Growing up as a boy in Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, I was lucky and privileged to be a junior member of The Irvine Golf Club, more commonly known to members and locals as “Bogside”. The rules then were you could only join when you turned 12 years old, and had to have a living parent or grandparent who was also a member. To be fair, it was the late 70’s early 80’s and thankfully things have moved on since then! I couldn’t wait to turn 12 and I remember those last few years leading up to that special birthday, and thinking “this is taking forever!”
Eventually the day came and I was a happy boy when I became a member of Bogside. My mum, dad and big brother John were already members and I couldn’t wait to start playing in junior medals and competitions, and making up the family fourballl! My big sis Julie was the black sheep in the family with no desire to venture onto the links all those years ago, and things have never changed since for her!!
Founded in 1887, Irvine Bogside is described as an “inland links” course which is steeped in history and has hosted many high profile events over the years including Final Qualifying for The Open Championship. A superb par 71 course with tricky approaches to some of the best greens in the west of Scotland. Although not nice to be hitting your ball from, but the course is a colourful delight in the middle of the season with yellow gorse and the purple heather adjoining the beautiful fairways. The club has boasted 3 Scottish Amateur Champions. Jack Cannon ( 1969 ), Jimmy Walker ( 1961 ) and Hammy McInally ( 1937, 1939 and 1947 ) . I was lucky enough to meet and spend time with two of these legends in Jack and Jimmy, but sadly Hammy passed when I was 5 or 6 and never got to meet the great man. The 3 of them still have their portraits hanging in the clubhouse smokeroom to this day. It was probably one of the proudest moments in my golfing life, that in winning the Scottish Boys National Title in 1986 I was made a life honorary member of the club and my portrait was placed in the smokeroom alongside the 3 Ayrshire legends.
Ayrshire is an absolute haven for golfers and you are spoiled for choice along that west coast. As well as Irvine Bogside, take your pick from Dundonald, Western Gailes, Gails Links, West Kilbride, Kilmarnock Barassie to name but just a few. And then you have 3 Open Championship venues in Royal Troon, Turnberry, and Prestwick who hosted the first ever Open in 1860 which was won by Willie Park Jnr of Scotland with a 36 hole winning aggregate of 174. Ayrshire is also very accessible with good road links from Edinburgh Airport ( 1hr 40mins ), Glasgow Airport 40 minutes away and Prestwick Airport which is 15 minutes from Irvine.
Having lived in Edinburgh now for 17 years, my only regret is that I don’t find enough time to go back to the place I love and where it all really started for me. I try and get out there as often as I can, but alas the world is as busy a place as we’ve ever known it, and it’s not as easy as it used to be. My last game was a couple of months ago on a rather chilly spring day. I played with 14 year old Aidan Lawson and his dad John. The Scottish Boys Championship was going to Irvine a couple of weeks later and Aidan was desperate for a couple of practice rounds. I’ve been playing golf with Aidan since he was a tiny wee boy, maybe 3 or 4yrs old. When he turned 7 or 8 I remember saying to his dad, “I really think we’ve got something seriously special in the making here”. I don’t think I was wrong and still don’t. He has just turned 15 and is playing off plus 4!! He went on to finish tied 8th in The Scottish Boys event which was a solid performance. Remember the name folks! An absolute superstar and I’m so excited about his future.
I’m not being biased, but the welcome you get from Irvine GC staff and members is fantastic. As a visitor, you are welcomed with open arms and if any of the elderly members are kicking about the clubhouse, they are more than happy to give you a little tour around the clubhouse and tell you about the club’s history. On many occasions they’ll even walk you up to the tee and tell you a little bit about the course and where to hit it ( or not to hit it, off the 1st )! The food is also great and superb value. At times I think overly generous with price, but don’t tell the catering staff I said that!
I mentioned about the course being an “inland links” earlier. Basically just means it’s not right on the sea which is about a mile away. But it’s every bit a links with its pot bunkers, heather, gorse, bumps and humps, and links turf to hit from. The River Irvine runs adjacent to the 4th green, 5th tee and the 6th green, before the river heads out to the ocean.
