Why Glencoe and Dubai are so alike - great golf!

Is the KPMG's Golf Business Forum coming to Glencoe this year?  Evidently not, it's heading for the  Park Hyatt Dubai in April 2011.  I suppose the place does look a bit more impressive than the Golf Club House at another highland golf course - www.dragonstooth.co.uk/club_facilities.php . Well, never mind, this annual gathering of top brands and top golf businesses may come to the Outdoor Capital of the UK another year.  After all, OCUK and Fort William have a reputation for attracting major international events, like the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup  http://fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk

The 2011 Moutain Film Festival  www.mountainfilmfestival.co.uk is just over, and it maintains its reputation as a world-class event. 6 days of presentations, films and workshops attracting participants from across the Highlands of Scotland - and much, much further afield, too.  Some visitors even managed time out to enjoy quality golf with us in Glencoe!

Meanwhile, we're putting in a planning application for some sort of impressive concrete and glass structure to tower above the Glenachulish Mountains and our new, man-made lake at Ballachulish.  Dubai Golf, eat your heart out!

New PartnershipTees Off at Golf Course Restaurant

Something new is cooking up at The Club House on the Dragon’s Tooth Golf Course in the Outdoor Capital of the UK.  Chef Glenn Francis and business partner Fiona Keyes are taking on the operation of The Club House and, from March 2011, will be welcoming golfers and visitors alike with a broad smile and a range of mouth-watering fare.

“This is a really exciting opportunity for us” said Fiona “Glenn and I ran the successful Carnoch Restaurant in Glencoe for three years, and we now want to build on that reputation and experience.  We grew a strong local following and enjoyed giving visitors to the area a really positive experience of Scottish cooking.  The bistro here at The Dragon’s Tooth has a superb Highland setting and it’s an idyllic location for a café and restaurant”.

The new business will be run independently by Glenn and Fiona, under licence from the golf course owners, Ossian Developments Limited.  Ossian Director Colin Johnston commented “This type of collaborative arrangement is very common on golf courses – having a separate business running the club house makes great sense.  But this is also a partnership of interest, and we will be working closely with Glenn and Fiona over the years ahead, to build on the service we give to members and to visiting golfers. 

Ossian Developments acquired this renowned Lochaber golf course near Fort Willaim in 2009 and the Club House was powered in its first year by experienced caterer and local Glenachulish resident, Lisa Fettes and her energised team.  Miranda Garden took over the reins for 2010 and her positive attitude and strong contribution was marked in December 2010 by a special presentation from members of The Dragon’s Tooth Golf Club.  “It’s been a demanding 12 months” commented Miranda “and there’s never an idle moment!  I’ve really enjoyed seeing our membership grow, with more and more visitors coming to play golf or simply enjoy a great meal here.  It’s now time for me to move on and with a young son, I want to spend more time with the family.  Not to mention the horse riding . . . . .!”

Miranda’s partner is Head Greenkeeper, David Lawrence.  David said “There’s been so much progress on the greens in two years, this is almost a different course now. Quality greens go alongside a quality Club House and I’m delighted to see both sides of this business growing so well.  We have worked, and will work, in a really joined-up way so that the catering and the golf give the best welcome possible.”

More on the parkland golf course, set between Oban and Fort William at Ballachulish, and the inviting Club House, can be found at www.dragonstooth.co.uk/catering.php 

Is the winter over in Glencoe?

What do Highlander's do on those long winter evenings? Turn up the oil lamps and put more peat on the fire?

The golfers among them propably start to dream of the longer days ahead, and the relaxed enjoyment that is to come on those calm spring evenings strutting the fairways. With a catchment that stretches from Oban to Glencoe and then beyond Fort William and on round, well into Ardnamurchan, members of the Dragon's Tooth Golf Course - www.dragonstooth.co.uk - are said to be itching to swing the clubs again.  And they will not have long to wait; here we are in Lochaber in later February, and it's now light until what, 6.30pm.  If you get home from work quickly, there's time for a few holes before the dusk comes!

Yet let's not imagine that Winter is dry of golf.  On those lovely, sunny and clear winter days, there are folk out on the fairways and in fact, the course has played on Summer Tees ALL WINTER!  Golfers have come from Fort William Golf Course and Oban, to enjoy the comfort and style of the Ballachulish greens.Local's are not disuaded by rain either - it it true that some really prefer to play in a downpour?!

Weather wasn't too great for one of the Winter Competitions - The Stag's Head.  Paul Mills, one of the members of the Joint Services Training Team in Ballachulish said "We had a really good day out this year, and it's good to see the new enthusiasm for this established trophy".  David Crilley of Glenachulish organised the Cup and presented the award - and there was a drink or two in The Gathering Place Club House afterwards.

So, winter time isn't that bad after all, is it?

as sunny 

Outdoor Capital of the UK goes Dry

There's major work underway on one of the West Coast's best golf courses.  "Phase 2" of a major drainage scheme is underway this winter, to complete a project that will see water disappear from the fairways, and lead to even dryer surfaces ensuring yet better play.

Greenkeeper David Lawrence and Apprentice Rob have but on their wet weather gear and braved the winter elements as they drive forward this challenging project in true West Coast weather.  It seems that the rain wants to all fall before the project is completed, just to make a mockery of the work.  Perhaps it will now be an arid Spring!

But there's no madness on the ground; it's all method.  New routes are carefully marked for ditches, and spray paint is used to draw the intricate pattern of herringbone lines that show where the turf is to be cut, and the drainage scheme applied.

Meanwhile, on another part of the course there's a huge pile of gravel and it seems that the whole of Glensanda quarry has been dumped on our doorstep.  Once the trenches are dug, this gravel will be fed into the narrow ravines and allow water to run free.  Grassed over and then almost invisible, the web of channels work 24/7 as the precipitation is carried underground and off, into the local river.  "If done right" says David "this drainage should last for centuries".  And if you were paying the bill, you would hope so.