It has long been a matter of when, not if, the Open will return to the famed East Lothian links, but Muirfield has been kept waiting a little longer after it was confirmed the 2027 Championship will go to St Andrews.

Mark Darbon, Slumbers’ successor, confirmed that after renewals at Royal Portrush in 2025 and Royal Birkdale in 2026, the 155th Open will return to the Old Course. It maintains the five-year cycle of the Open at St Andrews, with just one exception since 1990.

Muirfield, meanwhile, will now have to wait a minimum of 15 years to stage golf’s oldest major, with the 2028 venue yet to be announced. Phil Mickelson was the last Muirfield champion in 2013 and the course has serious Open pedigree having staged the battle for the Claret Jug on 15 other occasions.

Muirfield had been briefly struck from the rota in May 2016 after a vote by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers to allow women to become members failed, but was restored by the R&A ten months later when the same proposal was belatedly passed.

Yet while the AIG Women’s Open visited Muirfield in 2022, we’re still not exactly sure when the world’s best male players will next descend on the Gullane links.

That, of course, being Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour chief executive. The Renaissance Club is scheduled to host the Scottish Open until 2026, but any future change in location would presumably also require input from the PGA Tour given the US-based circuit now co-sanctions the event.

It is unclear whether those conversations have taken place, or indeed whether Muirfield is next in line in the mind of new boss Darbon. But it does seem almost inconceivable that the third most used Open venue after St Andrews and Prestwick won’t make its return – at least before the decade is out.

According to a statement from the PGA Tour, Scheffler sustained a “puncture wound to the palm of his right hand from a broken glass”.

Small glass fragments reportedly remained lodged in his hand which required surgery.

Scheffler’s agent Blake Smith added: “He has been told he should be back to 100% in three to four weeks [but] unfortunately he will have to miss The Sentry.”

He is targeting a return to action at The American Express, taking place at La Quinta Country Club in California from January 16-19.

His festive misadventure completes a truly surreal year for Scheffler.

In addition to winning nine times, securing a second major title, landing Olympic gold, and becoming a father for the first time, he also endured the indignity of a peculiar arrest ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship in May.

Fortunately, that misunderstanding was swiftly handled, leaving Scheffler free to focus on becoming the first player since Tiger Woods to be named ‘Player of the Year’ in three consecutive years.

He also became the first golfer since Woods in 2009 to be ranked world No.1 for every week of the calendar year, and was part of the US team that won a tenth consecutive Presidents Cup.

As for The Sentry, the complete field for the season-opening tournament – taking place as usual on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii – will be released later today, after the commitment deadline of 5pm ET.

Thanks to the generous support of our members, an incredible £38,000 was raised for North East charity Kayleigh's Wee Stars, marking a record-breaking donation!

The funds, collected over two years of fundraising events, were part of the Captains’ Charities initiative led by past captains Professor David Bell and Wilma Murray. In addition, the Ladies Section donated £1500 to Maggie’s, a cancer care charity.

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We are very proud of our Club and pride ourselves on being one of the friendliest and most sociable clubs around. Only last weekend we had over 60 members take part in a most enjoyable mixed Texas Scramble with many new friendships being made. As a result of our Get Into Golf Ladies initiative, we have a growing and vibrant ladies section who have certainly injected some fun into the Clubhouse! If you would like to find out more about membership please call the office, or drop us an email. We would love to hear from you. You could be taking part in the next Scramble. https://www.kingjamesvi.co.uk/membership_overview

At the heart of plans is a new 18-hole championship golf course, that is hoped to transform the Kintyre Peninsula into ‘the next great golf destination’.

That’s how Tommy Southworth, president of Southworth – which owns, develops and manages Machrihanish Dunes – feels, so we caught up with him to find out what’s around the corner…

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Tommy, how excited are you about the project?

Well, we’re beyond excited. This is the evolution of the project and interest and tourism to this area that we’ve been excited about for a long time.

There is truly nowhere else like it in the world, it is so unique the way we have bult it. We weren’t able to move dirt, it’s mostly been by hand to build tees and greens.

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Do you have a timeline for planning and creation?

Yeah, we haven’t been shy about this; we’re looking to bring in a partner. We want to stay involved in Machrihanish forever, because we’re a buy and hold organisation. We’ve been having conversations over the past five years, so the permit was a key part of that process.

