AERIAL VIEW OF FERENEZE GOLF COURSE
Course History
Fereneze Golf Club was founded in 1904 by a group of Glasgow & Barrhead Gentlemen. In 1904, golf was growing in popularity and the gentlemen discussed the matter at an after lunch smoke and decided to seek out suitable and affordable ground to the south of Glasgow with good railway connections, with the aim of creating a golf course. Fereneze Braes was identified as meeting all the criteria and within a very short space of time, the course was laid out and was being played upon. It would not happen today in the same timescale. The original clubhouse was little more than a large wooden shack, but this was soon abandoned and the club moved into its present home, Trees House, a magnificent old castellated house built around 1765. In 1904 Barrhead was a small industrial town, which had made a name from Calico Printing because of the sweet waters on the Levern Burn. The town was famous for Shanks & Co Ltd., who made sanitary ware and exported it worldwide. The main form of transport was the railway, as tramcars had not yet reached Barrhead. To get to Paisley, a horse and cart was required. The course has expanded and developed over the years but remains one of a dying number of original Scottish golf courses utilising existing terrain and natural hazards as the means of presenting a challenge to the golfer. Ferenze Golf Course does not need an abundance of bunkers or artificial water hazards to protect itself from an able golfer or modern equipment.
Fereneze is a moorland course with
panoramic views over the Clyde Valley towards Glasgow and beyond. The views,
solitude, natural fauna and wildlife which can be spotted on the course make it
difficult to believe that you are only 10 miles and 30 minutes by car from the
centre of Glasgow. Many of the holes such as the 4th The Cobbler and
the 11th Ben Lomond, are named after distant hills (or Munros as they
are known) which are clearly visible on the skyline.
A medium length
course by yardage, Fereneze is the nearest thing you will find to a links course
without going to the seaside with tightish fairways rewarding accurate driving.
The holes meander across the moorland, with each hole presenting a new,
envigourating and different vista from the previous one. You do not need to
be playing good golf to enjoy this course, though it helps. Local conditions
have to be taken into account when playing approach shots to fast and sloping
greens and the traditional Scottish ‘bump and run’ shot can be played to great
effect. The course has three par fives, none of them an easy par, and four
shortish par threes capable of ruining any card. Every hole is
unique, and presents a different challenge. The course requires
concentration and carefull thought to plot your way from tee to green, always
balancing your own ability against the demands of each shot. There
are many interesting holes at Fereneze such as the par four 5th with its
demanding drive over the gorge where the prevailing wind eases the ball
toward the out of bounds on the right, the par five 8th with the decision to cut
the corner over the reservoir or play short and safe of the water hazard, the
risk and reward shot from the 10th tee, play safe and short but give yourself a
long second, or gamble with the gully and go for the long drive. The par 4
18th is downhill and reachable with a following wind (this hole is reputed
to have been in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest Hole in One in the
UK), but out of bounds lurks to the right and a troublesome ditch runs down the
left. This is a worthy finishing hole for any course.