Dundonald Links near Troon might be a product of the 21st century but it looks as if it has been there for years.

Scotland is renowned for its rich reservoir of links courses but there is no doubt the new Dundonald Links in Ayrshire deserves to be ranked right up there alongside the very best of them.

The course was opened as recently as 2003 but already it has been recognised as one of the best new courses in the 2004 Robb Report and only last year was invited to host the prestigious Duke of York Young Champions Trophy featuring the likes of 2006 British Boy’s champion, Matthew Nixon, 14 year-old Curtis Cup squad member, Carly Booth, as well as other national champions from the likes of Ireland, Sweden, France and Germany.

New Dundonald Links Director of Operations, John Caven, previously Paul Lawrie’s Business Development Manager, has no doubt the course lives up to its reputation as a “classic links” and PGATour.com staff writer, David Brice, went further, comparing it to a fine vintage wine:

“Most new golf courses are like wine, they often require time to mature and develop,” he wrote in 2004. “But also similar to wine, there are some new courses that can be experienced young and are filled with character from the moment they are first opened. Dundonald Links is such a course and the most recent addition to Scotland’s already links rich Ayrshire coastline.”

Those words will be like music to the ears of Dundonald Link’s Californian-based designer, Kyle Phillips, who intimated from the outset that is was his intention “to create a championship Ayrshire links that felt and played as though it was an old, rediscovered course.”

Phillips, a traditionalist and also the designer of Kingsbarns near St Andrews and The Grove in Hertfordshire, moved some earth around while constructing Dundonald Links but only where it was necessary to enhance the existing contours. The result is a thoroughly natural test of golf, one that is comparable to nearby Royal Troon and Turnberry, but with a character all of its own.

Dundonald Links, it should be recorded, was built on land that was briefly used as a golf course between the years of the First and the Second World Wars. That long-forgotten original course was dug up to aid the war effort in the 1940s and nothing of it survives today. Instead, Philips used his own vivid imagination and the same light, sandy soil to build a traditional 7,300-yard masterpiece that lingers in the memory long after a visit is over.

Philips is renowned for creating undulating, well-protected greens and that is a feature that can be found both at the 460-yard par-4 1st and the 405 yard par-4 2nd where the putting surfaces present an elusive target and slope away on all sides. The burn, which meanders all over the site, makes its first appearance on the dangerous 540-yard par-5 3rd and then it is on to the challenging 215-yard par-3 4th, which is normally played into the wind and is the first of four exceptional short holes at Dundonald Links.

Phillips still makes regular visits to Ayrshire and over the winter of 2006-‘07 he elected to built a new bunker into the right-hand side of the landing area on the 550-yard par-5 5th hole. It is a dog-leg, a birdie chance in some wind conditions, but also another hole where putting can be treacherous on a severely sloping green.

Accuracy is the key on the memorable 170-yard par-3 6th, where a ditch sits in wait to the left of the green, and also on the 395-yard par-4 7th where a massive swale protects the front of the green. There is also a 9-foot drop at the front of the green on the 395-yard par-4 8th and then the opening half comes to a close with the demanding 410-yard par-4 9th where a cavernous bunker lurks in the centre of the landing area and a ditch will catch any shot that comes up short of the green.

The 465-yard par-4 10th starts close to the clubhouse and then the course moves seaward, first to the delightful 120-yard par-3 11th, on to the short 350-yard par-4 12th and then to the 410-yard par-4 13th that runs parallel to the railway line and close to Western Gailes, another of Ayrshire’s fine links courses.

The 11th, Dundonald’s most picturesque hole, is like the 8th or “Postage Stamp” at Royal Troon in as much as it provides concrete proof that a hole does not have to be long to be demanding and it is the same at the 12th, the shortest par-4 on the course but a fine challenge nonetheless. The 13th, meanwhile, deserves to be conferred instant classic status. On a good day, the hole affords a fine view of the distant Isle of Arran but trouble also abounds, both off the tee and all the way to a heavily contoured green protected by a ditch.

Sheer length is seldom an issue on this firm, fast running links but the 550-yard par-5 14th will seldom be hit in two, even by the biggest hitters. The green on 215-yard par-3 15th is just as elusive while the 470-yard par-4 16th, situated close to the railway and Western Gailes’ clubhouse, is another stern test. 

 Quite deliberately, when stretched to its full length, Dundonald was built to test even the best golfers and it finishes, first with the 420-yard par-4 17th, the sharpest dog-leg on the course, and then the daunting 560-yard par-5 18th, where accuracy from the tee is essential for anyone who harbours hopes of hitting the green in two.