The timeline is dependent on that, but we are hoping to break ground by the end of next year and start of 2026. How we phase it and what comes first, we’re unsure, but golf is the key piece of the puzzle in adding a third golf course, which we consider is the real driver of growth and interest in the area.

How will it differ from the original course at Mach Dunes?

We’ve worked hard to make sure our plans protect the most sensitive areas and to set up that land to flourish for generations to come.

We are thrilled about the course and have worked closely with Nature Scotland and SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) to permit seven holes of golf in the raw dunes, in the linksland which will be otherworldly.

The links get even more dramatic the more you go north along Machrihanish Bay, and we’ve been looking over the fence at these dunes for years, just dreaming of the incredible golf that we could route through there.

Those seven holes will have a similar ethos and vibe to Mach Dunes, and we’re excited about that.

How important is it to maintain those sustainable building practices?

It’s critical. It has informed everything about how we built Mach Dunes and how these holes in the SSSI site will be constructed and maintained.

I wish we could credit some of those folks for the design because it is in partnership with them and is something people have viewed as a negative, the fact there might be a long walk from green to tee, a lot of blind shots, some incredibly good or bad bounces but that’s the way the land lies.

That’s the way this course will be, folk can sit in their armchairs and call it a negative, but I think it’s wildly positive and fundamentally the way golf was played for hundreds of years before modern practices were brought in.

We couldn’t do this any other way, that’s our responsibility as stewards of this site. That’s how we got the permit, because we have a 15-year history of doing exactly this at Mach Dunes and all the things our partners at Nature Scot care about have succeeded.

Do you have prospects of hosting championships?

Yeah, we’d love to. We can’t go into the SSSI land, put bleachers and hospitality tents up, but we’re okay with that and understand that.

However, the new course and the new routing would allow us to host a significant event if we switched the nines and finished on the existing farmland. And we have the opportunity to do composite routings to make a championship course with Mach Dunes.

It would certainly be a unique venue in the world of professional golf, and we’d love to see how that unfolds over the coming decades.

How much will it benefit Scottish golf?

Scottish golf is in a pretty good place and the game of golf worldwide is in a wonderful place. Interest in the game and Scottish golf has fueled these regions and powerhouses like St Andrews, Dornoch, Ayrshire, East Lothian.

These centers of Scottish golf are getting stronger each year and our desire is to add one to that. On your first trip to Scotland, you’ll probably go to St Andrews, and you should. It’s the Home of Golf and deserves its spot at the top of the list.

But on your next trip, come to Kintyre, because there is such incredible golf now on Isla and Jura that our goal is to tie that region together and make it an unmissable destination for trip two or three. We want to make sure it becomes a golf mecca that is up there with the rest.

Do other resorts give you inspiration?

People have cited Bandon as inspiration for this project and we’ve seen the market for golf destinations really flourish over the last ten or 15 years.

What’s been done at those resorts that’s made them so popular is that the focus is on the golf experience and that alone. The hotels aren’t five-star luxe hotels with big spas and pools and gyms, it’s about the golf.

That’s a model we think has legs and will continue to be popular and we think Machrihanish could be it. We want to also appeal a little more to the non-golfer than some of those resorts.

They’re nothing like Scottish golf, we want to be the next great golf destination in Scotland and that means the next great golf destination in the world.

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Can you talk us through some of the off-course plans?

Our current development includes two hotels that have 45 rooms across them and eight two-bedroom golf cottages, that are right across from the first tee at Machrihanish.

We operate an integrated resort, and this is an expansion of that. It’s a doubling down of what we have today, and a big expansion of the amenity set, so the clubhouse facilities would have extensive facilities and fitness, wellness and spa facilities, sports facilities.

There are so many other draws, and we love what Gleneagles has done by attracting the whole family and offering an incredible golf experience.

Is there a motivation behind creating the teaching facilities, too?

The practice facility planned would be unique in the UK market and capable of being a teaching facility that could draw incredible talent from the coaching and playing side.

We’ve seen this model work across the US, where golf resorts really focus on their teaching facilities and folks will go for a three-day trip just to work on their game.

How much are you looking forward to the end result?

We’re thrilled and really grateful. This has been a three-year journey just on permitting this site and a 15–20-year journey at Mach Dunes with local partners, the environmental partners and it’s been a labour of love for us.

Just incredibly excited, the first time we went to Kintyre we fell in love with it and realised the magic there, so we’ve been trying to share that with the world ever since.

