Dunluce Dreams - An Update

We've discussed often the plans to bring the Open Championship back to Royal Portrush's famed Dunluce links, which continues to move froward.  The Dunluce is a first-class links with challenge and charm to spare, so my only question is, how soon can you get there?

We've also touched on the fact that the terms and conditions agreed to with the R&A require the construction of two new holes to replace the existing 17th and 18th.  Those two holes are a noticeable letdown after the glories that precede it, though they are not weak holes in the sense of being a lesser challenge.  They are simply built on flat, less-interesting terrain, and thereby far less interesting and appealing to the player.

Brian Keough provides an update on the planning for the two newly-created holes needed to return the Open Championship to Royal Portrush, having downloaded and absorbed the 45.5MB brochure prepared by architects MacKenzie and Ebert.  What's great is that they start at the...errr...start:

Not only are the proposed changes fascinating, the brochure takes us down memory lane to the days when the golf course was almost part of the town itself and the old clubhouse was on Dunluce Street, within 50 yards of the (still existing) railway station. 

PART OF THE OLD LINKS. ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH (TOP LEFT) IS NOW PART OF THE STREETSCAPE OF MODERN PORTRUSH

The issue for purists is the potential desecration of a Harry S. Colt classic.  Here's why they bothered to start at the beginning:

“Two of his original holes - the key 1st & 18th holes - are now lost. They provided a link from the old clubhouse to the current 17th and 18th. The existing 8th and 9th holes did not exist. Although Harry Colt was consulted over the addition of the replacement 8th and 9th holes, they were the conception of the Club’s professional, P.G. Stevenson, and Colt was not involved with the detail of the holes. This shows that Harry Colt was open to adjustments to the course required by changing circumstances.”

Here's the graphic they provide to show the relocation of the clubhouse:

It's that triangle drawn on the left that shows the land given up by the club which included H.S. Colt's original 1st and 18th holes, taking the players out towards the dunes.  This may seem like over-kill, but in any iconic club such as Royal Portrush there's going to be a subset of the members that don't want anybody to touch that which Harry Colt created, and it can be helpful to remind such folk that many changes have already been made.

Here's M&E's description of the two new holes:

If there has been a criticism of the Dunluce Course over the years, it has been that the 17th and 18th holes are slightly weak after such an amazing tour of the dunes over the first 16 holes. 

It is proposed to address this by creating two new holes that would continue to improve Colt’s finest links. The dunescape which they would occupy is second to none, giving rise to two holes which will be more in-keeping with the other 16 holes on the course. 

Firstly, a new par 5 hole would play down into the valley, over the route of the existing 6th hole of the Valley Course and rising gently up to a new green, hugging the enormous dunes to its right. It is proposed that ‘Big Nellie’ from the existing 17th hole is recreated to the right of this new hole. It would fit in very well into the huge dune bank. 

Secondly, a new par 4 hole has the potential to become one of the most dramatic in championship golf and one of the main feature holes of the Dunluce. From a tee position close to the existing 5th tee on the Valley, the golfer would face a demanding drive played across the chasm of the valley between tee and fairway to a green close to the existing 8th green. 

The two holes fit in perfectly between the existing 6th and 7th holes and make up for the considerable loss of length from the removal of the existing 17th and 18th holes. There is a possibility that they could be played between the 13th and 14th holes instead and that is something which can be reviewed as the holes take shape. These holes have the potential to become not only famous but iconic throughout the world of golf.

And here's their visual of how it will look:

I'm as much an insufferable purist as the next guy, but these holes are to be cut into stunning dunes, and replace aesthetically mundane holes.  I know they're aesthetically mundane HARRY S. COLT holes, but all the same....want a sense of where we're going?  The picture below is of the existing thirteenth green:

There's much more room between the green and the water than it appears, and the new 7th hole will go from right to left through that duneline.  And just because we're here, I'd like to note that the barely perceptible false front on the right of this green is the cruelest architectural feature ever devised by the hand of man... Not that I'm bitter or anything.

I had previously read that after construction they were going to allow guests to play existing the existing routing or the Open routing, and I couldn't imagine how that could be practical.  The new holes are to be cut directly into the Valley Course, so it would seem that the second would be out of commission any time the two new holes were played.  M&E have made recommendations as to how to reconfigure the Valley without that land, and they've advised against using the existing Dunluce Nos. 17 and 18.  Accordingly, assuming these plans are in fact executed, that would mean that the club could offer either routing, or 20 holes of play....

The brochure has a wealth of information and additional visuals.  I've not dealt with the changes to individual holes here, though many of those are substantial.  It will serve as a wonderful guide to the Dunluce to those unfamiliar with her charms.

One last note if you're not familiar with Big Nellie noted above by M&E.  Nellie is the rather massive bunker on the right side of the 17th, a long Par-5.  Nellie is the place scorecards go to die, as it's far bigger (perhaps taller is more the issue) even than it appears in the photo below.  

Thing is, it's barely in play, so close to the tees that it takes a truly terrible shot to be in it.  The only professional I've ever heard of finding it was Gary Player in one of the Senior Open Championships played on the Dunluce, and questions remain about his compliance with the rules of golf whilst within its confines.

I have no objection to a faux Big Nellie as part of the new Par-5, I'm just awfully curious as to whether it will be functional or ornamental.  

I'm hopeful that this progress means that 2019 is a reality.