A new Bandon? This remote Scottish resort plans to add more golf

When Bandon Dunes opened, in 1999, it patterned itself on golf across the pond, with a Scottish-style links along the Oregon coast. Twenty-five years later, the script has flipped. Many far-flung resorts now mimic Bandon Dunes. 

The model that they follow is rooted in a maxim popularized by Bandon founder Mike Keiser, who is fond of saying that while one course counts as a curiosity, two courses qualify as a destination. The more good golf you build, the more likely they will come.

And so it has gone around globe, at marquee properties from the sand barrens of Wisconsin to the shores of New Zealand: one course begets another. Portfolios grow. 

The latest example of Bandon emulation comes from the Village at Machrihanish Dunes, an off-the-beaten-path resort on the Kintyre Peninsula, in western Scotland. 

Already home to Machrihanish Dunes, an acclaimed links by David McLay Kidd, the Scottish-born designer of the original course at Bandon, the resort is on path to build a second 18.

The news was announced this week by Southworth, the Boston-based golf developer that owns Machrihanish, which said that its expansion plans have been approved.

“Machrihanish Dunes lies on one of the most unique pieces of land in the world,” Tommy Southworth, the company’s president said. “So it is only fitting that we expand our offerings for all types of visitors to this special corner of Scotland while being sensitive to the natural landscape.”

The plans, which also call for additional hotel rooms, cottages, a clubhouse and a practice facility, center on a routing that will run alongside Machrihanish Dunes, moving from the ocean’s edge into the foothills and incorporating elevated views into a traditional seaside links. The new course, Southport said, would abide by the same sustainable practices a Machrihanish Dunes, which has been widely recognized for its environmental sensitivity. 

For golfers, the resort is not the only draw on the Kintyre Peninsula, which has a handful of other links courses, including Machrihanish Golf Club, an Old Tom Morris design that ranks 97th on GOLF’s list of Top 100 Courses in the World. But new layouts don’t come around in this part of the world often.

At this early stage, an architect for the new course has not yet been selected, but work is expected to begin in 2025.

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Josh Sens

Golf.com Editor

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.