63 containment zones, saving you from worse positions or losing a ball. We’ve varied them up a bit, some are fairway cut while others are almost like a semi rough, and then there’s fescue beyond these turf areas.” With the design finalised, contractor Southeastern Golf began construction in autumn 2022. The first task was to clear hundreds of trees from the rocky site, opening up a mountaintop plateau that is a marked contrast from the Highlands layout, where holes weave through woodland and navigate considerable changes in elevation. For most mountain golf, construction can be a matter of blasting rock to achieve playable tiers. But the property for The Keep is not typical: it has an open plateau that has a more gentle tilt towards the cliff edge, rather than severe rise and fall. “You play through the site’s folds,” says Weisser. There are five points on the course – the second green, and then tees on eight, thirteen, sixteen and eighteen – that require a gentle ascent to reach. But these spots, Bergin points out, afford some of the most spectacular views. “Connections between tees and greens are close,” adds Weisser. “You’re not fighting the mountain as you go around. It’s not a climb-amountain course.” “We made two big fills, otherwise the course fits perfectly on the ground,” says Bergin. “We had a rock hammer running for two years, breaking them up so we could run irrigation and drainage lines. We did more rock hammering than I anticipated, but less blasting.” Jones adds: “The Keep flows perfectly with the ground. We didn’t blast away the rocks to turn the place into something else, we maintained the mountain style. Fortunately, the rock presented itself in the right locations, especially on the final two holes.” On the seventeenth, outcroppings of rock have been incorporated to particularly spectacular effect, creating an amphitheatre for the green of this relatively short par four that plays uphill. “It is the most unique rock Colosseum green complex you’ll find anywhere,” says Bergin. And on the eighteenth, tees among the rock set up an inviting elevated shot back down the slope towards the final green on the cliff. “The beauty of those holes is that they tell you where you are,” says Jones. Wind, while not usually severe, can be a factor at The Keep. “We planned for a very big golf course because the site calls for that, the views call Photo: Evan Schiller Outcroppings of rock help to create an amphitheatre setting for the seventeenth green
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