ANYONE looking for a golf trip which has something of the magical mystery tour about it should head for magnificent Machrihanish, taking in the splendours of Shiskine on the way.

It initially involves a three to four-hour hour drive from the North-East to catch a ferry from Ardrossan, north of Ayr, to the Isle of Arran.

By taking another short ferry ride, Arran offers a delightful stepping stone to the long peninsula of Kintyre beyond, ruling out the need to drive a further 120 miles via Glasgow and Inveraray to reach Machrihanish, which is near Campbeltown.

Caledonian-Macbrayne ferry trips are never particularly cheap, but the value offered by the golf courses more than compensates. Where else could you play two of the top 100 courses on the same trip for £70 in total?

Although usually around 60th, Machrihanish has stood as high as 22nd in the various lists of the top courses in the British Isles, while Shiskine usually creeps into the top 100, despite being only a 12-hole course.

Founded in 1876, Machrihanish has long been acknowledged as one of the great Scottish links but tends to be overlooked because of its supposed inaccessibility.

But after your day at Shiskine you can take a ferry from Lochranza, where one of Arran's other six golf courses can be found, and after the 40- minute crossing to Claonaig it's a 50-minute drive to Machrihanish.

It would take longer if you followed the main road through Campbeltown, but cutting a corner via the airport road saves a good 15 minutes and serves as a reminder that it's possible to fly here from Glasgow if you can stand the extra expense.

It is said that two weeks after the inaugural meeting to form the club the members were playing their ten-hole course, and when three years later they called in Old Tom Morris to advise on an 18-hole lay-out he pronounced the ground "specially designed by the Almighty for the playing of golf."

The same quote is attributed to Old Tom in a few other places, but nowhere is it likely to be more appropriate. Nor is the claim that the first is the finest opening hole in Scotland likely to be challenged. Some say it's the best in the world.

If you go straight at the flag on this dramatic 428-yard par four the drive involves a 200- yard carry over a sandy bay - or Atlantic rollers if the tide is in.

The further right you aim they more you reduce the carry, but the less chance you have of getting anywhere near the green in two. If you fall short it's not a disaster - the beach is not out of bounds.

The green provides a clear indication that putting here requires either a good deal of skill or luck in hitting the approach shot to a position from which it is possible to get near the pin.

The slopes and hollows on the front nine can leave some quite frightening putts, but this is in perfect harmony with an outward half which exhibits all the joys, or despairs, of true linksland.

At the second, 393 yards, the longest hitters have to lay up short of Machrihanish Burn, leaving a mid-iron which must carry a steep rise to a green even more undulating than the first.

This is the start of dune country, featuring blind shots into valleys snaking through the sandhills. The fourth is a mere 121 yards and is stroke 18, but with a bunker in the bank in front of the green you'd better hit the target with enough height for the ball to stop. If it's downwind, you've no chance.

The airport intrudes on the scenic splendours at the far end of the course, with the marker post at the ninth getting lost in the background of landing lights.

But that's soon left behind as you turn inland at the 502-yard tenth, the first of only two par fives and swiftly followed by the other at the 12th.

Both are fine holes, and with the 437-yard 14th being the stroke one hole, followed by two testing par threes, the back nine is more difficult. It is also less interesting, but that's purely relative as the front nine takes some beating.

Personally, my only disappointment was that my romantic vision of a rustic old cabin afloat on a sea of dunes in this tantalisingly remote spot was wide of the mark. There's a modern pro shop next to the first tee, with a solid and welcoming clubhouse across the road. There's nothing particularly romantic about it, but it does afford lovely views of Gigha, Jura and Islay and I'm told the sunsets can be stunning.

Probably not quite as stunning, however, as the view which unfolds when you crest the rise to assess your second shot on Shiskine's superb second hole.

The ground falls again to a stream, with the green nestling on the far side, and beyond that are the Drumadoon cliffs mingling with the vivid blues and yellows of sea, sky and gorse.

If I have played in a bonnier spot I do not recall it, and coming from a lover of Kerry, Connemara and Donegal that's praise indeed.

The 357-yard second at Shiskine is a great hole by any standards, as is the only par five, the 506-yard ninth, which also wanders up and down and crosses a stream.

Of the remaining ten holes, seven are par threes of varying eccentricity but only the last, a nondescript 120-yarder, is a disappointment.

The third, known as Crow's Nest, is only slightly longer but involves a steep climb to a green which requires a very tall marker post to give you a clue as to the flag's whereabouts.

With the cliffs just to your right, the next tee shot is about as elevated as they get, then there's a long par three and a short par four along the craggy shoreline before coming to the hole dubbed the Himalayas.

Again it's a blind par three over a high hill, with the path down the right flanked by an old railway signal to allow you to let those behind know when the green is clear.

There are so many blind shots that the first round should be seen simply as a reconnaissance because after a lunch in the delightful tearoom you will not be able to resist going round again, especially as it offers exceptional value at £30 a day.

Shiskine can be found alongside the lovely village of Blackwaterfoot on the west side of Arran. Founded in 1896, the course was extended from nine to 18 holes when former Open champion Willie Park was called in to supervise the work in 1912. His fee of £600 is displayed with other memorabilia in the tearoom.

Six holes enjoyed a very short left as they fell into disuse during the great war and it has remained a 12-hole course ever since.

That alone makes it distinctive, but the sheer beauty of it has to be seen to be believed.