Moray gets positive feedback on changes from its members

World-renowned North East club delighted with ‘brilliant’ raft of course improvements

Moray Golf Club has revealed details of a series of course improvements that have been made to its world-renowned Old Course.

The changes, which include the redevelopment of 24 bunkers, the introduction of three new bunkers and removing four, were devised to enhance the much-loved routing of the links course first laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1889.

Along with new tees and an ongoing gorse control programme, which has stripped back encroaching bushes in order to expand the semi-rough and give more shape to the fairways, the six-week programme of improvements has been universally welcomed at the club.

“I am extremely proud of the work carried out by the greens staff,” explained John Thomson, club captain. “They have shown what can be achieved without having to break the bank. Their knowledge of reconstructing bunkers, building tees and managing the gorse around Moray is second to none and that makes them a valuable asset to the club.

“The course changes are living proof you can have a championship links that presents a stern, modern-day test for the very best amateurs while remaining a fair challenge for shorter hitters.”

The players participating in the recent Carrick Neill Scottish Strokeplay Championship were amongst the first to experience the full extent of the changes made to the course.

For new courses manager Kevin Thomson, meanwhile, the programme of works has been particularly satisfying, especially the most significant change which involved swapping the 12th tee on the Old Course for the 12th tee on the Henry Cotton-designed New course.

 “From our point of view, these projects are brilliant,” he said. “The tee-swapping was a huge job because we had to move paths and build new tees. When we stripped everything back, it looked like a bomb had gone off. It was only when things started to take shape that the golfers could see what was going on.

“It would never happen on a modern course. One of our courses has been here for 125 years and the other came along soon after. It is unusual to swap tees but along with the bunker programme, the changes have made noticeable improvements. They’ve made the courses harder for better players and easier for less experienced players. It was a great project to work on and what has made it especially satisfying is the positive feedback from the members.”

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