Scottish golfers help with clean up after widespread Storm Éowyn damage

Lots of courses remained closed on both Saturday and Sunday after trees were uprooted and debris had been scattered across tees, fairways and greens during Friday’s high winds.

Some will even be closed for part of next week due to the extent of the damage caused by the worst storm to hit Scotland since 1998.

One of the courses to be badly hit was Old Course Ranfurly in Bridge of Weir in Renfrewshire.

“After Storm Éowyn yesterday, the course has unfortunately had a number of large trees uprooted and debris scattered across the course,” said a post on the club’s Facebook page.

“With this in mind, the course will remain closed on Sunday and Monday while the tidy up operation gets underway. Our team will work hard to have the course back in playable shape as soon as possible.

“Tomorrow morning (Sunday), we are organising a volunteer effort to collect the smaller debris together to help support our team.

“Volunteers are asked to meet at the clubhouse for 9am and we will head out on to the course after that, with tea, coffee and rolls provided in the clubhouse for those helping out afterwards.”

The plea led to a large group of members turning up on Sunday morning, much to the delght of general manager Graham Barr.

He told The Scotsman: “After the storms on Friday, the course has been badly affected by tree damage and a big clean up operation is required.

“As a club, the community spirit is amazing and this weekend is a prime example of that with more than 60 members giving up their time on Sunday morning to help start the cleanup operation.

“We would like to say a massive thank you to each and every one of our members who came to help out today. Our greens team will now start the hard work of getting the course back to its fantastic best.”

Thornhill, the home club of former Ryder Cup player and now Sky Sports Golf commentator Andrew Coltart, also suffered serious damage.

A number of trees fell on the course at the Dumfries & Galloway club during the height of the storm.

“Due to Storm Éowyn, the course is closed until a full inspection can be carried out on Monday,” a post read on Thornhill’s Facebook page. “An update will be posted after this inspection.”

At Hilton Park, where multiple PGA Tour winner Martin Laird cut his golfing teeth, Hilton Park, it has been estimated that that over 100 trees have been uprooted.

“There’s a huge amount of debris and branches strewn all across the courses,” said a post on the club’s official Facebook page.

Members there are being urged to help with a clear up operation starting at 9am on Monday.

Meanwhile, the iconic opening hole at Machrihanish has been closed until further notice due to damage caused as the storm swept in from Northern Ireland on Friday.

A post on the Machrihanish Golf Club professional shop’s Facebook page said: “Due to storm damage, the first hole will remain closed until further notice. Please start your round on the second.”

Named ‘Batttery’, the first at Machrihanish is widely recognised as one of the best opening holes in golf due to the tee shot requiring a carry over the corner of the Atlantic Ocean.

Other courses, mainly in the Central Belt, remained closed on Saturday and Sunday as greenkeepers returned to start clean up operations while some had also been covered in a blanket of snow.