West Kilbride Golf Club

There are many fine links courses along the thirty-mile stretch of Ayrshire coast between Turnberry and Irvine, notably the Ailsa, King Robert the Bruce, Prestwick, St Nicholas, Troon, Barassie, Glasgow Gailes, Western Gailes, Dundonald and Bogside. But just ten miles north of here lies the fine championship course of West Kilbride Golf Club, which is often overlooked due to its comparative separation from the others named.

Located at Seamill on the north Ayrshire coast with spectacular views across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran and beyond to the Mull of Kintyre, West Kilbride Golf Club is a private members club – formed in 1893 – with the good fortune of owning a challenging, 6,452 yard, 18-hole links.

James Braid, five times Open Champion and one of Scotland’s greatest golf course architects, has twice had a hand in the design of the West Kilbride layout. He made changes to the original Old Tom Morris 9-hole course in 1914 then, after competing in the Open at nearby Troon in 1923, suggested further alterations which were brought into being two years later.

The early holes on the course are played on higher ground, away from the coastline and they have an upland feel, despite the presence of gorse and heather at the margins of the fairways. The course really gets the pulse racing around the turn with a nice loop of holes between “Goatfell”, the par three 9th and “Whinhurst”, the par three 12th.

From then on in it just gets better and the back nine is a real joy to play, with most holes hugging the rugged coastline. The last six holes are all strong par fours – in particular, the wonderfully named ”Hunger-em-oot” 16th where a small white-washed cottage to the left of the green must be negotiated and, in traditional links style, the double greened 17th called “Sunset” must be played to the left of the shared putting surface with the 6th hole, “Mound.”

The annual Scottish Boys Championship was held for many years at North Berwick and Dunbar on the east coast of Scotland before moving to West Kilbride in 1990. The course has hosted the event a further seven times so the Scottish Golf Union obviously think highly of this links on the Clyde coast. The PGA Seniors championship was contested at West Kilbride in 1969 and the club has also hosted the Girls Amateur on four occasions, between 1954 and 2015.