Kilmarnock (Barassie)

Overview: Kilmarnock (Barassie) is the 18-hole par 72 championship links at Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club on the Ayrshire coast near Troon. The course is listed at 6,817 yards and forms part of a 27-hole facility that also includes the nine-hole Hillhouse layout. Barassie combines coastal exposure, running links ground and the changing demands of a long championship course. Its present configuration contains nine holes from the traditional course and nine holes built when the club expanded in the 1990s. That mix gives the course a strong historic thread without making it a museum piece. The club continues to refine the layout, with a new signature par three at the twelfth and a realignment of the thirteenth among the recent changes. It is a visitor-friendly links that asks for thoughtful placement as well as the ability to handle wind and firm ground.

History: Fourteen men formed Kilmarnock Golf Club at the George Hotel on 25 November 1887 after deciding that the existing courses at Troon and Gailes were too far away. The first course was at Holmes Farm in Kilmarnock and had nine holes. On 26 September 1894 the club secured land at the present Barassie site, next to the railway, and moved the game towards the Ayrshire coast. Barassie remained an 18-hole layout for more than a century. In the 1990s the club acquired adjacent land and expanded to 27 holes, creating the modern championship course from nine original holes and nine new-build holes. The course has also hosted Open Championship final qualifying and other R&A events.

Did You Know? Barassie is part of a 27-hole complex, but the nine-hole Hillhouse course is not simply a short version of the championship layout. It uses the nine holes not included in Barassie Links and has its own par of 34, giving the club two distinct ways to experience the same links setting.