A LANDMARK year for Pitreavie Golf Club began on Saturday with the first event to mark their centenary taking place.

Around 40 club members and officials were at the course to see a flag celebrating 100 years of its existence being raised ahead of what promises to be a busy 12 months of events centred around the historic milestone.

It was unveiled by club captain Barry Hynd, and vice-captain Ewan Cameron, who is also the chairperson of Pitreavie’s centenary sub-committee.

“The centenary birthday, the day the club officially opened, is not until June 17 but we’ve planned a year of centenary celebrations,” Ewan explained.

“There will be a mix of on-course and off-course events. Had things been normal, we would have ushered our centenary year in at the bells with a Hogmanay function. Saturday was the first opportunity where the clubhouse was open and available to unfurl the flag.

“Barry Hynd and myself unveiled the flag inside the clubhouse, and 40 or so people came down for it, which was a decent turnout.”

The course at Pitreavie was designed by the internationally-renowned architect, Dr Alister MacKenzie, who is most famous for drawing up the blueprint for one of the most recognisable golf venues in the world –- Augusta National, home of the US Masters.

The influence of MacKenzie, who came up with the layout for a number of courses around the world, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and South America, is felt strongly at Pitreavie, particularly in its double- and triple-tiered greens.

In 1949, the Carnegie Trust purchased the land and gave it in trust to the club, who plan to celebrate their links to both as part of their 100-year celebrations.

That is set to include a weekend of competition from June 17-19, where players will play for the Dr Alister MacKenzie Medal, and the hosting of the Fife Golfing Association’s Fife Team Championships.

Ewan continued: “It’s nice to be involved in something like this. It should be a good year.

“We’ve been making provisions for it for the last 10 years. We’ll be having a series of dinners and social events for members, current and past employees, office bearers, and there will be events for our juniors and ladies’ sections.”

Pitreavie go into their centenary year in a good place as far as membership is concerned, with Ewan adding: “Like a lot of clubs, we were quite fearful for the future.

“But membership levels increased, and have stayed at that healthy level since. From when the pandemic set in to now, we’ve found that our membership is in a really healthy position.”

For more information about the club, and on how to become a member, visit their website at www.pitreaviegolfclub.co.uk, or find them on Facebook.