It is the world’s fourth oldest course and was the globe’s first full 18-hole layout when Old Tom Morris set it down.
But just months after the Earl and Countess of Forfar led its 150th anniversary celebrations, Forfar Golf Club’s proud heritage proved no defence to the ferocious might of Storm Arwen.
Undulating fairways were left “like a battlefield” by the late November battering.
Across them lay more than 700 trees toppled or brutally snapped by Mother Nature’s devastating power.
Forfar was one of the worst hit golf clubs in Scotland.
But a Herculean £30,000 clean-up operation means the Cunninghill course is preparing to welcome players back, much to the delight of club manager John Rankin and head greenkeeper Keith Law.
‘Felled like feather dusters’
They have called this return to normality their “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Yet the scene of Saturday November 27 was heart-wrenching for the pair, especially for eight-time club champion Keith, whose eight-under par 61 has been the course record for 30 years.
Now 48, he first hit a ball there four decades ago.
Reflecting on Storm Arwen, Keith said: “I think everyone remembers it was an awful night.
“I got up, saw it was white outside and thought I would go out and put up the ‘course closed’ sign.
“But I took one look round the corner and knew this was more than just a few trees down.”
Club manager John added: “Keith phoned me and said I needed to get out there.
“So we walked the course together. It was unbelievable.
“It was like a warzone and tanks had just driven through the place.
“Most of the fairways were covered in fallen trees.
“Some of them are maybe 80 or 100 years old – but they were pulled down like feather dusters.
“But miraculously, we didn’t have any damage to the greens.
“Speaking to people in the game, we were certainly one of the worst hit clubs in Scotland, if not the worst.”
Keith couldn’t believe what had happened.
He said: “It looked bad – but I certainly wasn’t thinking we’d lost 700 trees.
“There was a couple of days of shock,” he admitted.
“Then by the middle of the week, it was just this thought that we really need to get things going and get the course tidied up.”
The clean-up
“It’s a 90-acre site so it has been a major operation,” said John.
“And local firm Angus Biofuels have been absolutely fantastic for us with their heavy equipment.”
Huge stacks of felled tree trunks and branches in the club car park are a dramatic reminder of Arwen’s ferocity.
More than 700 tonnes of wood has been taken from the course.
John said: “We’ve only a greenkeeping staff of three and they have worked solidly since the storm.
“But we have also had amazing help from our members.
“Around 20 to 30 of them have been out every day to help.
“That represents many hundreds of man hours to get the course back open and we are incredibly grateful to them for that.”
“And we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Hopefully we will be looking to get play started again early next month.”
Spring hopes
Keith added: “It has been devastating and it will bring changes to the course.
“But it will recover. There are young trees in the areas which were really badly hit and they will grow quickly.
“And we were very lucky the greens escaped.
“We are getting to the end of the big clear-up operation.
“So all the focus now is to get the course back to a high standard in the spring.”
Experts say nearly 600 acres of Tayside woodland was damaged by Storm Arwen.