The 18th, like the 7th and one or two others, is another example of Dundonald still being a work in progress. Here, after much deliberation, Phillips elected to move the ditch several yards away from the green, thereby turning an unfair shot into a demanding one. It is all part of the designer’s masterplan. He wants you to get what you deserve at Scotland’s newest links and that, most golfers would argue, is exactly the way it should be. 

Dundonald Links was purchased by Lyle Anderson Company Inc, owners of Loch Lomond Golf Club, in 2003 and can now be played by discerning green fee customers (Monday to Wednesday £95, Thursday and Friday £110 and Saturday and Sunday £125).

“We believe we can offer visitors a combination of a great golf course and exceptional levels of customer service,” said Niall Flanagan, General Manager of Loch Lomond and Dundonald Links. “From the valet parking on arrival, to great food and beverage and a unique locker room service, visitors will enjoy a first class day’s golf.”

For more information on Loch Lomond Golf Club please contact Joanne Kerr (+44(0)1436 655336) at joanne.kerr@lochlomond.com or James Lovett (+44 (0)1438 718399 at GMS james@gmsgolf.co.uk

Reigning British Boys champion, Emilio Cuartero, hopes to land a unique British double when he tees up in the seventh Duke of York Young Champions Trophy to be staged at Dundonald Links, Ayrshire, on Tuesday September 11th to Thursday September 13th.

Cuartero, 16, a native of Lleida about an hour’s drive from Barcelona, won the British Boys’ crown when he defeated Scot, Fraser Fotheringham, by 1-hole in a tense final at Royal Porthcawl and he will need to rekindle that sort of form if he is to overcome a strong Duke of York field that also includes English Boys’ Under-18 Stroke Play Champion Matt Haines, Scottish Boys’ Match Play champion Paul Ferrier, Welsh Boys’ Stroke Play champion Joe Vickery and German international, Sean Einhaus, who is the back marker in the field with a handicap of +4.7.

The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy, which was created by HRH The Duke of York and former Nick Faldo manager, John Simpson, is a unique, international 54-hole stroke play event open to both boys and girls who hold their Under-18 national title or have won some other major golfing event in the preceding 12 months.

This year’s field comprises 49 competitors from over 28 different countries including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, India, Italy, Latvia, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and Turkey.

The Girls’ entry is headed by English Under-18 Stroke Play champion, Holly Clyburn, a 16 year-old from Cleethorpes who will face strong competition from Austria’s Marina Kotnik, Holland’s Maaike Naafs, France’s Isabelle Boineau, Switzerland’s Fanny Vuignier and Italian Giulia Molinaro.

“We are delighted this year’s Duke of York Young Champions Trophy has attracted such a strong field from so many different countries,” said tournament founder John Simpson. “It promises to be an excellent event and one that will continue to enhance its reputation around the world.”

Last year’s Duke of York Young Champions Trophy, the first to be staged at Dundonald Links, was won by English Boys’ captain, Sam Hutsby, who closed with a spectacular seven under par 65 to edge out Switzerland’s Mark Dobias and Sweden’s Robin Wingarth by two shots. The leading female competitor was Scotland’s Carly Booth who posted rounds of 73, 77 and 73 to share sixth place overall alongside Belgium’s Xavier Favaerts.

The other previous winners were England’s Michael Nester (2001), Spain’s Carlos Del Moral (2002), Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg (2003), Welshman Zac Gould (2004) and Englishman Oli Fisher (2005)

Dundonald Links was purchased by Lyle Anderson Company Inc, owners of Loch Lomond, in 2003 and re-designed by Californian-based course architect Kyle Phillips.

 For more information on Dundonald Links please call +44 (0)1294 314000 or Email dundonaldlinks@lochlomond.com

For further information on The Duke of York Young Champions’ Trophy please see www.doy-champions.com or contact Mark Pearn at JSA on 0208-605-1001 or email mark@jsa-ltd.com

For further information regarding this release please contact James Lovett at GMS
Email: james@gmsgolf.co.uk or call 01438 718399

Dundonald Links has been selected as the venue for the 2008 DM Hall Scottish Mid-Amateur Championship. This prestigious national Championship is to be staged over the renowned Ayrshire links on June 14th -16th, 2008

“We are delighted to announce that Dundonald Links will be staging the 2008 event,” said Hamish Grey, Chief Executive of the Scottish Golf Union. “The SGU has worked closely with Loch Lomond Golf Club for the past ten years and we are grateful to Lyle Anderson for his support of this Championship and for his continued investment in Scottish junior golf through the provision of tee-times for our club members.

