Dunfermline Press Saturday May 21st 1892
Here is the full report from the Dunfermline Press Saturday May 21st 1892 of the opening of the 18-hole course
The acquisition by the Dunfermline Golf Club of a portion of the Ferryhills as a golf course has given a great impetus to the “royal and ancient game” in the West of Fife.
Formerly the number of persons in the district who could boast of driving a gutta-percha ball would probably not number a score; now there are about an many ”crack” players, with quite a crowd of tolerable hands, and of course, the inevitable “duffers.”
It is only about eighteen months since the course of nine holes was laid out; and despite the fact that the entrance fee was raised when once the wave of popularity set on, the membership has increased so largely that the Committee were obliged recently to temporarily close the door against newcomers.
Occasionally, especially on Saturday afternoons, the greens were inconveniently crowded, and casting their eyes about them, the management fixed upon adjoining ground which would enable them, with the present links, to provide a full course of eighteen holes.
As on the occasion of the first negotiations, Mr Adam Will, the proprietor, entered heartily into the project, and a lease has been obtained of a field of twenty-five acres, along with a small strip of another park.
The addition to the course is situated to the north-east of the old course, and while, perhaps, not offering as many hazards as the player found in the first nine holes, it is admirably situated, and with a little care and attention and the construction of a few sand bunkers it should in time be equally as good as the links on which the Club made its first successful venture. It has also the advantage, as now being marked off, of affording more opportunities for long driving, the majority of the holes being longer than could be obtained before.
The putting greens have not yet been got in proper order, the spell of dry weather having prevented proper steps being taken to level the turf. The ground has lain in grass for a considerable number of years, however, and with some rain there will be little difficulty in having this work carried out.
The holes have been judiciously placed, and there is an absence of crossing, which has so often to be contended against.
With the extension there has been a rearrangement of the order of the holes. The first four holes of the old course remain as before, the high hedge having three times to be negotiated, and “that confounded hill” to be surmounted.
Then the player has to cross the old road leading from Inverkeithing to North Queensferry, and teeing his ball at one end of a level field, has a long drive, and generally a short cleek shot to the fifth hole, situated at the other end. By crossing a couple of stiles, the new course proper is reached, and here the wisdom of the management in securing the ground will be readily acknowledged. No better could be found round about, and little better could be desired. A magnificent view down the Firth of Forth is at once presented, the Bass Rock and Berwick Law being distinctly visible on a clear day. There is a fine springiness in the turf, and the course is far from being destitute of sporting features.
Prominent knolls are numerous, there are frequent sudden slopes, and from these and other difficulties it is soon apparent that considerable skill and judgement are required in order that a low score may be returned. The sixth hole gives on an indication of the troubles he may have to encounter. Teeing at the north-west corner of the field, he finds the disc almost due east at a distance of a little under 200 yards, and if he is not careful to guard against the slope and the boundary dyke, he may find his ball landed in an undesirable spot.
There are in all eight holes in the field, and they need not all be particularised.
The seventh has this danger, that the ball may be apt to topple over a quarry face on the east, or to roll down the hill on the opposite side; the ninth is the most difficult of all – the first stroke requiring the ball to be carried beyond a pretty high bank immediately in front of the teeing ground; the remainder of the holes run from east to west in more or less straight lines – the knolls being the most particular feature.
The fourteenth hole is played from east to west of the strip of land before referred to, and the road is again crossed.
The fifteenth hole is the same as that which was formerly the sixth on the original course, and the old order is maintained with regard to the remainder of the holes.
The steep hill has to be faced before the fifteenth green comes into view; then the troublesome wall, off which the balls of inexpert players will rebound, has to be got over for the sixteenth; a good drive from the club-house lands the ball near the seventeenth; and it is possible to drop into the eighteenth in 2.
The Dunfermline Golf Club are to be congratulated on their enterprise in providing for the increased membership. The full course ought to prove a great attraction to the district, and be the means of inducing visitors to take up their summer quarters in Inverkeithing and North Queensferry. It may be mentioned that young as it is, the club possesses several valuable trophies. The principal is the opening year cup, presented Mr George Reid; and the others are the Reid, Stewart, Wallace, Lockhart, Dick, and Gilmour medals. The present captain of the Club is Mr G. P. Anderson, Inverkeithing. (We are indebted to the proprietors of the Evening Dispatch for our Illustration of the course.)
Back to 1892 – first 18-hole course