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Club History |
Another of the original five Spiers Championship clubs - the now extinct Fairfield has had a particularly close relationship with Renfrew GC, geographically and socially.
Founded in 1903, Fairfield was situated within the parklands of Elderslie House on the north side of the Renfrew to Glasgow road.
Elderslie Estates granted the use of grazing pastures between the main road and the banks of the Clyde, to a group of Lintouse golfers who were previously members of the Bellahouston Golf Club.
The course had an excellent layout and was played on until 1942, when at the height of World War II, the ground was taken over by the Clyde Navigation Trust for the construction of Deanside Transit Depot.
Soon after the war in Europe was over, the Club wrote in October of 1945 to the County Clerk urging the removal of the roadblocks and air raid shelters from the course.
Another written request to Renfrew and Dumbarton Agricultural Executive Committee sought the cessation of compulsory letting of the course for grazing.
Slowly but surly the course was being restored to its pre-war condition, albeit shorter.
But there were still obstacles to overcome as the minutes of 7 January 1949 show. Damage to the 5th green, by the Air Ambulance plane, was estimated to cost £10. The Club Secretary was instructed to write to British European Airways without intimating a claim for damages.
Mid - 1960s - Former member Henderson McKechnie (uncle of Stewart Murdoch) teeing-off at the Par5, 7th hole on the Old Course.