Andy DevaneyThe Machrie Four-Ball Championship has blown the starting whistle on another season of proper links golf at Another Place, The Machrie, where Islay’s Atlantic edge serves up golf with the subtlety of a bagpipe in a library.
Islay Welcomes Golfers Back To The Dunes
Played from April 24-26, the opening event brought 64 golfers to Islay for three days of four-ball competition on The Machrie’s championship links beside Laggan Bay.
Supported by Bruichladdich, the championship marked the beginning of the 2026 season at one of Scotland’s most distinctive golf destinations. And distinctive is the word. This is not manicured resort golf with palm trees, buggy paths and a playlist. This is wind-in-the-eyes, sand-in-the-shoes, whisky-by-the-fire stuff.
The Machrie does not so much host golfers as test their emotional range.
A Course That Changes Its Mind By The Hour
Set along seven miles of coastline on Islay’s Atlantic edge, Another Place, The Machrie is ranked within the world’s Top 100 golf courses and wears its setting beautifully.
The routing moves through natural dunes, revetted bunkers and wide Hebridean skies, with Laggan Bay close enough to remind every player that the sea is not merely scenery. It is part of the round.
One moment, the fairways run firm and inviting. The next, the wind has changed direction and your well-struck ball is doing something medically concerning.
That, of course, is the point.
The best links courses have a habit of making golfers feel clever one minute and deeply over-promoted the next. The Machrie belongs firmly in that tradition.
More Than A Scorecard Weekend
The appeal of the Machrie Four-Ball Championship is not just the golf, though there is plenty of that. It is the rhythm around it.
Morning tee times begin with waves rolling onto shore. Afternoons stretch beneath shifting skies. Evenings slow down around firepits, local whisky and the sort of stories that improve in direct proportion to the number of drams involved.
Alan Martin, Golf General Manager at Another Place, The Machrie, said: “The Four-Ball Championship always feels like the true start of the season here. The course changes by the hour depending on the wind, the weather and the light, which makes playing at The Machrie such a memorable experience.
“What connects all three events is the setting. You’re not just coming here for tournament golf, you’re spending time on an island where the landscape, people and pace of life all become part of the experience.”
That is neatly put. The Machrie is not trying to be everywhere else. It is very much itself: salt air, long light, clean lines, proper bunkers and an island pace that encourages even the twitchiest golfer to stop checking emails for five minutes.
The Machrie Open Returns In June
With the Machrie Four-Ball Championship now setting the early-season tone, attention turns to the next event on the calendar.
The Machrie Open returns from June 26-28, supported by Ardnahoe, and arrives at the height of the Hebridean summer.
That timing matters. Long days on Islay have their own theatrical quality: stretched light, restless skies and fairways that can firm up into the kind of surfaces links golfers dream about during bleak winter range sessions.
For visiting golfers, the Open offers a neat excuse to combine competitive golf with a proper island escape.
Team Golf Closes The Season In October
Later in the year, the Machrie Team Championship runs from October 2-4, closing the season with a four-player format built around camaraderie, competition and, one suspects, the occasional heroic misremembering of a six-footer.
Autumn on Islay brings a different mood. The light drops lower. The Atlantic wind sharpens its elbows. The dunes take on that late-season glow that makes even a double bogey feel oddly poetic, provided it is someone else’s.
It is a fitting way to close The Machrie’s golf calendar: team golf, island air and one last weekend on the links before the season folds itself into winter.
Why The Machrie Stands Apart
There are many golf destinations that offer luxury. There are others that offer history, architecture or scenery. The Machrie’s trick is that it does not separate those things.
The golf is woven into the island rather than placed on top of it. The dunes, sea, wind and light all have agency. You are not simply playing a course; you are negotiating with a landscape that has seen plenty of golfers come and go, most of them slightly humbled.
Away from the fairways, guests can settle into the wider Islay experience: wild swims, empty beaches, fresh seafood, wildlife boat trips and wee drams beside the fire.
It is golf travel with the edges left on. Polished, yes. Sanitised, no.
Entries Now Open
Entries for The Machrie Open and Machrie Team Championship are now open, giving golfers two more chances to experience tournament golf at Another Place, The Machrie in 2026.
For those who like their golf neat, predictable and obedient, Islay may require a small adjustment period. For everyone else, the Machrie Four-Ball Championship has already set the tone beautifully: Atlantic air in the lungs, links turf underfoot, and a golf course that keeps changing its mind just when you thought you had solved it.
