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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
