Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club

Golf Course Review

Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club is located in Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland. The first course was at Holmes Farm was laid out and shared with livestock. The club was established on the 25th of November 1887 when the founding members felt a golf links closer than Troon would be more convenient. The club was then known as the Ossington Golf Club.

Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club's Early History

By 1894, a 123-acre site was obtained near the station. Six members, local pro-John Allan, and a gardener met on October 2, 1894, and laid the course out in a single day! The course opened for play on October 20, 1894, with a match between Wille Auchterlonie and Willie Fernie. The initial criticism of the layout was it was too short at just 4390 yards. Drainage was added to the links in 1921.

Theodore Moone & Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club

Change was in the air by 1931 when Theodore Moone undertook alterations that took from 1932 until 1935 to implement. The brief was to reconstruct the course gradually and use the in-house greenskeeping staff. One perceived deficiency was Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club's apparent flatness. Miniature mountains and valleys were sculpted to provide hazards but also add visual appeal. The Jubilee booklet reports entire greens were relaid and thousands of tons of earth moved to 'tighten the Barassie as a test of golf.' In 1936, irrigation was installed to combat years of successive drought. Theodore Moone's original course is made up of The Hillhouse Nine plus holes 1-3 and 13-18 of the Barassie Links.

The Modern Links

Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club remained unchanged until a further 9 holes were added in 1997. The new holes were paired with 9 from Moone to create the Barassie Links. The current Kilmarnock Barassie golf course is a combination of holes 1-3 (Moone), holes 4-12 (New), and holes 13-18 (Moone). The 9 original Theodore Moone holes are now called the Hillhouse.