ONE of the world's oldest golf clubs in Glasgow has been severely damaged by fire.
Around 70 firefighters worked through the night after an alarm was raised at Glasgow Golf Club, the ninth oldest in the world.
The captain of the golf club David Sifton has told of “absolute devastation” which has destroyed the majority of the B-Listed clubhouse in Bearsden.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service originally said the fire took hold in the roof space of the three-storey building at the Killermont course.
No-one was injured and fire chiefs say they managed to salvage some of the building's interiors and some historic items.
The clubhouse is home to one of the six original Calamity Jane putters as used by golf legend Bobby Jones. It is not known whether it is one of the items that was salvaged.
It is understood that 75% of it has the historic clubhouse has been gutted.
David Keat, who managed the clubhouse for seven years, said: "Loved that place, best job I ever had, filled with the loveliest of people.
"I am teary and heartbroken for all the members and staff. Only relief is that nobody injured as clubhouse had just closed for the night. But history gone up in flames."
Club captain David Sifton said: “The overriding feeling just now is one of absolute devastation. The clubhouse is a wonderful, old building with some priceless artefacts."
“We won’t be able to determine the full extent of the damage until we get access to the building, and that probably won’t be for at least 24 hours. “It is a terrible situation but we will come back from this.
He told told bunkered.co.uk: "I have to say that the emergency services have been absolutely superb. I can't praise them highly enough."
Crews rushed to Killermont Avenue, Bearsden following an alert at 9.20pm on Thursday.
Ten fire engines remained at the scene at 7am on Friday.
Scottish Fire and Rescue group manager Thomas Sinton said: "This has undoubtedly been a challenging and protracted incident, and there is still work to do as our crews remain on scene this morning.
“But I would like to take this opportunity to praise the response of firefighters – they have been outstanding.
“This is one of the oldest golf courses in the world, I am very pleased to say that our crews were able to assist in salvaging some of the interiors within this historic building.
“I would also like to thank our teams in Operations Control for working effectively with our partners through the night and into this morning.”
The first golf club in the west of Scotland was founded in May 1787 and has changed location several times during its history, but has been based at Killermont since May 21, 1904.
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