The view looking towards Lundin Golf Club House is shown above. The top image from circa 1900 features a newly-completed club house set in a somewhat untamed and sandy landscape. The recent photograph, taken around a century and a quarter later, shows a club house which has been extended and modernised on multiple occasions. A sizeable pro shop stands in the place of a simple starter's hut. The original golf shop was the tiny building on the left in the black and white photograph (shown in detail below). The gravel track leading up to the club house has long been replaced with a tarmac road. Many cars arrive daily to deliver the players that once made their way to the course on foot or by train. 

​The Lundin Golf Club House was officially opened in May 1896 and two months later the 'rustic fence' of varnished undressed tree trunks was added around it (see detailed image below). This late Victorian club house replaced a simple two room forerunner, which no longer met the needs of the growing membership. Designed by Edinburgh architect Peter Lyle Barclay Henderson, summer visitor and keen golfer, the new club house shared features with some other Henderson's other work. Inside the new club house was as tasteful as the exterior, with an open timber ceiling, panelled walls, fireplaces and ornate lighting.

Celebrating a Golden Wedding Anniversary is a landmark achievement. Back in the 1940s, to reach that milestone and have a parent present at the occasion was newsworthy. When Robert Imrie and his wife Isabella (nee Mitchell) marked 50 years of marriage, the above feature appeared in the 1 September 1945 Daily Record. Mrs Imrie's mother Helen Mitchell (nee Swan) appears with the golden couple in the photograph above.

In fact five generations of the family were represented at the event, including Isabella's sister, Margaret Honeyman (nee Mitchell) of Kennoway who was bridesmaid at the wedding. At the time of the celebration, Mr and Mrs Imrie had two daughters and five sons (one of whom lived in Canada). They also had fourteen grandchildren and one great grandchild. The couple, who lived at Watson Cottage on Mill Wynd, received many gifts and messages of best wishes, including a cablegram from Canada.

Robert Imrie was born in Strathmiglo and married Isabella in Kennoway on 30 August 1895. He had a long career in agriculture, becoming a farm grieve like his father George before him. He started out at Gateside, followed by a spell at Stanley in Perthshire, before completing the remainder of his working life in Fife. He worked at Hayston Farm near Balmullo and at Luthrie Bank, ahead of twenty years as grieve at Lundin Mill Farm (where he oversaw the other farm workers, when George Bell was the tenant farmer). The family lived in Broadlea Cottage on Cupar Road during that era.

Later, Robert spent thirteen years as farm grieve at Cassingray Farm, near Largoward, on the Kilconquhar Estate, working for Lady Lindsay. Above is an image of the farmhouse at South Cassingray where the family were based (image from the Canmore collection). Below is an advert for the lease of the farm in 1939, with Robert named as the grieve who would show round interested parties. It must have been soon after this point that Robert returned to Lundin Links, a place to which he obviously felt a strong connection. ​The Imries were members of Upper Largo Church for forty years and Robert had a spell on the District School Board.

The newspaper article at the top of this post describes Robert as "green keeper on the Lundin Ladies' Golf Course". This was late career shift brought about by the Second World War. Having returned to Lundin Links, where son Jimmie was green keeper at the Ladies' course, Robert was well placed to step into his son's shoes when Jimmie joined the Auxiliary Fire Service full time in 1941. At Jimmie's suggestion, Robert took over as greenkeeper while his own wife Christina acted as starter and looked after the clubhouse. Jimmie and Christina lived in the greenkeeper's cottage (the 1911 built cottage pictured above to the right of the club house).

Wartime had a significant impact upon the Ladies' course with much ground given up for agriculture. The War Cabinet instructed that portions of golf courses had to be leased to increase food production. By special arrangement, the Ladies Club gave up more than its quota (two thirds of its area) so that the main Lundin course could remain intact. The much reduced course comprised six holes with the added feature of some grazing sheep (which both supported food production and kept the grass short at at time when there was little fuel for green keeping).

​When Jimmie returned to post after the war, he set about the restoration of the course (shown below) including re-seeding and the re-laying out of the lost greens, tees and bunkers. As the book published for the club's centenary by Alan Elliot said of Jimmie Imrie:

"He was an excellent worker, conscientious and thorough. When it is realised that he put the course back from its wartime ploughing to its former state almost single-handed, it may give some idea of what he did. He worked with the minimum of equipment....a spade, a shovel, a barrow, a roller, an elderly tractor and mowers of great age: an awesome lot of effort. He achieved much in a remarkably short time after the war, and overall he provided the club with a course again when it mattered most."