“In an era of full-time amateurs where the leading players are getting younger, the DM Hall Scottish Mid-Amateur Championship provides a top-class national event for those slightly older players who have full-time jobs to give them the platform to showcase their talents,” Grey added.

“We are thrilled that Dundonald Links has been chosen to host the 2008 Mid-Amateur Championship,” said John Caven, Director of Operations at Dundonald Links. “It is a great honour to be asked to stage such a prestigious event and further proof of Dundonald Links’ burgeoning reputation within the Scottish game.”

Emma Strachan, Marketing Manager at DM Hall, commenting on the announcement said: “Dundonald Links will provide a superb setting for the 2008 Championship and will enhance what has been a great event for us to be involved with over the past few years.

“Having attracted a large and impressive field this year, I’m sure even more Scottish club golfers will be eager to take part in 2008. As one of the organisation’s longest serving sponsors, DM Hall is proud to be working alongside both the SGU and Dundonald Links.”

The DM Hall Scottish Mid-Amateur Championship celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2008 and counts former Amateur champion, Craig Watson, and current Scotland captain, George Crawford, among its illustrious list of former champions. This year’s event was won by Matthew Clark, a 25 year-old bank manager from Kilmacolm, who defeated Airdrie’s Steven Rennie in the final at Duddingston.

The Championship boasts a field of 84 players. The first day features 36-hole stroke play qualifying, with the leading 16 qualifiers left to battle it out over two days of match play to determine the destination of the title.

Dundonald Links was designed by Californian-based course architect Kyle Phillips and was purchased by Lyle Anderson Company Inc, owners of Loch Lomond, in 2003.

The course can be played by discerning green fee customers (Monday to Wednesday £95, Thursday and Friday £110 and Saturday and Sunday £125).
“We believe we can offer visitors a combination of a great golf course and exceptional levels of customer service,” said Niall Flanagan, General Manager of Loch Lomond and Dundonald Links. “From the valet parking on arrival, to great food and beverage and a unique locker room service, visitors will enjoy a first class day’s golf.”

Dundonald Links, the Ayrshire course owned by the world-renowned Loch Lomond Golf Club, is delighted to announce the appointment of John Caven as its new Director of Operations.

Originally from the south side of Glasgow, John is a professional golfer who has sat on the Scottish Region PGA Committee for the past 4 years.

He previously worked at Oldmeldrum Golf Club, Aberdeenshire, as the General Manager where he was instrumental in the development of the Club through planning and construction, and also created a state of the art practice facility. More recently, John has spent the last 4 years working closely with the 1999 Open Championship winner, Paul Lawrie, as his Business Development Manager.  This role included PR, sales and marketing, delivering corporate golf days, generating and co-ordinating events for corporate partners.  John also worked on a variety of projects such as the Paul Lawrie Junior Golf Programme in association with Aberdeenshire Councils.

“We are delighted that John has joined what is an already strong team,” said Niall Flanagan, General Manager of Loch Lomond Golf Club and Dundonald Links. “He has a wealth of experience working in the golf industry and the knowledge he has accrued will be hugely beneficial as we continue to develop Dundonald Links.”

“This is a fantastic opportunity for me,” said Caven. “Dundonald Links is an exceptional links course and I am really looking forward to the exciting challenge of putting it firmly on the golfing map.”

Designed by Kyle Phillips, one of the game's top architects, Dundonald Links is a true test of links golf that has been quietly maturing since its opening in 2003. The club has recently announced a new green-fee structure that will enable visiting golfers to experience a stunning test of links golf complimented by exemplary service.

Situated on the stunning Ayrshire coast, near the legendary town of Troon, Dundonald Links is a mere 10 minutes from Prestwick Airport and half an hour from Glasgow Airport.

To book a tee-time at Dundonald Links please call +44 (0)1294 314000 or Email dundonaldgolf@lochlomond.com

Dundonald Links, the new links course owned by the world-renowned Loch Lomond Golf Club, is opening its doors to visitor play with a new green fee structure.

Designed by Kyle Phillips, one of the game's top architects, Dundonald Links is a true test of links golf that has been quietly maturing with member rounds, since its opening in 2003 and has matured to the point that it is now ready for an increased level of play.

