Askernish, South Uist

The Askernish golf links on the West coast of South Uist have, since it’s first opening in 1891, been subjected to all sorts of up’s and downs over the years, surviving the two world wars and periods of neglect in an underpopulated but remote beautiful location. This is not a golf course to compare with any of the mainland Scottish links as Askernish has it’s own natural beauty, every step you take over the Machair gives the golfer a feeling and sense of how the game was played in a bygone age when the game was ruled by nature alone. There is also a feeling of peace and tranquility, and dare I say, romance, knowing that you are only a McIlroy drive away from the birthplace of Flora Macdonald and the cave where Bonnnie Prince Charlie took refuge. It might not be like Trump International at Turnberry, but then Turnberry does not have all the age old qualities of Askernish and the beautiful sands are so much more whiter, oh, much more whiter than anywhere else. This is how golf should be !.

Leave your mobile in the car.

                                            And Now

The links are alive again thanks to the foresight and dedication of Gordon Irvine and his team who managed to re-open the links to the public for the first time in many years. Several others have done a stalwart job over the years and I will comment later on Gordon, his present team, and all the past individuals who, through their dedication and sheer hard workhave somehow managed to get the course to it’s present place in history. A big thankyou to all !!. 

Several articles have been written since the re-opening of the course but I would like to delve into the who’s, the why’s, the how’s, and try to uncover a more detailed approach as to why the course came about in the first place and also the people involved in the original project. I came across newspaper reports on Askernish way back in 1996 when I first started my research into the forgottengreens of Scotland.

I began my research at the National Library Of Scotland looking into the Oban Times on microfiche ( No Internet at the time ) and this newspaper just happened to cover all the news on the Western Isles which of course had Askernish details in it. I also found the first course in Oban which nobody seamed to know about and I was truly bitten with the golf history bug. It was also about this time that myself and my late brother ( Alfie ) were considering the re-construction of the old Arbory Brae golf course at Abington in Lanarkshire which gave us to some extent, an affinity with the Askernish project when it started. I would never have believed that all this would eventually accumulate into the discovery of over 800 defunct golf courses in Scotland and the publication and web site of forgottengreens.

And so, back to Askernish. We know the main characters in the project were Old Tom, Horace Hutchison, and the Cathcart’s who owned the land, but who actually instigated the idea in the first place and how did they get there in the 1890s and where did they stay during their visit.

Horace Hutchison