Steady Progress

Work has progresses steadily in the last few weeks. All the felled trees have now been logged and cleared along with the dead timber.

Claudia was back in Switzerland for a week visiting relatives and friends. Meanwhile Jon with his perfect sense of timing, had a night in hospital with a suspected kidney stone. The stone departed of its own accord but Jon said it was the most painful thing he had ever experienced. Fortunately, the hospital seemed to think it was a one off and there would be nothing to worry about.

The weather took a turn for the worse in the last week or so of November forcing a flurry of activity in the office. Jon and Claudia took a trip to Skye to finalise some of the plans for the Tollie Guest House.

First Visitors

During October half term, Jon's mum, sister, nephew and niece visited Brahan to check out the project for themselves. Having heard so much about it we were all desperate to see Jon and Claudia's new home and can confirm that it lives up to expectations. Whilst the mountains do not have the size or grandeur of the Swiss alps, they have a magic all of their own enhanced by the glorious autumn colour of the trees.

Brahan is a real rural retreat and we saw lots of wildlife including birds of prey and deer. However for those of us who need frequent retail therapy less than ten minutes in the car takes you to Dingwall and an enormous 24/7 Tesco. The best of both worlds.

We can't wait to visit again next year and see how the course is developing.

Picture shows Lauren, Jon, Claudia, Ivy and Alexander outside the crofthouse

Construction???

Pictures show the area to be cleared for the 4th green/5th fairway and the sheer amount of vegetation cleared. The area around the croft house is cleared to reveal a proper path and finally Jon & Claudia felling trees. No prizes for guessing who is wielding the powersaw and who has the manual one!

Like all good projects, construction at Brahan got off to a flying start with some good old destruction!!!

First the grass around the croft cottage was cut using the scythe presented to Jon by Berti Bucher at Jon’s leaving do at Kerns practice facility. Assorted rubbish lying about was cleared away and disposed of. The visual splays at the entrance were improved through pruning the lower branches of the trees and cutting away the ground vegetation. At some point the Electricity Board will come and fell the trees under the powerline which are now threatening to cut off the supply to neighbouring Keithtown.

On the course a start has been made with the clearing of a passageway through the central wooded area in order to make way for the 4th green and 5th fairway. In order to preserve the soil as intact as possible all of the clearing of the gorse and other scrub has been done by hand. Back breaking and strenuous work.

At the moment trees in this area are being felled before starting on the build of the 4th green. Hopefully the main trees will be removed by the middle of next week. Jon recently completed a 3 day course to update his chainsaw skills ready for this task.

Brahan Golf Club....The Vision

Pictures showing views across the land and a schematic of the course.

Jon is a professional golfer who served his apprenticeship in Yorkshire before moving to work abroad, first in Scandinavia then for the last 15 years in Switzerland. It was during this time that Jon discovered a passion for course construction and management and the idea to build and run his own golf course was born.

After an extensive search, land has been leased on the Brahan estate just outside Dingwall. The course which has been designed by Jon, will be built more in the style of a classic course as it would have appeared pre 1950’s. There will be less defined lines of play with more obstacles/hazards in the direct line between the tee and green. Uniquely, the course is designed to be played in both directions and to compliment it, a guesthouse will be built and run by Claudia, Jon's Swiss born wife who has many years experience in hospitality and retail.

September 2009...New Beginnings

In mid September Jon & Claudia made the long drive from Beckenreid in Central Switzerland to Brahan in Highlands of Scotland. After many,many months of planning, dreams were about to become a reality.

Moving into a nearby cottage (initial plans to live in a caravan on site having been dismissed as impractical!) their first few days were taken up with mundane but necessary tasks such as opening bank accounts and registering with a doctor. The arrival of the furniture container at the end of the first week meant that the airbed could be packed away and the cottage began to feel more like home.

Finally they could turn their attention to the main project...constructing a nine hole golf course on land surrounding the old scout camp at Tollie.