£3.5m Mar Hall course now open for business

BUILT at a cost of £3.5 million, Scotland's newest championship course opened for play yesterday and the owners of Mar Hall Golf & Spa resort, which sits on the banks of the River Clyde near Bishopton, are confident they have come up with a layout that will prove popular in the 'pay and play' market.

The Earl of Mar course was designed by former Ryder Cup player Dave Thomas – whose previous creations in Scotland include Spey Valley and Cardrona – on a raised shingle beach spanning 240 acres of the historic Mar Estate and enjoys a stunning setting in the shadow of the Erskine Bridge at its eastern end while Erskine Golf Club borders the western boundary.

The par-70 course, which opened almost three years to the day that construction started, is certainly no pushover at 6,500 yards but, at the same time, is eminently playable and, while acknowledging these are tough times for golf clubs, Donald Macdonald, Mar Hall's golf operations manager, believes they are tuned in to what is becoming a changing marketplace.

"All golf clubs seem to be looking for new members at the moment and the game is changing to the point where a lot of people want to play the game but can't commit to a membership," he said.

"Here, they will be able to pay a fee for a round of golf but still have a members' experience as we will be strong on service. We will meet and greet everyone who comes here."

Revealing there will be no membership at all in the first year, Neil Ellis, the general manager, added: "The owners' brief to Dave Thomas was to design a course that would appeal to golfers of all levels and we feel confident he's achieved that.

"We are keen for the Earl of Mar to become a course that people enjoy coming back to play time and again and so we have developed a range of introductory pay and play and stay and play packages to encourage golfers to come along and experience it."

The course had been due to open last September but the owners took the decision to let it mature a bit longer. Gordon Kerr, the course manager, believes that proved a sensible step given the severe winter that followed and is confident the Earl of Mar will earn a similar reputation as nearby Renfrew, where he started his greenkeeping career before having spells at Dumbarton and Gleddoch.

"This is probably more modern in terms of its style of greens," said Kerr, whose passion for the project extended to him hand-watering greens overnight on several occasions during the grow-in phase to prevent the grass seed from being blown away.