A series of enhancements have been made to the Old Course at Moray Golf Club ahead of its hosting the Carrick Neill Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship.
Moray Golf Club is located near Lossiemouth on the east coast of Scotland, and the club’s Old Course was first designed by Old Tom Morris back in 1889.
24 bunkers have been redeveloped as part of the recent work, with three new bunkers introduced and four removed.
The six-week programme of improvements also included the introduction of new tees and an gorse control programme, which saw the stripping back of encroaching bushes and expansion of the course’s the semi-rough. This programme is ongoing and is helping to give shape back to the course’s fairways.
“I am extremely proud of the work carried out by the greens staff over the winter programme,” explained John Thomson, captain of Moray Golf Club. “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 biggest changes have been made to holes 5, 8, 11 and 12 on the club’s Old Course, as well as on the twelfth hole on the New Course. The twelfth tee on the Old Course has also been swapped with the twelfth tee on the New course.
“From our point of view, these projects are brilliant,” said Kevin Thomson, courses manager at Moray Golf Club. “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,” Thomson added. “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.”
The club has also invested in new equipment to help support the changes, including a Toro rough cutter and a new Vredo overseeding machine.
The Carrick Neill Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship takes place at Moray Golf Club from 29-31 May.