Askernish Golf Club

Askernish Golf Club is unlikely to be the best conditioned golf course you ever play, but that’s not what it’s about. Enjoy playing a truly traditional course in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.

The backstory of Askernish Golf Club is almost as fascinating as the links itself.

In June 1891 Old Tom Morris and his companion Horace Hutchinson travelled to South Uist at the request of the landowners to inspect the ‘machair lands’ with a view to laying out a new course. Old Tom laid out 18 holes on the rolling dunes of Askernish Farm.

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The links then had a rollercoaster existence – sometimes in disuse, sometimes thriving – as a result of its remote location, but then in 2002 a retired policeman, Colin MacGregor, arrived in Uist. An enthusiastic golfer, he created excellent playing surfaces throughout what was by then nine holes.

Then Gordon Irvine, the well-know agronomist, heard about Askernish and when he visited he was blown away with the potential of the linksland. He introduced Martin Ebert to the project and the celebrated architect laid out a plan for the restoration of the Old Tom layout.

The course is now stable in every sense and a fabulous step back in time.

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One of our panellists, Ben Sargent, is a huge fan, and writes movingly about his trip to South Uist.

“The fact that the R&A send out members of their greenkeeping staff here to learn about the course proves the value and validity of Askernish.

“Not only is it an important lesson for the future (of golf course design, construction and sustainability), it is also an important link with the past (to how golf courses used to be designed and ‘built’ – and a link to the grand old man himself, Tom Morris).

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It’s also living proof that the much maligned method of ’36 stakes in the ground architecture’ has some merit after all… so much for the dark ages! So what if the course condition is well below what most golfers come to expect these days – but who says that’s how it should be? The flip side is that you get to play golf in one of the most stunning locations in the world (yes, the world, not just golf) and you also get to do it in one of the most natural settings.

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“Askernish, like The Machrie, is a rare breed. We ought to cherish these beautiful places while you still can… as the world slowly fills up and starts to burst at the seams, eventually, these last bastions of calm, wild tranquillity and peace and beauty will be gone… go there soon or regret it.. go there now.”  

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