Golf’s British Open at Turnberry Lighthouse
By Sue Clark on Jul 17, 2009 in The Light Side 
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I’m not a golfer, nor do I like watching it on the tube. But this year’s British Open Championship is held in Scotland, at the Turnberry Lighthouse. Golf was invented in Scotland, you know, and the lighthouse keepers in Scotland passed their free time by swinging the old woods and irons. Many lighthouses in the country have at least a rudimentary golf course, or the remains of one.
Turnberry was built in1873, in the remains of Turnberry Castle, which is thought to have been the birthplace of Robert the Bruce. The engineerrs were David and Thomas Stevenson. Because of the golf course, it just happened to be one of the most popular posts when it was manned. One former lighthouse keeper (there were two at a time) recalls more than thirty family members once visiting to play the course.
The last Scottish Lighthouse to be automated was Fair Isle South (Shetland) in 1998. The former keepers at both Fair Isle South and North lights were avid golfers and they built a six hole golf course by the light and used to have competitions. In 1983 when the North light was automated the golf course became over grown and forgotten. However, in 2006 a new American resident of the island of Fair Isle reinstated the Fair Isle Golf Course. The grounds are being maintained by sheep and golf is suspended when a rare bird is on the course.
Tiger Woods at Turnberry Lighthouse (ESPN)
Today the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) still has an active golfing society and has a number of competitions, including a competition between the NLB and the Commissioner of Irish Lights, last year played at Carnoustie and this year at the K Club.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, Tiger Woods bombed out today (Friday) at the lighthouse course, and is headed home to Florida.
The Island In the Distance
I’ve noticed a lot of people searching for the name of the island that can be seen in the distance from the Turnberry Lighthouse. Since it’s quite an unusual looking island, I thought I’d add this bit of info. It’s the Ailsa Craig, and it also has its own lighthouse on it.
A lovely photo by Velton on Flickr (below) shows the Turnberry Lighthouse and Ailsa Craig to perfection.
Winter Evening at Turnberry Lighthouse by Velton
Some rights reserved.
The Ailsa Craig is an island in the Firth of Clyde and was completed in 1886. The engineers on this project were also David and Thomas Stevenson. Ailsa Craig is also known as Paddy’s Mile Stone, owing to its location halfway between the cities of Glasgow and Belfast. It is granite, and the island was heavily mined in the past. Photo below of the lighthouse at the base of the cliffs.
Ailsa Craig Lighthouse by Richard Webb.
Some rights reserved.
And it appears the winner after a four hole playoff is Stewart Cink. I was hoping it would be Tom Watson, 59, who would have been the oldest player to win an Open title, but it appears he was sunk by Cink, 36, of Alabama. They both ended two under par, necessitating the playoff. Well, maybe next time I can say that “Age and treachery will win out over youth and skill every time.” Not this year.
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1 Comment(s)
By Sue Clark on Oct 21, 2009 | Reply
A delightful email sent to me by Peter J. Hill:
I would like to say hello to all my fellow pharologists in across the pond. I
am also a former lighthouse keeper with 13 years in the Northern Lighthouse
Board in Scotland before being made redundant in 1992. I was reading the article
on Turnberry and the Ailsa Craig Lighthouses; I was one of the last Keepers to
serve on Ailsa Craig before she was automated. Up until that automation she was
still a paraffin light with incandescant mantle. Granite was not mined on the
island but quarried and the stone is still favoured for making curling stones.
Turnberry was used as a relieving station for the Ailsa Craig and there were two
Keepers living there, the rest of us lived in Girvan, we served four weeks on
four weeks off and went out by helicopter from Turnberry. The longest drive from
the Ailsa course was over four hundred and thirty yards, but no one could find
the ball in a hundred and seventy feet of water. They play the open championship
on the Ailsa course at Turnberry but the drive took place from the 1138 feet
pinnacle of the top of the Craig and was done just to see how far you could hit
a ball, 430 is a guestimation but not too far off the mark as there were some
lobster creel floats and we were reliably informed that there position was
that.
The keepers at Turnberry were allowed free rounds just so long as they did not
abuse the privelege.
This was just too great to not share, and I’m still chuckling over the thought of that one drive. Can you imagine the pile of golf balls sitting 170 feet down? Wonder if the fish think it’s food!
Anyway, thank you to Mr. Hill for sharing his memories, You can visit his MySpace page to know more about him.
www.myspace.com/pjhill038