Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club is built on the classic links land which abounds at the Mull of Kintyre and, indeed, the course is adjacent to the famous Machrihanish Golf Club. The site was so perfect for golf that esteemed architect David McLay Kidd (St Andrews Castle Course) discovered 23 natural holes were already part of the natural landscape. The course itself is the first course to be built on a Site of Special Scientific Interest since the elder Tom Morris was the nation's foremost golfing architect and can claim to be the West of Scotland's first new true links course in over a century. At over 7200 yards and with the walk described as akin to mountaineering Machrihanish Dunes is not for the faint hearted but this is a new course allowing the traditions of golf in Scotland to live and breathe (there will be mowing but much of the greenkeeping for area will be provided by sheep) and as such will be a magnet for golf fans the world over. Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club opens in 2009.