Ayrshire Golf
An Introduction – The Courses
Harry Ward
We asked the Ayr-based golf historian and author of Forgotten Greens, Harry Ward, to join us in writing a series of articles featuring the different aspects of golf in Ayrshire, to include some of the history of our historic championship courses, with municipal golf, the players, caddies, greenkeepers and all the individuals who have made Ayrshire golf so popular and successful throughout the years.
In the first of these articles, Harry has focused primarily on the history of golf in Ayrshire and its courses.
In historic golfing terms and, in comparison to the ancient East Coast courses of Leith and St Andrews, the West Coast of Scotland is a relative newcomer to the game with Prestwick and Prestwick St Nicholas leading the way in 1851. Troon followed some 27 years later in 1878. Old Prestwick was responsible for the inaugural Open Championship in 1860, and hosted the event on 24 occasions, the last being in 1925.
The entire Ayrshire coast, all the way from Girvan northwards to Largs is awash with beautiful golf courses, most of which have their own members’ club attached with a rich, proud documented history. I hope to convey to you, the reader, over the next few issues some of the more interesting but lesser-known facts from these histories and to ask you to join us in a celebration of Ayrshire’s wonderful, unique golfing past.
The Open Championship venues of Turnberry and Troon have, obviously, over the years, stolen the show, however, some smaller township or village courses existed in the district before the turn of the century, notably the beautiful old links at Ballantrae which was formed in October 1877. The first 8-hole course was laid out along the coast immediately north of the village from the harbour to the area named Balig. The course was extended to 18 holes in 1891, and was designed by Willie Fernie of Troon. The club eventually folded in 1944 due to the war.
Girvan has the greatest claim to early golf in Ayrshire which can be found in the Kennedy Papers as early as 1751 when a group known as the Girvan Clique had regular golf matches in the town which almost always concluded with a serious spell of drinking. A few lines from the Kennedy Papers describe the participants and are quite amusing:
The parties generally are Barganey, Ardmillan Pinmore Mr Cathcart, the minister and Doctor Bannerman which occasions harmony and friendship and Sir John is Judge of fair play at that and the drinking, there are complaints for the most part next day of sore heads and great drouths.
This of course, was long before formal golf was introduced to the area with golf being played in the Stair Park since 1884 and the birth of Girvan Burgh Golf Club in 1903.
As we travel northwards, most of our golfing readers might not be aware of the old defunct golf courses at Kilhenzie Castle and Auchenwinn Farm just outside Maybole which were the one-time home of the early Maybole Golf Club. The course at Kilhenzie was opened in May 1905, but lasted a mere two years at which point the club moved further west towards the town at Auchenwinn Farm in August 1907. This course was ploughed up for the war effort in 1915 and the club disbanded. The club was resuscitated in 1924 when the new municipal course was opened, but unfortunately, has now once again fell by the wayside.
The jewel in the crown of all Ayrshire courses is without doubt, Trump Turnberry, venue for four previous Open Championships, the most famous being the “The Duel In The Sun” in 1977, the memorable final contest on the 18th hole between Nicholas and the eventual winner, Tom Watson. A golf club and course were formed at the lighthouse in 1892, but due to a misunderstanding with the Marquis of Ailsa the scheme was abandoned more or less from the start. The Marquis also had his own private course of nine holes on his estate at Culzean and was coached by a French professional. The existing course was opened in July 1901 by the Girvan Golf Club and little did they know at the time that the course would become, with help from the Glasgow & South Western Railway, one of the finest golf courses in the world.
The construction and opening of the new railway line and luxury hotel in 1906 would launch Turnberry into a new era of golf tourism throughout Scotland. The facility at Turnberry is now regarded as the number one golf course in the world and regardless of some people’s opinions and attitudes to Mr Trump’s controversial political policies, it cannot be denied that he certainly knows how to construct a modern-day masterpiece.
Stay tuned – in our next issue, Harry will continue our exploration into the rich history of Ayrshire golf. Don’t miss it!