In the years following the end of the war, all three of the family members featured in the photograph at the top of this post passed away. Helen Mitchell died in 1946 aged 94, Robert in 1947 aged 75 and Isabella in 1950 aged 70. Jimmie Imrie lived until 1985, reaching the age of 79. This remarkable and hard working family left their mark on the community in several ways over many years. Their descendants must be very proud of them.

The golf club pictured above features a silver plaque inscribed with the words From Nicol Malcolm Leven Golf Club to his brother Andrew. A previous blog post has covered the life of Nicol Malcolm, the Dubbieside farmer who was well known in golfing circles. A member of several local clubs, Nicol had a hand in the setting up of Lundin Golf Club in 1868. The golf club in the photograph was made by Alex Patrick, who was the great-nephew of Nicol Malcolm. However, exactly who 'brother Andrew' was is more of a mystery, as Nicol did not (as far as records show) have a brother.

Nicol Malcolm had two older sisters - Christina and Isabella. Christina married Alex Patrick (grandfather of clubmaker with same name) and Isabella married an Alexander Thomson in Largo. So, there is no known brother or brother-in-law named Andrew. It could well be that the inscribed golf club was given to someone whom Nicol considered 'as a brother' or who he knew through a fraternal organisation such as the masons.

One potential candidate might be Andrew Wilkie, Captain of Leven Golf Club in the 1870s. He was R.W.M. at Leven's Elgin Lodge of the Freemasons. Another possibility is Andrew Thomson the master baker - once of Kirkland, later Leven and then Lundin Links (not closely related to the Alexander Thomson married to Isabella). Both men were involved in the creation of Lundin Golf Club shortly after Andrew moved his business there in the mid-1860s. That however is merely a theory and other theories would be welcomed on who the Andrew in the inscription could be.

The photograph above shows Alex. Patrick's shop at the junction of Links Road and Balfour Street in Leven, adjacent to the golf links. The picture below shows the shop in context to the left of the Leven Thistle Clubhouse. Alexander Patrick was born in 1845 in Leven, two years before his cabinet maker father John Patrick (nephew of Nicol Malcolm) began making golf clubs. When John died in the 1866 cholera outbreak, eldest son Alex inherited the business, which he soon afterwards relocated from Branch Street (near the Shorehead) to the location near the links. He employed younger brother, Nicol Malcolm Patrick, as an apprentice. Later on brothers John Patrick and David Murdoch Patrick also became golf club makers. 

Alex Patrick left Fife for a time, heading to Wimbledon in 1886, to become golf professional (and sell golf clubs) at the club there. He returned to Leven five years later, leaving his brother David to take over the role at Wimbledon. David too headed back to Fife a few years after that, and both brothers set up premises in Lundin Links, as further outlets for their golf clubs. Alex had his name over a small shop to the rear of the 1896-built Lundin Golf Club House (see below) while David had a house with integral workshop built between the railway station and the club house on what is now Golf Road.

Below are a range of adverts for Alex Patrick's business, covering not just golf clubs, but golf balls and even the restringing of tennis rackets. Patrick clubs gained a great reputation, initially in Fife and soon across Scotland, the UK and overseas. Alex retired in 1909 but seems to have returned to work during the years of the First World War before retiring for good. The business carried on under his name, with Mr David James Sellars at the helm into the 1930s. Alex died in 1932 aged 86 at his home Wimbledon Villa in Leven. Singing was the main leisure pursuit of Mr Patrick and he was a leading member of Leven Choral Union (later Leven Amateur Musical Association). 

In Part One of this series, on the history of the Crusoe Hotel, the origins of the building as a granary in the 1820s were covered, as well as the establishment of an inn. Early innkeepers included George Duff and Alexander Selkirk but it seems probable that James Gilchrist was the innkeeper to introduce the 'Crusoe Hotel' name to the establishment in the early 1870s. In 1881, former farmer John Forrester began his long run as hotelkeeper. Born in Newburn in 1820, to William Forrester and Jane Hodge, John was a farmer until the age of 60.

He had just completed a seven year lease at Auchendownie Farm prior to taking over the Crusoe Hotel. Perhaps it's no coincidence that a former agriculturalist should take over an inn within a granary building that he would have known well. Hotel-keeping offered an alternative occupation for his later years, as well as employment for his wife and children (some of whom would continue in hospitality for the rest of their lives). A number of changes to the building took place during Forrester's tenure. Looking at the pair of photographs above, there are several differences.

