Island’s first driving range prepares to open at former wartime airfield

A new purpose-built golfing facility on the remains of a wartime airfield is preparing to welcome all those keen to take a swing.

The four-bay driving range in Sandwick is awaiting final sign-off from Orkney Islands Council but is ready to open as soon as approval is given.

It will be the first driving range to open in Orkney, catering for established golfers and offering a gentle introduction to the game for beginners, as well as welcoming groups for special days out and other events.

Swartland Driving Range is the brainchild of Steven and Sharon Wylie, who own Swartland Farm and run a self-catering business.

After showing The Orcadian around the range on Sunday, Mr Wylie said he hoped the community would see it as a high-quality facility and a valued addition to Orkney.

A website and social media page will launch soon, with details of how to book one-hour slots in the four bays. Club hire will also be available.

Golfers can fire balls into a seven-acre field, with flags and poles marking various distances, up to 300 yards.

“I just wanted to make it a really nice, inviting place to come,” said Mr Wylie.

“I’ve played a small amount of golf myself, and I’ve been to driving ranges, and I’ve seen the good and the bad.

“Even down to the size of the bays here: the building is made to the size of the bays, because we’ve been in some bays south that are really tight.

“I’m quite tall, and swinging a club around that’s two or three feet long, you ken, you’re a wee bit nervous about where this club’s going inside this building.

“So we made full 12-foot, or 3.6-metre-wide bays, square, and the building then was built around that. So we just made it nice and big and roomy.

“We have a lovely triangle-shaped field here. It was just kind of made for it, for the range. We’ve just done our best to try and level it out, flatten it out.

“It does look like a nice driving range, and hopefully everybody else will think the same, and they will be pleasantly surprised when they come up here, hopefully.”

The range stands on part of the former RAF Skeabrae airfield, which provided vital fighter defence for the Royal Navy fleet at Scapa Flow.

The airfield was relinquished in 1957, but its buildings, infrastructure and roads remain, providing useful foundations for the project.

The stretch of former airfield road on which the range stands had been used by the Wylie family as a dumping ground and had to be cleared before construction could begin.

“The airfield, as you can see, there’s a lot of roads, concrete pads, and infrastructure already here for me, so a lot of the work was already done,” said Mr Wylie.

“For that to be here was like, 50, 60 per cent of the work was already done for me, so it was great. But to make use of the airfield, it’s just great. We’re lucky to have it here and lucky to be able to use it.”

Mr Wylie, a former builder, led the project himself with help from tradesmen and said he had enjoyed the work.

He added: “It’s nice to do a small project like this again and then see something for your hard work at the end of the day, and hopefully everybody else can appreciate it too.”