“Dundonald is a fantastic links course that has already hosted final qualifying for the Senior British Open Championship and was recognised as one of the best new courses in the 2004 Robb Report. We now feel the time is right to increase the number of rounds played, with access for visitors both during the week and at weekends,” said Niall Flanagan, General Manager of Loch Lomond Golf Club and Dundonald Links.

“We believe we can offer visitors a combination of a great golf course and exceptional levels of customer service.” added Flanagan. “From the valet parking on arrival, to great food and beverage and a unique locker room service, visitors will enjoy a first class day’s golf.”

Situated on the stunning Ayrshire coast, near the legendary town of Troon, Dundonald Links is a mere 10 minutes from Prestwick Airport and half an hour from Glasgow Airport.

With a host of other championship golf courses on its doorstep, Dundonald Links is a great addition to any Ayrshire golfing itinerary.  It can certainly lay claim to being a golf course for real golfers. Master-craftsman Kyle Phillips has created a classic links course that blends in seamlessly with the natural surroundings, in a similar vein to his highly-acclaimed Kingsbarns Golf Links.

"My desire was to create a championship Ayrshire-style links course that felt and played as though it was an old rediscovered course, by integrating newly constructed features with existing site features." said Phillips.

Green-fees will be available at the following prices: Monday to Wednesday £95, Thursday & Friday £110 and Saturday & Sunday £125

To book a tee-time at Dundonald Links please call +44 (0)1294 314000 or Email dundonaldgolf@lochlomond.com

Dundonald Links, on Scotland’s Ayrshire Coast, is delighted to announce that it has gone live with its new website, www.dundonaldlinks.com.

Designed to be a fully-functional website, it has been created specifically to give visitors to the site the opportunity to preview club services and facilities, check the latest news, view course images and also crucially book tee-times via the website’s booking form before their visit to Dundonald Links.

“Dundonald is a fantastic links course that has been quietly maturing over the past few years and has already hosted a number of events including final qualifying for the Senior British Open Championship.  We believe that the new website will only increase the world-wide awareness of the course,” commented John Caven, Director of Operations at Dundonald Links.

“We believe we can offer visitors a combination of a great golf course and exceptional levels of customer service,” added Caven. “From the valet parking on arrival, to great food and beverage and a unique locker room service, visitors will enjoy a first class day’s golf.”

Situated on the stunning Ayrshire coast, near the legendary town of Troon, Dundonald Links is a mere five minutes from Prestwick Airport and half an hour from Glasgow Airport.

With a host of other championship golf courses on its doorstep, Dundonald Links is a great addition to any Ayrshire golfing itinerary.  It can certainly lay claim to being a golf course for real golfers. Master-craftsman Kyle Phillips has created a classic links course that blends in seamlessly with the natural surroundings, in a similar vein to his highly-acclaimed Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Green-fees will be available at the following prices: Monday to Wednesday £95, Thursday & Friday £110 and Saturday & Sunday £125

For more information on Dundonald Links please call +44 (0)1294 314000 or Email dundonaldlinks@lochlomond.com

For further information regarding this release please contact James Lovett at GMS
Email: james@gmsgolf.co.uk or call 01438 718399

Dundonald Links near Troon might be a product of the 21st century but it looks as if it has been there for years

Scotland is renowned for its rich reservoir of links courses but there is no doubt the new Dundonald Links in Ayrshire deserves to be ranked right up there alongside the very best of them.

The course was opened as recently as 2003 but already it has been recognised as one of the best new courses in the 2004 Robb Report and only last year was invited to host the prestigious Duke of York Champions Trophy featuring the likes of 2006 British Boy’s champion, Matthew Nixon, precocious 14 year-old Curtis Cup squad member, Carly Booth, as well as other national champions from the likes of Ireland, Sweden, France and Germany.

New Dundonald Links Director of Operations, John Caven, previously Paul Lawrie’s Business Development Manager, has no doubt the course lives up to its reputation as a “classic links” and PGATour.com staff writer, David Brice, went further, comparing it to a fine vintage wine:

“Most new golf courses are like wine, they often require time to mature and develop,” he wrote in 2004. “But also similar to wine, there are some new courses that can be experienced young and are filled with character from the moment they are first opened. Dundonald Links is such as course and the most recent addition to Scotland’s already links rich Ayrshire coastline.”

