COURSE NOT TOUGHENED UP SPECIALLY FOR PLGC NORTHERN OPEN

MURCAR LINKS IS TOUGH FOR ITS 

MEMBERS TOO! says COURSE MANAGER 

BOB MACKAY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON 
Coln@scottishgolfview.com

Murcar Links course manager Bob Mackay says he has not prepared the course's degree of  difficulty with this week's Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Northern Open in mind.
The fairways are narrow and the rough tough for the club members too!
 "I took it as a compliment that Greig Hutcheon and some of the others said it was like playing a British Open course on a smaller scale," said Bob.
Although all 108 competitors, to varying degrees, had their problems in Tuesday's first round, if they
could not keep their golf balls on the fairway, I did not hear one word of criticism of the course set-up.
Quite the contrary.
Dunbar's Neil Fenwick said: "It's a pleasure to come to play on a 'proper' Northern Open course."
The Scottish Open will be played over the neighbouring Royal Aberdeen Golf Club links at Balgownie next month. Murcar Links is not long but it is difficult enough off the back tees to host an event of that stature.
Murcar Links Golf Club had the good fortune to secure the services of Bob Mackay in November 2011 when Brian Anderson retired.
Bob  is one of the most experienced Scots-born head greenkeepers/course managers
He took up his duties at Murcar Links some 34 years after he got his first job as an apprentice keeper at his local golf club, Royal Dornoch.
He later moved on to Worthing Golf Club in Sussex before getting his first head greenkeeping post, at Dumfries and County GC, in 1985.
He returned to Royal Dornoch as head greenkeeper in 1998, having worked in Ireland and then Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club in the 1990s.
In 2004, he became course manager at the new Spey Valley course at Aviemore. Latterly, he held down a similar post at another Dave Thomas-designed course at The Roxburghe GC, Kelso.
Another former Royal Dornoch head greenkeeper, Robert Patterson, has been course manager for many years at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.
The pair have made a huge difference to the neighbouring links.