The top image dates to circa 1880 and the lower one to closer to 1900. As demand for granary storage space declined, but the need for visitor accommodation rose, the hotel expanded into the attic floor of the seaward end of the building. New larger dormer windows were created, a new slate roof put on and new chimney pots added. The hotel exterior was freshly painted and its sign spruced up. The later image features the 1888-constructed fishermen's bothy set into the wall by the pier as well as the 1894 station building (elevated to the left). The chimneys of the circa 1890 Edina View can been seen just about the Hotel roof.

The shift in use of the building from granary, to hotel and other leisure pursuits, didn't end there. In 1890 a 'smoking concert' or 'smoker' took place in the granary loft. In aid of the Lundin Golf Club building fund, this event saw a "bevy of ladies" convert the space into "a beautiful apartment decorated with flags and bannerettes, floral devices and trophies of clubs and cleeks". Over 150 visitors and residenters were present. The Dundee Courier of 26 August elaborated further and included an accompanying sketch (below) of the scene at Largo pier:

"For the first time in its existence, Largo indulged one night last week in the luxury of a "smoking concert." ...The old Crusoe Hotel was gaily decorated with flags, and the interior...was very prettily set out with floral decorations, mottoes, and lanterns.....It is fully expected that the proceeds from the concert will free the clubhouse from debt."

Such was the success of the event that it evolved into the "Annual Festival of the Lundin Golf Club" running over a few days in what was now being referred to as the "Hall of the Crusoe Hotel Buildings". The 1891 festival involved not only a smoking concert in the granary but also a 'children's frolic' for 200 youngsters and a dance for adults. The song below, composed by a golf club member, was sung at the concert. Note the people mentioned in the song include architect and regular visitor Peter Lyle Henderson (who did go on to become Captain of the Lundin Golf Club) and William Hearsey Salmon of Homelands, who was Captain of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club in 1891. The 'good old Crusoe' is honoured in the final verse.

The following year, 1892, the Crusoe was decorated with "Moorish Temple decorations" for the Golf Club Festival. Each evening's entertainment saw the railway viaduct "illuminated by lime lights". Large flags were supplied by Mr Clapperton of Edinburgh. A new golfing song had been composed by club poet Robert Johnstone. Again there was a concert, a children's frolic and a golfers' dance. The new song for '92 includes reference to "Crusoe's charming hall" and the "jolly golfers". The final verse, printed in the 1 September 1892 Fifeshire Journal, was as follows:
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Now let all the wide world know
That the charms of Largo grow
Ev'ry year there are new "beauties" to behold; 
Since our Ladies Links were made
There is quite a grand parade
Of our charmers, who at Golf can ne'er grow old

By 1893, the hall in the Crusoe Building, was referred to as the "Band Hall" because the Largo Brass Band had taken a lease there. Other tenants of the granary portion of the building were Thomas Buttercase (Potato Merchant) and Gordon the Poulterer from Leven. For the smoking concert in the Band Hall, once again a new golfing song was composed. The lyrics are shown below and once again feature Peter Lyle Henderson and the old Crusoe.

The two images above, taken on Leven Links with Largo Law in the background, appeared in the 25 March 1892 edition of Golf Illustrated. The two men are Archibald Smith (dark jacket) and James Kerr, who were both one-armed golfers belonging to Leven Thistle Club. One of the images also includes two young caddies. These men were proficient one-armed golfers well before the days of the First World War and the Society of One-Armed Golfers which later came into being because so many men lost limbs in that conflict.

Archibald Smith, son of local blacksmith John Smith, was born in Leven in 1852. By the age of 19 he was working as an apprentice boiler maker. This line of work took him to Glasgow for a spell before the depression of trade brought about by the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878. That year, he returned to his native Leven and found employment attending to the breaker machine at Hawkslaw Mill. Shortly after his return, an accident took place there involving that machine, which required the amputation of his right arm at the age of 26. Mill owners Messrs Boase continued to employ Archibald as a timekeeper. Having been a keen golfer, he was keen to continue to play and became a prominent member of Leven Thistle Club.

Coincidentally, James Kerr had lost his right arm in an accident on the very same breaking machine several years earlier. As a boy of 13 in 1871, James was already working at Hawkslaw mill. His income was important for his family, as his father had drowned in the River Leven in 1868 while trying to rescue a small boy. The young James Kerr's right hand was severed in the machine and an amputation was carried out above the elbow. However, the resourceful lad learned how to write with his left hand and in time rose to a position of trust at the Durie Foundry.