Those words will be like music to the ears of Dundonald Link’s Californian-based designer, Kyle Phillips, who intimated from the outset that is was his intention “to create a championship Ayrshire links that felt and played as though it was an old, rediscovered course.”

Phillips, a traditionalist and also the designer of Kingsbarns near St Andrews and The Grove in the Hertfordshire, moved some earth around while constructing Dundonald Links but only where it was necessary to enhance the existing contours. The result is a thoroughly natural test of golf, one that is comparable to nearby Royal Troon and Turnberry, but with a character all of its own.

Dundonald Links, it should be recorded, was built on land that was briefly used as a golf course between the years of the First and the Second World Wars. That long-forgotten original course was dug up to aid the war effort in the 1940s and nothing of it survives today. Instead, Philips used his own vivid imagination and the same light, sandy soil to build a traditional 7,100-yard masterpiece that lingers in the memory long after a visit is over.

Philips is renowned for creating undulating, well-protected greens and that is a feature that can be found both at the 460-yard par-4 1st and the 405 yard par-4 2nd where the putting surfaces present an elusive target and slope away on all sides. The burn, which meanders all over the site, makes its first appearance on the dangerous 540-yard par-5 3rd and then it is on to the challenging 215-yard par-3 4th, which is normally played into the wind and is the first of four exceptional short holes at Dundonald Links.

Phillips still makes regular visits to Ayrshire and over the winter of 2006-‘07 he elected to built a new bunker into the right-hand side of the landing area on the 550-yard par-5 5th hole. It is a dog-leg, a birdie chance in some wind conditions, but also another hole where putting can be treacherous on a severely sloping green.

Accuracy is the key on the memorable 170-yard par-3 6th, where a ditch sits in wait to the left of the green, and also on the 395-yard par-4 7th where a massive swale protects the front of the green. There is also a 9-foot drop at the front of the green on the 395-yard par-4 8th and then the opening half comes to a close with the demanding 410-yard par-4 9th where a cavernous bunker lurks in the centre of the landing area and a ditch will catch any shot that comes up short of the green.

The 465-yard par-4 10th starts close to the clubhouse and then the course moves seaward, first to the delightful 120-yard par-3 11th, on to the short 350-yard par-4 12th and then to the 410-yard par-4 13th that runs parallel to the railway line and close to Western Gailes, another of Ayrshire fine links courses.

The 11th, Dundonald’s most picturesque hole, is like the 8th or “Postage Stamp” at Royal Troon in as much as it provides concrete proof that a hole does not have to be long to be demanding and it is the same at the 12th, the shortest par-4 on the course but a fine challenge nonetheless. The 13th, meanwhile, deserves to be conferred instant classic status. On a good day, the hole affords a fine view of the distant Isle of Arran but trouble also abounds, both off the tee and all the way to a heavily contoured green protected by a ditch.

Sheer length is seldom an issue on this firm, fast running links but the 550-yard par-5 14th will seldom be hit in two, even by the biggest hitters. The green on 215-yard par-3 15th is just as elusive while the 470-yard par-4 16th, situated close to the railway and Western Gailes’ clubhouse, is another stern test. 

 Quite deliberately, when stretched to its full length, Dundonald was built to test even the best golfers and it finishes, first with the 420-yard par-4 17th, the sharpest dog-leg on the course, and then the daunting 560-yard par-5 18th.where accuracy from the tee is essential for anyone who harbours hopes of hitting the green in two.

The 18th, like the 7th and one or two others, is another example of Dundonald still being a work in progress. Here, after much deliberation, Phillips elected to move the ditch several yards away from the green, thereby turning an unfair shot into a demanding one. It is all part of the designer’s masterplan. He wants you to get what you deserve at Scotland’s newest links and that, most golfers would argue, is exactly the way it should be. 

Dundonald Links was purchased by Lyle Anderson Company Inc, owners of Loch Lomond, in 2003 and can now be played by discerning green fee customers (Monday to Wednesday £95, Thursday and Friday £110 and Saturday and Sunday £125).

“We believe we can offer visitors a combination of a great golf course and exceptional levels of customer service,” said Niall Flanagan, General Manager of Loch Lomond and Dundonald Links. “From the valet parking on arrival, to great food and beverage and a unique locker room service, visitors will enjoy a first class day’s golf.”

For more information on Loch Lomond Golf Club please contact Joanne Kerr (+44(0)1436 655336) at joanne.kerr@lochlomond.com or James Lovett (+44 (0)1438 718399 at GMS james@gmsgolf.co.uk