BEND — David McLay Kidd is one of the most famous golf course architects in the world, highly successful, a millionaire several times over who flies his own airplane and owns a villa in Nicaragua and a house near London, and so he could live anywhere, really.
Scotland, revisited: David McLay Kidd realizes a career dream in designing Machrihanish Dunes
Noted golf architect spent childhood summers in these dunes, and carefully worked through considerable environmental restraints to build the golf course MACHRIHANISH, ARGYLL, Scotland — When he designed Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club, near the bottom of the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland, David McLay Kidd was fulfilling a dream he had nurtured throughout his career. […]
Scotland, revisited: The Machrihanish Golf Club, good for the golfer’s soul
An iconic opening shot is just the beginning of the fun MACHRIHANISH, ARGYLL, Scotland — You have to work to get here, to this beautiful, remote village. And then, you have to force yourself to leave. Near the tip of the peninsula known as the Mull of Kintyre, a 4½-hour drive from Edinburgh, you find […]
Scotland, day two: Machrihanish Dunes, a wild golf adventure
A relatively new course conjures the golf of 130 years ago MACHRIHANISH, ARGYLL, Scotland — If I have ever before used the phrase “wild and woolly” to describe a links golf course, please forgive that exaggeration. I wrote too soon; that is, before playing Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club, a place where the phrase is apt. […]
Scotland, day one: The charm of Machrihanish Golf Club
A long journey is rewarded by an inspired, and inspiring, golf course MACHRIHANISH, ARGYLL, Scotland — We had already been on the road for 24-some hours, flying from Seattle on Wednesday morning to Dallas to London to Edinburgh, Scotland, and now it was late Thursday in a new time zone and we were three hours […]
Previewing Scotland: A journey to the birthplace of golf
Seeking the enduring spirit of golf in Scotland, from Old Tom Morris to David McLay Kidd (and Donald Trump) Golfers don’t simply take a trip to Scotland to play courses there. They make a pilgrimage. That word conveys the historic nature of the game there, the bucket-list allure. Wrote the late James W. Finegan in […]
Ocean Dunes: Steady progress for Florence golf course
Under Three Rivers Casino Resort ownership, bigger changes still envisioned. FLORENCE — Four years after the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, owners of Three Rivers Casino Resort, purchased Ocean Dunes Golf Links, the deal has produced measurable short-term gains for the golf course, with grander improvements envisioned. With the investment by […]