Stromness Golf Club

In their Words…….

The first Stromness golf course was on the natural links at Warbeth. It was a short 9-hole course, so short that only at one hole was a wood necessaryfor a second shot. The purchase of Ness farm in November 1923 for £1600 for a new golf course was initiated by G. S. Robertson and Bailie T. R. Mowat. Money was raised by forming a company – forerunner to Golf Club Ltd. The money for laying out the course came from fund raising and voluntary contributions. The course was designed by Mr George Smith of Lossiemouth.

The original course did not include the park where the first and second holes are. The fifth was over a deep quarry to a green on the site of the battery. The sixth was beyond the road behind the present sixth and seventh in the meadow where the direction post is situated. Adequate bunkering was included in the original plan but was ignored.

Despite the great advances in golf equipment the Stromness Course has retained its reputation as a tight and tricky layout. One of the many benefits of playing golf in Orkney is that ‘joy’ of having to arrive at the golf club at 6.30am to book a slot on the first tee later that day at either 10.27am or 3.26pm is one that we are unfamiliar with.

Here, we prefer the method of ‘turning up and playing’ and so no such booking of tee times is used. No need to worry about packed courses and 6 hour rounds either, here a fourball go round in less than 3 hours usually

The Ness Sports and Social Club amalgamated into The Golf Club Ltd. This meant money for the clubhouse could be given from the Lottery as well as local funding bodies, the result is the magnificent new two-storey clubhouse.

Stromness Golf Club