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A popular Scottish golf club has started a huge clean-up operation after its courses were devastated by Storm Eowyn.

Hilton Park, located only ten miles from the centre of Glasgow in the upmarket suburb of Milngavie, has appealed to members for help after an inspection of its two layouts – the Hilton and the Allander – following’s Friday’s freak weather event.

The club – where PGA Tour winner Martin Laird learned his trade – estimates that over 100 trees on the Hilton course alone have been uprooted by the hurricane-force winds that battered much of the UK and Ireland.

“There’s a huge amount of debris and branches strewn all across the courses,” added a post on the club’s official Facebook page.

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The greenkeeping staff have already begun efforts to clear the damage but the club expects this to be a “long process” and has called on members to assist the clean-up operation.

“We’re asking any member who is free on Monday at 9:00am to volunteer their time to help us clear up the debris,” added the social media post. “Please bring a pair of gloves and ideally, a rake. Members to meet in the clubhouse for 9:00am on Monday morning.”

Hilton Park is just the latest course to report significant damage following the storm.

Machrihanish Golf Club in Argyll & Bute revealed that its first hole – considered by Jack Nicklaus to be the “best opening hole in golf” – will be out of operation until further notice, whilst Thornhill Golf Club, in Dumfries and Galloway, will be closed until it can assess significant damage done by falling trees.

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Speaking to bunkered.co.uk, Thornhill greenkeeper John Mair said: “[They] will take a fair amount of time to clear, especially now it’s the turn of the year.

“There is always going to be cost involved with these things. One green is damaged from three trees falling on it.”

In Ireland, meanwhile, Bright Castle Golf Club in County Down will also be closed until further notice after it, too, saw more than 100 trees uprooted.

A post shared on social media showed the extent of the damage and spoke of the “absolute devastation” caused.


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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