Part 1 - origins

On this page we briefly chart the origins of the Bonnyton Moor golf course from its construction under the watchful eye of world-renowned course architect, Dr. Alister Mackenzie, to the opening of Bonnyton Golf Club in 1957.

Introduction

The area around Bonnyton was mainly moorland used only for sheep grazing. On the other side of what is now the Kirkton Moor Road was a large wood - the Common Wood - which was cut down during the First World War, the timber being required for railway sleepers, pit props, etc.

The original Bonnyton Moor Golf Club was built around 1922 by James Stephen Lindsay, originally from Laurencekirk in Kircardine, who was a publican in Glasgow. It was publicised as being:

". . situated 9 miles from Glasgow at a height of 800 feet above sea level on the slopes of Ballagioch hill (1084 ft.) which commands an unrivalled view of mountain and vale comprising ten counties. Easily accessible by a regular bus service to Eaglesham."

James Stephen Lindsay

According to Mairi Maxwell (nee Lindsay), great-niece of the original owner, the land was originally purchased in 1919. Sometime after the Clubhouse was built, the Lindsay family experienced financial difficulties and was forced to sell their home and other interests - with the exception of the Brechin Bar which stood at the corner of Aikenhead Road and Calder Street in Glasgow's South Side.

Mairi, who lives in British Columbia, Canada, has kindly provided the photographs below:

James Stephen Lindsay, his
wife Elizabeth and daughters
Mary and Elizabeth

Dedication of a sundial plinth at Bonnyton Golf Club in
1935 after the death of James Stephen Lindsay. The
group includes Mrs. Lindsay, her daughters and
sons in-law David Read and William Queen.

The sundial plinth
as seen today

The 'Golf Doctor'

The course at Bonnyton was originally designed by Dr. Alister Mackenzie, the English-born Scottish course architect whose career spanned 27 years and included some of the most iconic courses in the UK, America and Australia.

Fergus Bisset, writing for Golf Monthly, says:

'When the world’s best golfers visit the majestic Augusta National each April for the US Masters, they’ll be treading fairways and firing into greens created by Dr Alister MacKenzie. Between 1907 and his death in 1934, he became one of the game’s most skilful and prolific golf-course architects.'

Mackenzie believed that the prevailing philosophy of course design, based on penalising poor play with bunkers and other hazards, was flawed and that the game should be enjoyed by players of all abilities. This guiding principle drove him to design courses which made the most of the subtle, natural contours of the available terrain and saw him travelling the world to advise on the construction or re-design of courses like Moortown, Leeds, home of the 1929 Ryder Cup; Royal Melbourne; Cypress Point and, most famously, Augusta National.

Over a period of several months in late 1922 until March 1923, Dr. Mackenzie advised on and occasionally supervised works at Bonnyton which was officially inaugurated in June 1923 with an exhibition match played by George Duncan, Abe Mitchell, J. H. Kirkwood and multi-Major winner, Walter Hagen (see below).

You can read more about Alister Mackenzie at the Alister Mackenzie Society of Great Britain and Ireland's website.

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse from the Kirkton Moor Road - c.1927

Instead of a conventional clubhouse, Lindsay built a Dormie House (literally, a sleeping house) where players could stay for a weekend or longer, rolling out of bed on to the first tee. Three rounds of golf were quite common in those days when two-and-a-half hours was the norm for 18 holes. The green fee was half-a-crown which was considered expensive at the time. The Dormie House had no mains electricity and power was provided by a generator situated where the caddycar shed is today.

The 'Great Exhibition'

No, nothing to do with an over-sized greenhouse! This exhibition was a match between four of the golfing greats of the day held over the recently-opened Bonnyton Moor Course in June 1923. The competition was recorded in the Glasgow Herald, an extract of which is shown below:

History - Part 2

Part 2 tells the story of the change of ownership of the course and the beginnings of a new era for Glasgow's community of Jewish golfers.

Go to Part 2 A Change of Ownership

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BILLY THE GOAT

We were contacted by Valerie Harper of Nanaimo, also British Columbia, who wrote with information about the person who took the photographs of the Lindsay family and the plinth dedication:

"My name is Valerie Harvey and I am writing to you from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada on behalf of my mother May Morgan Stimpson, who was reminiscing about her childhood – she will be 90 this November – and the time she spent at Bonnyton Moor Golf Club where she was taken by her father, my grandfather, James C. Morgan. He was a friend of Mr. Lindsay, the gentleman who started the course.

My grandfather was a professional photographer in Glasgow and on looking at your photographs of the Lindsay family we figure the pictures shown may have been his work. He did photography for The Glasgow Herald as well as many private contracts.

My mother said the Lindsay girls were very kind to her as her mother had died when she was 5 and she was a lonely child. She (May) also told a tale of a goat by the name of "Billy" no less.

Although both Mairi Maxwell and Valerie Harvey live in British Columbia, they had no knowledge of each other and their links to Bonnyton were purely coincidental. However we were able to put them in touch with each other and they subsequently met, together with Valerie's mum, May, to reminisce in person.

When Mairi heard the story of "Billy" the goat, she remembered a photograph from the Lindsay collection which she sent to May. Upon seeing the photograph, May immediately said "that's me riding Billy the goat!".

Now that's a coincidence!