The 1st hole can play tough especially into the wind. There’s a hill in the middle of the fairway at about 260 / 270 yards. If you can muscle one over the hill it makes a huge difference and will be left with a very short 2nd shot with a lofted club. Not getting over the hill can mean as much as 4 or 5 clubs difference with your approach. So if you’ve got the distance it’s well worth getting the driver out and trying to clear it.
The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th are all birdie chances with the 2nd being a par 5 followed by 3 shortish par 4’s. Don’t be fooled however with these par 4’s. The 3rd has a massive gully in front of the green which really leaves you a tough shot up to the green. 3 ways to play it…. A bit of a smash with the putter, a chip and run with maybe a 7 or 6 iron, or a flop shot which will test your nerves especially off a tight lie. The latter would definitely be my last recommendation of the 3! The 4th has a boundary wall all the way down the left side onto the main Ayr to Glasgow trainline. The wall literally sits a foot to the left of the green and have seen many a second shot fly over it and out of bounds. The 5th is very risk reward. The green sits high on a hill with a huge bunker at the bottom of it. The safe play is just to hit a mid iron lay up onto the fairway short of the bunker which will leave you an 80-100 yard blind second shot. The big hitters can definitely have a go from the tee with the driver. However there is danger everywhere if you don’t get it right. Short, left and right is big trouble with heavy rough and the gorse. So be warned. The 6th hole in my opinion is the toughest hole on the course. A long par 4 that requires 2 precision shots to make the green. The approach can be quite intimidating as the River Irvine is just a few feet left of the green and there’s nothing there to guard the ball trickling over and out of bounds. The safe option is really just to miss the green right and hope to up and down. A par 4 is a great score, and a bogey 5 is more than acceptable.
There’s only 2 par 3’s at Irvine. The 8th and the 16th which for me is a little unusual for two reasons. If you think of all the courses you play, I bet the first par 3 is before hole 8. And secondly, not many courses have only 2 par 3’s. The stretch of holes from 9 through to 15 are all par 4’s. 9, 11 and 13 can play long and 14 has a treacherous two tiered green. If there are 2 flags on the pin at 14, it means the hole is on the back top tier so one or even two more clubs required. 15 is a lovely little par 4 downhill with a very slight dogleg right to left. The hole is affectionally called Bartonholm. Bartonholm was a small mining village which was just a few hundred yards away and incredibly is where Jimmy, Jackie and Hammy all grew up as wee boys. 3 national champions coming out of there all those years later. Wow! The village once had a population of 350 and remained until 1937, and is now just an overgrown area of fields and bushes.
The 17th at just over 400 yards is not the longest but the tee shot is absolutely key. If it’s downwind, keep the driver in the bag as you’ll only need to hit it 200-220 yards. The longer you go down the fairway, it really starts to narrow and also banks right to left towards the trouble. 18 is a fun finishing hole. Blind tee shot up over a small hill which has 2 massive bunkers in the face. Not really in play but always in the back of your mind if you have a wee miscue! A good tee shot will leave you a short iron to an inviting green heavily guarded by bunkers. Hopefully a par 4 or better and you can enjoy a drink back in the friendly and welcoming clubhouse.
We had a great day despite the cold breeze and Irvine Bogside was in great condition for so early on in the year. It’s known in the area for its great greens and overall condition all year round. Aidan the wee superstar was awesome as always and although Ole Taiters played well and drove the ball good, I regularly found myself 20-30 yards behind him. The youth of today!
My dear old dad passed away in January and my sister and I decided on a commemorative bench in his honour, which now sits pride of place at the putting green on the way to the 1st tee. We took my great nephew Leon ( Dad’s great grandson ) out to see it just recently which was special for all the family. However, he couldn’t quite get his head around that his great uncle Alan’s picture was hanging in the club. “What do you think of that” I said to him. The 5yr old’s reply was, “what happened to your hair?” Little imp!
Preferred golf clothing brands:
Glenmuir - www.glenmuir.com Sunderland of Scotland -www.glenmuir.com/Sunderland
Comments