EDZELL GOLF CLUB REDEVELOP COURSE WITH £150,000 FACELIFT

                    Edzell Golf Club, six miles north of Brechin. A picturesque inland course

NEWS RELEASE FROM EDZELL GOLF CLUB
The Edzell Golf Club membership approved plans for the course redevelopment at the AGM in March, so the revisions will only begin this season, with a scheduled completion date of end-2015.  The contingency plan however, allows us to take one more year if it's required.
Quite simply, the redesign was felt to be necessary because on the one hand, we should always be considering where the current offering might be improved and on the other, advances in technology in golfing equipment mean that changes may be required to maintain the challenge.
Edzell's 18-hole par 71 course was originally laid out in 1895 by the Carnoustie-based architect, Bob Simpson.  It was amended some 39 years later in line with recommendations from James Braid. 
Indeed, even before any amendments, Edzell has just been named by the Golf Yearbook online as the UK's James Braid Course of the Year for 2013.  Incidentally, in 2001, the original course was complemented by a driving range and the nine-hole West Water course, designed by Graeme Webster.
The total cost of the changes are expected to be over £150k, once the club's own labour costs are taken into account.  The main changes can be summarised as:

1 A new fourth green.
 
2 Four new tees at the fifth, ninth, 11th and 18th holes.  The ninth and 18th are the two par 5s on the course, which will be made more challenging as a result.
 
3 Reshaping of several fairways, including the second, fourth and 15th, as well as the driving range.
 
4 Realignment of several fairways, including the first, ninth and 18th.
 
5 Removal of a tree plantation, returning the course to its more natural state and improving the views in the already picturesque location at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes.
 
6.  Filling in several 'redundant' bunkers and adding more relevant new ones.

Generally, the intention has not been to make the course into a significantly greater challenge than it already is, we are merely looking to evolve and ensure that the course is more suited to the present (geographic and technological) environment. 
In the meantime, there will be no great disruption to the facility that members and visitors alike can enjoy, with no closures required and most of the work undertaken in the winter months.

Andrew Turnbull
Managing Secretary
Edzell Golf Club


EDITOR'S NOTE: In 1982 Edzell Golf Club hosted the Girls' Home Internationals (won by England) and the British girls' open amateur championship (won by Claire Wait who beat Carnoustie's Mary Mackie, now Summers, in the final). Switch over to www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk to recall the players who took part in the Girls' Home Internationals of 31 years ago.