37 to build a tough course for handicap ten and below. And during the process of design and construction he would always ask me in review meetings, ‘but is it hard enough?’ The interesting thing about this is that I didn’t set out to make individual holes as hard as possible, but the brief made it possible to choose holes that would not fit onto a municipal course, for example, which has to cater for a lot of play by golfers of all standards. There was sort of an artistic freedom that eventually meant that the course could be really interesting and spectacular.” Ellerston was also indirectly responsible for Harrison being hired for what would turn out to be the job of his life. He had left Norman and started his own firm in 2010, and the year after, late one night, the phone rang. It was Greg Coffey, an Australian, but at the time Londonbased, hedge fund manager. “He asked if I would be interested in building a new course on a remote Scottish island. Part-way through this conversation, it suddenly dawned on me that this was probably a friend playing an outrageous prank,” says Harrison. “But an email the next morning confirmed Coffey’s intentions, and I was on Jura for the first time four days later. In the meantime, I told my wife, Colette, that I wasn’t sure if I could do justice to such a remote project, and I’m pleased to report that she insisted I get straight back in touch with Jura and get on with it pronto! “During that first telephone conversation, Coffey told me that he was planning to build a private golf course and had done some research on Ellerston, which was also private, and read that it had been designed by Greg Norman. He then said that he knew that couldn’t be correct, and that he assumed it must have been me.” Ardfin was developed as a private course, but the estate, which is centred on the historic Jura House, is now run essentially as an extremely upmarket hotel complex. It is one of the most expensive golf courses to play, anywhere in the world, but you can play it. Having seen the course in 2015 during construction and knowing Ellerston’s reputation for difficulty, I concluded that Harrison must have an affinity with extremely tough courses. The architect says otherwise. “It was never my intention for the course to be overly difficult to play, and I would very much like to see parts of it made easier for average golfers,” he explains. “My understanding is that this process is well under way, and I’m grateful for that. I’m obviously biased, but I can’t see why Ardfin wouldn’t be ranked in the world’s top “ There were ancient stone walls in the oldworld landscape, and some were used to determine the strategy of holes” Photo: Konrad Borkowski
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