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1. The well- appointed dining room of the Kintyre Club 2. A room at the Ugadale Hotel offers an ocean view and luxurious accommodations. dates to 1898 and was once the prime scene-making spot for the visiting summer elite. Campbeltown and its neighboring precincts, however, were built on the industries of coal mining and commercial fshing, both of which have been in steep decline for decades. The hotel's fortunes had followed that of the town—until, that is, the property caught the eye of a Boston-based developer. David Southworth was once the business partner in the real estate dealings of former Reebok CEO Paul Fireman—the two amicably divided the empire when Fireman decided to retire. Contacted several years ago by an early investor who had been impressed by his work at Liberty National, a private club on New York Bay, Southworth visited the village of Machrihanish and took note of the boarded-up wreck that was the Ugadale. "It was a disaster beyond description," he said in an interview. "But I could see how nice it could be." The hotel's prime location—oceanfront and across the street from a top 100 links course—probably helped his imagination along, but Southworth's vision was a multifaceted one. Four years and almost $34 million later, Machrihanish brims with confdence. The Ugadale and a second hotel in Campbeltown, the Royal Hotel, both received top to bottom gut renovations. Southworth's company also added eight high-tech golf cottages, a spa, restaurants and pubs (see sidebar)—all with an eye toward modern style and luxury to satisfy even the most demanding of travelers. The challenge was to do a renovation that placed the Royal and the Ugadale squarely in the conversation as the best small golf hotels in Scotland. 1. The true centerpiece of Southworth's investment, though, 2. is Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club. Designed by the architect of Bandon Dunes, David McLay Kidd, the course debuted in 2009—the frst new links to open on Scotland's west coast in a century. Links terrain comes in many shapes and sizes, from the quiet and mildly undulating, like the Old Course at St. Andrews or Muirfeld, to the bold and rugged, like Ballybunion or Royal 82 Tempus-Magazine.com . Summer 2013