West Kilbride: A historic Scottish gem waiting to be discovered

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Despite being ranked among the top 100 courses in Scotland, West Kilbride Golf Club will be unheard of by most. Odd as this may seem, even stranger is the fact that the original links layout here was designed by one of the greatest names in golf architecture, Old Tom Morris, back in 1893. Only adding to its pedigree, five times British Open champion and another renowned Scottish architect, James Braid, was brought in to extend the course in 1914 and returned for further fine-tuning in 1923.

West Kilbride may be 115 years old, but it keeps its good looks

West Kilbride's defenses include gorse and an old stone wall

The dangerous 16th hole requires navigating around sneaky bunkers and a small cottage

Success at West Kilbride requires a well thought-out strategy and careful club selection

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Don't be deterred -- West Kilbride is a genuine hidden gem and the kind of barely known, character-filled jewel, every visitor dreams of discovering, but few do. Grasp any opportunity to play this piece of golf history that for more than a century has managed to avoid the spotlight it so richly deserves.

The county of Ayrshire on Scotland's west coast contains one of the richest stretches of links real estate known to golf. Its western exposure to centuries of pounding by the elements --wind and sea - has prepared the ideal ground for links courses as we know them. Almost exclusive to Britain and Ireland, the buffeted shoreline that links are made of is Mother Nature's gift to golf. All that was needed was for man to come along and with minimal adjustments, usually little more than routing the layout around the God-given hazards, design the links courses we know today.

Ayrshire is home to many of golf's most famous names in links golf -- Turnberry, Prestwick, Royal Troon and Western Gailes. They are The British Open venues of past and present, as well the hosts to a hundred other championships, both national and regional. But where you have one good links, there will always be others nearby. Mother Nature operates on a grand scale and does not confine her work to small areas. This piece of superior Ayrshire linksland extends almost 60miles, with the town of Troon as its center.

Located less than a 30-minute drive north of Troon, in the sleepy seaside hamlet of Seamill, West Kilbride is a classic links layout with something of a Jeckyl and Hyde personality. On a calm summers day it can provide a thoroughly enjoyable round where little thinking is required and there is time aplenty to enjoy the wonderful views.

But be forewarned, balmy summer days are few and far between in these parts. It's far more usual to be confronted by a stiff wind that appears out of nowhere and subsides just as quickly, only to suddenly reappear from another direction. It is on these more common days when only the well-experienced links golfer should even attempt to attack from the back tees.

At 6,452 yards, West Kilbride is not unduly long, but when the wind is up the story changes and does so dramatically - you can forget about actual yardage and throw in another 600 yards or even more -- that's the way this spunky old-timer will play. Add to the wind an invasive burn and some superb bunkering, much of it courtesy of Braid, the all-time maestro of such things, and you have a very serious links layout to contend with. A stonewall in mid-course, reminiscent of North Berwick, only complicates the test further.

The front nine sets out in placid style, perhaps even appearing to be a little ordinary and the first time visitor may even start wondering what all the fuss is about -- be patient, good things are worth waiting for. By the time the 8th has been reached, the easygoing nature of the earlier holes is history, replaced with the thriller ride you had been promised. The wake up call comes through loud and clear around the turn, with the 8th thru 10th providing a particularly challenging sequence. And it only gets better from here, with a back 9, where most holes hug the rocky shoreline, nothing less than outstanding.

West Kilbride is a links course of substance, always in excellent condition with especially fine greens, it's one for the thinking golfer - for those who apply a little strategy and handle their clubs well, the rewards will be a very satisfying if not exhilarating round of classic Scottish links golf. The spectacular views across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran and beyond to the Mull of Kintyre are just a bonus.

It should also be mentioned that this might also be one of the friendliest private clubs on the west coast. There is no better place to celebrate your West Kilbride experience than with new friends and old, over a dram or two.

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