The Firm & Fast Golf Podcast · Shane Derby

Martin Ebert of MacKenzie & Ebert

·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

Martin Ebert says the Valley at Royal Portrush sits on land that is “almost stronger” than the Dunluce.

Shane Derby opens at Royal Portrush. He and Martin Ebert walk the Valley Course and talk through the changes Graham Darcy and Dar Golf have been making since November 2023. The course itself is the story here. Ebert explains how the work uses parts of a 400-acre parcel of Lynxland on the Causeway Coast that had not been asked to do much before. The environmental limits matter. He talks about restricted chemical use, the effort to cut disease and pest pressure, and the case for fescue-dominated greens. Firmness matters too. That leads into the design problem of making new greens and approaches work for regular member play, not just for players who can spin everything on command. The greens are being rebuilt. All 18 are to be reconstructed, and some will move into new locations where pine trees once stood, which opens up room for new holes. Derby keeps pushing for context, and Ebert gives it in the way architects do best, moving between green shaping, approach lines, surface design, and the limits the site sets for him. Enniscroan comes up next. The episode covers the winter 2023-24 changes there and the wider master plan M&E prepared, with attention to what can and cannot be changed without losing the course's shape. History still matters. Ebert notes that the course is relatively new, that Frank Penning was one of Donald Steel's old partners, and that his family background also ties him to the Netherlands. Most holes stay where they are. Even where adjustments are allowed, the routing remains largely intact, so the work feels more like careful correction than a full redraw. Sydney and Noordwijk close things out. The conversation ends by touching on imminent work at New South Wales Golf Club and Noordwijk Golf Club, which gives a good sense of how far Ebert's current workload now reaches.

As heard by us

A steady look at Valley Course changes, green rebuilding, and the design logic behind the work.

The episode follows Martin Ebert on the ground at Royal Portrush, where the focus stays on how the Valley Course is being reshaped and how the club is making fuller use of the site.

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Why you'd press play

If you care how a links gets reshaped, this walk with Martin Ebert is your kind of hour.

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