Golf
“
Derek MacReadie, a notable amateur golfer and avid fisherman, to lay out a 12-hole course using a flatter area of the machair alongside the grass airstrip. The next significant development was the
arrival of Dr Kenneth Robertson to South Uist in 1956. He was an enthusiastic and excellent golfer who immediately saw the potential of the course and worked tirelessly in reviving the membership and encouraging the youth of the island to adopt the sport. A military rocket range had opened in the northern part of the island and this brought an abundance of army personnel and construction workers who had a passion for golf to the course, where a portacabin was being used for a clubhouse. In 1970, Dr
The situation was so bad that, at one point, a vote was taken on whether or not to disband the club, but a handful of diehards soldiered on, without flags, tee markers or a greenkeeper
Robertson designed a new layout which consisted of nine holes and eighteen tees. By this time, the Old Tom Morris course had been totally consumed by nature and virtually forgotten. Dr Robertson left the island in 1982 to
retire to Edinburgh and, with the downsizing of the military base, the nine-hole course once again fell into decline. The 1990s were a decade of mixed fortunes for the club. The course only remained playable due to the determination and endeavour of a few locals, until the idea of building a new clubhouse sparked some life into the club, but that collapsed as no grant funding could be found. The situation was so bad that, at one point, a vote was taken on whether or
not to disband the club, but a handful of diehards soldiered on, without flags, tee markers or a greenkeeper. 2005 was the remarkable turning point in
the history of Askernish. Gordon Irvine, a golf course consultant and keen fisherman, contacted an estate in his native Ayrshire to enquire about fishing rights. The gentleman he spoke to also happened to be the former Factor (estate manager) of South Uist Estates and mentioned, during their conversation, that there was an Old Tom Morris course on the island. Gordon was disbelieving and contacted the club’s Chairman, Ralph Thompson, for confirmation, who promptly confirmed that, indeed, there was a connection and invited Gordon over to
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