If you go down to Lethamhill today, you are in for a big surprise. It has been well-documented that the old Glasgow municipal course is undergoing the kind of glitzy, glamorous transformation they used to perform on the contestants during an episode of Stars In Their Eyes.
In days of yore, of course, Lethamhill would hit a few high notes of its own. Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen were just two golfing greats involved in a series of exhibition matches at this “cooncil” course just off the A80.
Turning off the Cumbernauld Road may not have held the same allure as driving up Magnolia Lane, but Lethamhill had plenty of credibility. Royal Ruchazie if you will.
As the decades past, though, the “munis” would suffer from budget cuts and neglect as fairways and greens became choked by the weeds of disrepair. Today, though, Lethamhill is almost unrecognisable. In a good way.
The R&A’s multi-million pound investment has given it the kind of shot in the arm you used to get with a blue envelope from the NHS and this trail-blazing, community-driven facility is set to open in the summer. The name Lethamhill is essentially no more.
“We are trying to stress that Golf It! is here now,” said Alyson McKechin, the R&A’s community and education activator, of the new moniker for a wide-ranging family facility which features a nine-hole course, a double-decker driving range, adventure golf, nature trails and padel tennis courts among its abundant activities and attractions.
Those of you mired in golfing incompetence may have been tempted to mutter “sod it!” after yet another round of crushing futility but, for a new generation unburdened by the game’s myriad footers and plooters, Golf It! is already having a positive impact.
Since September, McKechin, a former Scottish Women’s Amateur champion who had a stint on the Ladies European Tour after joining the paid ranks, has been spreading the Golf It! gospel in a number of local schools and some 2,500 children have been given taster sessions, curricular sessions and after-school sessions. The plan is to deliver golf lessons to over 42,500 pupils over the next five years.
“This was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” said McKechin, who helped drive a successful junior programme in her previous post as a PGA pro at Stirling. “When I saw the vision, it was right up my street. Trying to make golf more accessible, affordable and inclusive is what I’ve been trying to promote my entire working career. It was something I jumped at.”
Golf It!, of course, is not just for the young ’uns. It is a come all ye facility for every walk of life.
“I guarantee that in this community there will be adults who would love to play but maybe don’t know where to start and are hindered by finances,” said McKechin. “The free equipment available will be massive. It’s about breaking down some old barriers. It’s the same with the school children. We would hate to introduce someone to golf who has great potential but, for whatever reason, can’t develop that talent.”
The Golf It! vision goes far beyond merely clattering and thwacking at a dimpled ball. A community tie-in with the St Paul’s Youth Forum has already provided a nice little tale of the past, present and future of this particular neck of the woods.
“We recruited two apprentice greenkeepers from the local community and we have since discovered that the grandad of one of them used to be a greenkeeper at the old Lethamhill course,” said Russell Smith, the general manager at Golf It!. “He is 70 now and the apprentice is 18. He’s helped build this new course here and that’s great for a young lad from Blackhill. He’s massively proud.
“Through the apprenticeship, he will, hopefully, go on to become a greenkeeper and with that qualification he can potentially take it anywhere in the world. It all started from here. That’s the kind of impact on the community we want to have.
“This project is much bigger than golf. It’s about providing opportunities to upskill, to volunteer and to get into apprenticeships. This is the blueprint. One we get it right here it will be scaled up very quickly. It’s a vision not just for Glasgow, but the whole world.”
The message is clear. All and sundry can go for it at Golf It!
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