun Machrie.

[Phil McDade]

On a non-fashion-related note...

Is that the new regular-play tee at Machrihanish? It looks to be to the left -- and decidely lower -- than the traditional tee that played to the right/front of the pro shop, and at a higher elevation.

At first glance, I'm not sure I like it.

[Marty Bonnar]

Phil,
this is indeed a new first tee (since I was last there anyway).
It sits about three feet below and left of the medal tee. In some ways it's an even harder shot than the medal. Nearer sea level; more ocean/beach to cross; psychological effect of higher tee adjacent. Great fun though!

Tony,
Dr V is indeed a gentleman of large proportion. Those size 14 shoes were looking favourite for employment as liferafts had the ship foundered!

Note for fashionistas:
Bill is now the proud possessor of a black lambswool sweater adorned with the delightful Oystercatcher logo of the Mach. Quite the dapper Dan!

Prizes for the first correct guess as to the source of the FBD chapeau...

FBD.

PS The Mach is the one reason why I WISH we had already perfected 3-D cameras and screens (we have to wait until 2042 for that). The internal contouring and blending with exterior humps and hollows is truly exquisite but cannot be conveyed meaningfully in photos (or words!).

[Brent Hutto]

Prizes for the first correct guess as to the source of the FBD chapeau...

Blind guess. Tom Huckaby.

If not, my second guess would be the tenth hole at Riviera.

[Phil McDade]

Martin:

I tended to like the (1999 -- when I was there) original version a bit better -- less of a direct challenge than simply crossing the Atlantic. The one up by the pro shop, although not all that further to the right, gives the visual impression of allowing more options off the tee -- a small bite of the beach, a complete bail-out to the right, or a running draw that bites off a good chunk of the beach and avoids the traps on the right side of the fairway. Most nervous I've ever been on a tee, surrounded by a dozen or so waiting golfers and watchers. Absolutely nailed it, dead center of the fairway. I tend not to confess too often that I pulled the next one on to the beach!

And I agree on how current photography simply fails to do justice to the humps, hollows, contours and whatnot of Machrihanish. I have a few photos of the 5th -- probably the single best golf hole I've ever encountered -- that don't do it any justice whatsoever.

[Mike_Cirba]

Ahhhh Dr. Bill and Renee.....jet-setting and setting fashion trends.  

Good on you two!    

[James Bennett]

The FBD Chapeau  - I guess CPC.

James B