Course of a Century 1896-1996
Building the Course
THE task that the new Club had set itself was to design and build the course between January and May 1896. There was no shortage of enthusiasm, skill or invention, and all that was required was to raise enough money in a very short space of time to pay for the building work.
The land for the course was well fenced, and immediately the Club advertised to sub-let the ground for grazing. Animals are no strangers to golf courses, even today Brora and Newtonmore are courses where golfers, sheep and cattle share the fairways.
Local support for the course must have been strong for by the time the course was opened in May, there were over 100 members in the Club.
Subscription fees were fixed, 10 shillings for gentlemen and 5 shillings for ladies, payable in advance, so that sufficient money was immediately available to pay the rent for the first quarter.
Generous donations were soon received, £10 from Dr Cowie and £5 from George Cowie, Dullanbrae. Dr Cowie was then the proprietor of Mortlach Distillery, and one of the first Club committee members was Mr A Stewart a clerk at Mortlach. This strong link with the local distilleries continues to the present day. The employees of Wm Grant " Sons at Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie Distilleries have formed their own club which plays at Dufftown.
Patrons of the Club were sought, and letters were addressed to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, the Duke of Fife, Lord Mount Stephen, Field Marshal Sir Donald Stewart, Sir William Wedderburn MP and I A Grant, Househill.
Almost immediately a cheque for £2 was received from Sir William Wedderburn, £5 from Sir Peter Lumsden, Buchromb, and 10 shillings from W Mclntosh, Factor, Drummuir Estate.
Subscription lists were also circulated around the town; this suggests a considerable amount of local goodwill, and perhaps pride that they were about to have their own golf course.
There must have been quite a buzz of excitement as the pace of the project quickened and gained momentum.
The Club wrote to Archie Simpson, Aberdeen, asking him to plan the course. He quickly travelled out to Dufftown and inspected the site, expressing his opinion that the land chosen would make a splendid golf course.
His fee, which included expenses, came to £1.10 shillings and 8 pence. Archie Simpson was a famous Aberdeen golfer and later was to be involved in designing both Cruden Bay (1899) and Murcar (1909). Perhaps the rather low fee reflected his interest in developing the game and giving encouragement to small communities with only limited resources.
Mr Geo. Stewart, Maltkilns, who apparently had previous experience of building golf courses, was appointed to undertake the construction.
A small committee from the Club under John Thomson, Fife Arms, planned the work, and it is recorded that he generously provided the horsework free of charge.
Everyone, whether involved in the Club or not seemed anxious to have the course ready and playable as soon as possible.
Much of the building of the course took place over the winter months. Dufftown being a Highland town generally had its share of severe weather, that particular winter however proved to be exceptionally mild. Farming reports speak of "springlike .... open .... mild .... upland hills coated in snow" and at the end of March, "summer-like and ready for sowing".
Progress of the work was being keenly followed and in mid March one Press report referred to ".... the work being expeditiously proceeded with and the course will be ready about the middle of May".
Little work would have been needed to form fairways, the closely cropped pasture grazed by sheep would have satisfied the early golfers.
Tees would have been made from small areas of flat fairway where practicable, otherwise some building up would have been done where it was necessary. Small pyramid shaped sand boxes would have been placed on each tee and also would have acted as tee markers with the hole number painted on each one. These survived on the course for the next 60 years until wooden and plastic tee pegs replaced the traditional little heap of sand to tee up the ball.
Constructing the greens would have been the major part of the work. At the roadside the course was about 700 feet above sea level but then stretched uphill to a height of almost 1000 feet. G E McLennan's Guide to Dufftown 1901 gives a good description of what was entailed in making the greens, "with most of the course being on the side of a hill, the construction of the greens is somewhat peculiar, being dug down at one side and built up at the other." Only 3 of the 9 original greens remain, and with the extension of the course to 18 holes in 1988 this type of construction was again repeated on most of the new greens.
Sowing of grass seed on the greens would have been done in mid March and by the time the course was opened in May the growth of grass would have been decidedly thin. This would not have mattered much to the early golfer, established links courses because of their favoured locations would have had good greens, but the tradition of the game was not of perfect putting surfaces. Our present 'winter' greens cut from fairways give an idea of how the game was played in 1896.
McLennans book describes bunkers having been built to provide variety, but this may simply have been an attempt to imitate links courses.
The most prominent hazard on the course was the formidable dyke. This would have had to be negotiated on two of the holes, the uphill 3rd and the downhill 6th. Thankfully on the present course it now scarcely comes into play but remains a solid reminder of what had to be overcome. Finally steps were constructed and erected over the dyke and by the end of April, although fairly rough and ready, it would have been fit to play.
On 13 April the account for making the course was approved by the Committee and payment of £37.19 shillings and 2 pence-halfpenny was made to Mr Geo. Stewart.
A small tool house was built by Messrs Morrison & McCombie at a cost of £4.7 shillings and 6 pence, a metal roller was obtained from Watt Bros for £2.13 shillings and a lawn mower from Symon & Son for £3.17 shillings.
The Committee engaged a Golf Keeper, Mr James Gray, Edinburgh, at a salary of £10 per annum, and with 6 months of feverish activity behind them the opening of the course was set for Wednesday, 6 May 1896 at 2 pm.
