Links Golf Course Improvements – Revetted Bunkers & New Teeing Grounds

Work on the course improvements are well underway at Dundonald Links, as we head towards our goal of ‘improving the playing experience’ for all golfers that visit us. Overseen by the course’s original designer, Kyle Phillips, this work is part of our ambitious £25m development project, that includes a striking new clubhouse and innovative lodge accommodation featuring two, four or six bedrooms.

The team have been at full speed on the course improvements since November, and have already completed an impressive amount of work.

Practice Facilities.

The practice facility has been stripped of existing turf and reshaped to mirror the fairway and rough characteristics of the golf course. This area (approximately 2.5 Ha) will be hydroseeded with a Fescue/Rye mix of seed.

We are adding six target greens, placed at distances ranging from 100 to 250 yards to give a variety of shots, dependent on where the tee is set up.  The range head has been doubled in size to 3,600m2, as well as being realigned to ensure the target greens are in view from whichever location the tee is set up from.

We have also upgraded the irrigation to give full coverage of the range fairway and an extra row of heads installed to cover the new enlarged tee.

To further enhance practice the area, we have created two new chipping greens for short game practice, one of which has two revetted bunkers. These will give the golfer a number of options to practice all the shots required around the green that you may need to call upon out on the course. Irrigation has been installed to both of these greens and turfed with Bent/Fescue turf. Finally, we have created additional mounding to screen the main range tee to the chipping greens.

It’s certainly going to be an incredible place to practice before heading out for your round.

Teeing Ground Improvements.

A lot of the work undertaken out on the course has been around the teeing grounds.  This was to help us to improve aesthetics, playability and increase playing capacity.

1^st Tee – The White and Blue tee has been moved 10 metres left from existing location and doubled in width, which has given a large teeing platform 30 metres long by 12 metres wide which has improved the view to the fairway, particularly the right side. The Black tee extended and realigned.

4^th Tee – The White tee lowered by 600mm and extended to the right by 5 metres from existing location and realigned as well as reshaping the tee banking.

6^th Tee – Entry to the tee complex from the 5th green is now through the mounding that was to the back left of the main tee. The Black tee has been moved slightly further back and to the right by 10 metres and the old entry walkway has been mounded to screen the 8th green. The White and Blue tees have been extended by 5 metres to the right and realigned with the mounding to the right of the former tee, which has been reshaped to be used as the walkway.

7^th Tee – The White tee has been extended to the right by 5 metres and extended 5 metres in length from existing location and realigned.

8^th Tee – The White tee has been extended to the left by 5 metres from existing location and realigned.

9^th Tee – The Astro Turf path has been removed and the walkway to the main tee extended in width. The existing White tee has been reshaped, with the front half being extended to the right by 5 metres and small mounding created to break up the tee and walkway.

10^th Tee – The existing White has been tee extended to the right by 5 metres and in length by 6 metres from existing location and realigned. The existing Blue tee has been moved 5 metres to the right and forward 5 metres to accommodate the traffic flow to the halfway house. The new walkway will continue to the left of the tee, past the main tee and onto the fairway.

In conjunction with works in this area the mounding to the right and adjacent to the burn at the 18th green has been softened to allow for the area to be utilised as an alternative exit from the fairway. This will now be able to be maintained at either fairway or semi rough height increasing the bail out area.

11^th Tee – The tee complex has now been reshaped and raised approximately 300mm into one large teeing ground with a player walkway running to the right of the tees that will join into a newly laid pathway across to the green. This gives the ability to utilise the different angles to the green and allow flexibility for events.

15^th Tee – The tee complex has been fully reshaped. A maintenance track has been created where the Black tee was located, with that tee moving forward and being elevated to give a distance of 205 yds. The new Blue tee has been made slightly shorter to enable the White tee to be tripled in size to the left and extended forward.

The player walkway has been rerouted from the left of the 14th green, over what was the small winter tee and through to the right of the existing Red tee.

All in all, very impressive work from the team in what has been a relatively short time. We are very much looking forward to golfers coming to experience the new Dundonald Links from 1st May when we re-open.

If you would like to book a tee time, or enquire about a stay in our new luxury accommodation, please contact by filling out the form below.