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HISTORY
The History of Kilsyth Lennox Golf
Club is a more turbulent one than most. In the last
hundred years, the club has been through two world wars
and a serious fire, not to mention countless changes
to the course layout.
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The original nine hole course was founded
in 1899, in the Balmalloch area of the town, but moved in
1905 to the present position North East of the town.
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The holes built here, overlooking the
Kelvin Valley, became known as the inside six, and remain
part of the course to this day. Back then, the clubhouse
was a corrugated iron and timber construction, affectionately
known as the Wee Green Hut, and this was transported
to the new site on the back of a horse and cart!
In 1962, the area of the 'inside six'
was gifted to the Club by a local solicitor, William
Mackay Lennox, Kilsyth Golf Club became Kilsyth Lennox
Golf Club and the scene was set for the remarkable evolution
of Club and course to its present incarnation.
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As the years went by, the club continued
to expand. Land from two surrounding quarries was bought and
infilled, while other land was resold. With each change, holes
were added or decommissioned, until the course finally became
18 holes in 1992.
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Unfortunately, members barely had time
to enjoy the new course before disaster struck. The
dark and stormy night of Jan 16th 1993 was the worst
in the club's long history.
Though firemen tried their hardest
to control it, a fierce fire swept thoughout the clubhouse,
completely destroying it, along with most of the Club
records and all of the trophies.
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Its typical of the attitude of our
members that even an event as serious as this one didn't
keep them down for long. Many of our members are able
to look back fondly on the time spent in temporary portacabins,
and have many stories to tell.
Everyone did their best to ensure that
club life continued as normal, which included hosting
our renowned Burns Suppers throughout this period, -
no portacabin was going to stop that!
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The fortunes of the club began to look up
with the completion of the new clubhouse in 1995, and things
continued to improve as time went on. Between 1997 and 2002,
after a successful lottery application, many of the greens
and tees were redesigned by Rocky Roquemore, the renowned
American Golf Course architect who has built courses all over
the world.
After 40 years of almost continual change
and upgrading, Kilsyth Lennox Golf Club now presents golfers
with an almost completely refurbished course offering new
challenges in a relaxed and friendly environment. Looking
back through our history, its easy to see the debt that we
owe our members, who gave us so much support through some
difficult times. Amazingly, despite the golf course being
remodelled as the golfers were playing it, 18 holes were always
in play throughout the construction period!
We wish all our members and visitors many
happy hours playing the remodelled course and hope everyone
will continue to enjoy the famous Kilsyth hospitality on and
off the golf course.
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