Officials at Machrihanish Golf Club are celebrating after securing funding support from Argyll and the Islands Enterprise (AIE) towards the upgrade of the Club's Visitors Centre and new marketing activities.

Financial assistance totalling £41,300 has been awarded to the Club, which includes £16,500 from the HIE Activity programme - a European-funded initiative which aims to develop and promote leisure activities in the Highlands and Islands.  The funding package also includes £2,500 from AIE's Marketing and Consultancy programme.

Established in 1876, Machrihanish Golf Club is regarded as one of Scotland's most challenging links courses and the first hole on the course has famously been described as the 'finest in the world'.  The Club boasts 1100 members and attracts around 6,000 visitors per year.

Through this project, the Club will improve facilities for members and visitors by upgrading their Visitors and Starters Centre - the area where golfers make bookings, pay fees, buy merchandise and meet the Club's professional golfer.  The clubhouse is also in line for a revamp with the renewal of stained windows overlooking the course.

Also included in the  £118,000 project is the introduction of a Pro-Am tournament to help market Machrihanish Golf Club.  Media coverage of the event is set to raise the profile of the course and hopefully attract more visitors to the Kintyre area.

Machrihanish Golf Club Captain, Hector Thomson said: "Machrihanish Golf Club is delighted to be associated with AIE in this project and are confident the grant will go a long way to enhancing our Club for the benefit of the area and the public in general."

Chief executive of AIE, Ken Abernethy said: "We are delighted to be able to help Machrihanish Golf Club with this project which will play an important part in the continuing regeneration of the Kintyre economy."