By Michael McEwan - Bunkered

The St Andrews Links Trust has come in for criticism from locals over a perceived reduction in access to the town’s golf courses.

A group calling itself the St Andrews Resident Golfer Association has revealed the results of a survey it has carried out of golfers in the sport’s hometown, uncovering what it says are “several key issues” that have “negatively impacted on their golf experience on the links”.

More than 80% of the 100-plus respondents said that their experience has got worse or much worse in recent years, with access to the seven courses operated by the Trust of particular concern.

Around 90% of respondents feel that availability of tee times has got worse or much worse, whilst 80% of respondents expressed concern about the pace of play.

Over 90%, meanwhile, agree or strongly agree that the increased number of visitors has negatively impacted on the Links ticket-holder golf experience.

Comments received as part of the survey suggest that too much priority is given to visitors, particularly block advance bookings which “reduce tee time availability and clog up the courses”.

The findings have been shared with bunkered.co.uk on the eve of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which takes place on the Old Course this week.

It is the second high-profile event to be staged on the historic links in six weeks, following the AIG Women’s Open at the end fo August.

A spokesperson for the St Andrews Resident Golfer Association said: “The survey has delivered a clear message about how the residents of the town feel about how their golfing experience has deteriorated over recent years.

“Many of the underlying problems stem from increasing visitor rounds which since 2009 have gone up by more than 50% to 151,000.

“The town owns the links and the governing act which set up the trust recognised this mentioning residents as one of only three groups whose interests should be protected.

“The association hopes that the trust improve transparency and engage more with the local golfing community to identity solutions which will restore parity for residents of the town.“

Approached for comment by bunkered.co.uk, a spokesperson for St Andrews Links Trust said: “St Andrews Links is a global golf tourism destination and significant economic driver in St Andrews, Fife and across Scotland offering access to various groups in accordance with the Links Act and the Trust’s charitable mission to promote public participation in sport,” said the Links Trust spokesperson.

“In the last five years, both before and after the pandemic, we have seen a significant increase and unprecedented demand for our golf courses from both ticket holders and visitors, in line with global trends.

“The number of rounds played has risen at a similar rate for both ticket holders and visitors and there has been no decrease in the number of times available to ticket holders during this time.

“Earlier this year, we conducted an independent survey of our ticket holders, with more than 1,200 responses focusing on areas such as access to the golf courses. Nearly nine in 10 of those surveyed said their links ticket represented good value for money with the majority of courses receiving positive feedback for availability of access.”

The spokesperson did confirm that course access has been highlighted as an area of concern, with more dedicated ticket-holder times cited as the best way to deliver improvements.

However, they added that plans are already afoot to address that.

“In the past two years, we have created a Golf Access Group, dedicated to reviewing access methods and forecasting future demand at St Andrews Links. As part of those ongoing efforts, in April this year we were pleased to announce additional tee times for ticket holders, including an increase in 2024 and a substantial adjustment of more than 10,000 exclusive ticket holder tee times to improve access across our courses for the 2025 season.

“Ensuring fair access to the golf courses has always been and remains a top priority for the Trust. We will continue to monitor these changes and update ticket holders on their impact in due course.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

Just a matter of days after Hirsel Golf Club in the Borders announced its shock closure, Torrance Park in Motherwell has confirmed that it, too, is set to close.

A statement on the club’s website confirmed the news.

“For a significant period of time the Torrance Park Golf Club has been experiencing challenges to being able to run as a profitable business,” it stated. “Unfortunately, it has been loss-making for a number of years and has reached a point where this cannot continue.

“We have therefore undertaken a review in relation to the sustainability of the club, to look at whether or not it is viable to continue operating into the future.

“As a result of this review, in which we looked at all possible options, we have identified that there is no alternative other than the closure of the club and as such the golf club and clubhouse will close with effect from 1st October 2024.

The statement concluded: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers and former members for their support over the years.”

Opened in 2009, the course – which had links to former Rangers FC owner Sir David Murray – was originally designed by Dave Thomas, joining Spey Valley and Cardrona as the Scottish venues crafted by the renowned golf course architect.

It was reduced to nine holes in 2023 which led to several members resigning. bunkered.co.uk understands that the club pivoted from a membership model earlier this year to become a pay-and-play facility, forcing remaining members to find new clubs.

Last week, the Hirsel Golf Club was forced into bankruptcy due to increasing costs and declining membership.