Mackenzie's 1923 advertisement contained a list of over 50 or so courses out of the 300 that he claimed he had advised. One of these was the Bonnyton Moor course in Glasgow. The Doak, Scott and Haddock book, as well as Cornish & Whitten and Hawtree's Colt &Co all fail to record Bonnyton Moor as a Mackenzie course. Part of the work we are doing with the Alister Mackenzie Society is in following up research on the courses Mackenzie claimed in this advert, and they continue to check out very nicely indeed. And the latest of those to check out is Bonnyton Moor in Eaglesham, Glasgow.
The golf course at Bonnyton still exists and now belongs to the Bonnyton Golf Club, but as they did not come into existence until 1956 when they purchased the course, it is perhaps understandable that they have yet to recognise the original architect of their course.
The confirmation came nicely from the digital archives of The Scotsman, and an article titled "Hagen and Kirkwood Beat Duncan and Mitchell" from 11th June 1923 delivered the information we needed. Here's the article.
A real all-star cast to open the course and over 36 holes as well! Of interest is the note about the bunker sand caking at this altitude in the wet season and that they replaced the bunker sand with what looks like "red blaes". Anyone know what this material might be?
The club website indicates that the Bonnyton Moor Golf Course was originally developed by the Lindsays, a family of Glasgow publicans and the clubhouse was established with accommodation along the lines of a Dormie House. 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."
Here's a photo of the clubhouse from 1927.
The Bonnyton Golf Club was originally established as a Jewish club and purchased the course in 1956, presumably from the Lindsay family. So its understandable I think that they are unaware of their heritage, and I think its unlikely that they would have any archival material on the establishment of the course, but I've asked the club anyway.
Just wanted to get this out and see if any of the local Scottish GCAers know anything about the course and have heard any rumours over the years about the course designer or not.
This confirmation continues to verify the accuracy of Mackenzie's claims in that advert and they are certainly not just courses he drove past and claimed because it would look good on his resume.
cheers Neil