Scotland Golf Course Left Covered in a “Thick Carpet” of Sand After Storm

If you live in the northern part of the U.S., you’re probably used to having your favorite courses closed because snow covers the course. Well, in Scotland, they have a different problem that they’re facing.

One of the oldest courses in the world, Montrose Golf Links in Scotland is also one of the more famous links across the pond. Situated near the beach, the course features some beautiful views and the classic links golf design. That design was wrecked this week, however, after it was covered by sand of all things.

The course was directly affected by the Storm Deidre that hit the UK this past week, creating strong winds and inclement weather across the British Isles. And since the Montrose Golf Links is so close to the North Sea, the powerful storm displaced a lot of the sand from the shoreline, blowing it onto the first three holes of the course, effectively creating a 1200 yard bunker.

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“This is a result of coastal erosion, the dunes slightly just retreating towards the golf course,” said Darren McLaughlin, the head greenskeeper. “When the wind turns to come from the southeast then effectively there is very little protection. It blows up towards the course, to the second fairway and leaves this fairly thick carpet of sand; and then the fairway is basically unplayable. I have never seen anything like that.”

While McLaughlin may not have seen anything like this before, it actually might become a lot more common for Montrose. According to scientists, the North Sea has shifted over 70 meters closer to the course, moving more loose sand and sediment closer inland. So it will become more and more likely that sand will end up on the course when these big storms hit the area.

As far as how the course plans on fixing this sandy mess, well it seems that bringing in industrial blowers and physically pushing the sand back off the course is really their only option.

Sadly, it looks like Montrose will be in for some serious trouble as the years go on. Hopefully, the historic course will be able to find a solution to this problem so it can continue to operate for many more years.

Cover Image via Twitter