Project Description
In the early 2000’s this prestigious Ayrshire club completed a project to add an additional 9 holes to the existing historic 18 hole course, primarily to add length to the championship course and offer the members more challenge and variety. The new land was well suited for golf development but the link between the old and new holes is awkward with members having to walk over 400 yards between the two parts of the site. Kimber & Glen sought to address this issue by identifying an area of the club’s property that could be used to a create a new par 3 hole.
The area was entirely covered in gorse which had to be removed revealing a relatively flat quadrant of land. Sand was imported from other parts of the site to raise up the area allowing the creation of an exciting par 3 hole with good drainage capacity.
The new hole replaces the original par 3, 6th hole which lay in a very wet part of the site and has now been removed from the championship layout. To create a better link between the 5th green and current 7th fairway we also built new teeing grounds near the 5th green to enable play towards the current 7th fairway from a completely different angle. What was once an awkward left to right dogleg hole has become a much better right to left dogleg that ‘hugs’ the railway line.
More recently the team returned to Barassie to make changes to the 13th hole on the Championship course. The original green was condemned by the club’s consulting agronomist and this prompted the club to look at wider options for how the hole could be improved. The result is that the hole now doglegs to the left and plays to an entirely new approach and green complex. The area has been transformed from a triangle of gorse to an exciting new par 4 Hole with multiple playing options. As part of the works a better connection was made to the 14th tees and a new tee was also built to increase the variety of playing options for that hole. Work was completed in Winter 2021/22 and the new hole was ready for the 2022 season.
“May I take this opportunity to thank you for the outstanding work you and Niall have just completed at Barassie Golf Club. You managed not only to meet the budget and a tight schedule but even more importantly met members’ expectations.
I personally witnessed you, and your team’s commitment, supervising literally every bucket of earth moved, to hands on shaping of our new green and tees, working from dawn till dusk and sometimes beyond.
This coupled with your flair for design, creativity and playability has left us with two beautifully designed holes. At all times you keep us fully informed and conducted all meetings and interactions with us with the utmost professionalism which is no easy task when dealing with Golf Club committees.
Architects, artists and artisans, all rolled into one, that I would have no hesitation in both retaining again (hopefully soon ) and recommending you to any prospective client. Should any interested parties need any further background please do not hesitate to contact me personally.”