Having mastered the pen, James took up golf and to the surprise of his friends proved to have great dexterity in wielding the driver and the cleek. He had worked as a golf caddy as a younger boy and recalled the move of the Innerleven Golf Club from Dubbieside to the green at Leven when he was about nine years old. In 1877 he joined Leven Thistle Club, becoming Secretary the following year. He went on to be Captain on three occasions. In spite of his injury at such a young age, James Kerr went on to have thirteen sons and a daughter, and the poem below was written about him by club mate David Jackson (29 Sept 1909 Leven Advertiser).
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The Society of One-Armed Golfers was formed on 12 November 1932 in Glasgow, when sixteen men met at the inaugural meeting, held the offices of solicitor Archibald Pollock. The previous year had seen the first national meeting of one-armed golfers, when a contest at Moor Park attracted 38 competitors. Initially established for golfers who had lost limbs in the First World War, the Society, which is still active today, has since evolved to include those who have been affected by any condition, accident or incident resulting in the person being able to play with only one arm. 

Membership of the Society had reached around 75 people when events were paused during the years of the Second World War. Activity resumed in 1946 with a full meeting at St Andrews, involving 34 players. A pattern was established whereby an annual World Open Golf Championship was played in June on rotation between England or Wales, Scotland and Ireland. ​Back in 1949, the championship was held at Lundin Links. The photograph shows the competitors with one of trophies being played for, with Lundin Golf Club House in the background. Circled in the version of the photograph below is James Hunter Aitken (1896-1982) who was aged 54 in 1949. He lost his right arm in the First World War. It was his grandson who kindly shared this fantastic image.
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The 15 June 1949 Leven Mail reported on the occasion and some key results are given above. Mr G. Jackson of Kent triumphed in the main championship, while Australia's J.B. Todd won the President's Prize. A Team Championship Cup was also played for, and Scotland triumphed in that (see 9 June Dundee Courier below). The whole series of events was rounded off with a dinner at the Lundin Links Hotel, at which the awards were handed out by the then Captain of Lundin Golf Club, Fred Horne. Present at the award ceremony were representatives from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and 'Golf Monthly' magazine.

The Team Championship Cup was displayed in the window of a Kinghorn butcher's shop, as local councillor John McDougall had captained the Scottish winning team. Councillor McDougall was also elected President of the Society for the year ahead. Below are more-detailed images of the group. The British One-Armed Golf Championship returned to Lundin Links fifty years later in 1999.  If anyone has further information about either event held at Lundin Links or any of the individuals seen in the photograph, please do comment or get in touch.

Interestingly, half a century before this 1949 event, earlier one-armed golfers had been photographed on these links. More on that in the next post....
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Recent blog posts looked at guide books on Largo dating to the 1930s and the 1940s. This post looks at the more modern 1980s take on the tourist information booklet and contrasts this with its forerunners. Above is the front cover of the 1988 guide entitled "All About Lundin Links, Lower Largo, Upper Largo and Surrounding Villages". Like earlier guides it features the Robinson Crusoe statue prominently on the cover, although this time the statue shares the cover with other images.

This guide, which was also a black and white publication as side from the cover, is richly illustrated with photos and adverts. A short series of three blogs will cover its contents - beginning with the content on Lundin Links. The photograph below of Leven Road shows the Royal Bank of Scotland on the right at the beginning of the stretch of shops - most of which had adverts within the guide.
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Below are the featured advertisements for the Post Office, Lundie Salon and the Paperbox. At the time, the Post Office was also a General Store selling bakery goods, fruit and veg and other groceries. The Post Office closed several years ago and the premises is now occupied by gift shop Penny and Black. A mobile Post Office now serves the villages. The Lundie Salon remains to this day at 5 Leven Road. The Paperbox newsagent at 17 Leven Road is now branded Premier Convenience Store. Back in the eighties, the shop offered video hire along with the usual morning rolls and paper deliveries.
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Other local businesses featured were Bob's Butchers at 7 Leven Road, run by Bob Kirkcaldy, and Hogan's Bar on Emsdorf Street. The building that was Hogan's had previously been a shop and snack bar. Now the building is a private dwelling. The butcher's shop is now a branch of Stuart's Bakers and Butchers.
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Also among the Lundin Links based adverts was one for Elisabeth's ladies' and babies' clothing shop and one for the golf professional, David Webster. At the time, Elisabeth's was located in the small premises on Crescent Road, that had previously been the bank manager's garage and a temporary bank and went on to be The Finishing Touch curtains and blinds supplier. Eventually, Elisabeth's did move to larger premises round the corner on Leven Road.

Mercury Motors also featured in the brochure, highlighting its specialism for MGBs at the time. The business is still running today. Of course the two hotels in the village - the Old Manor Hotel and the Lundin Links Hotel -  had placed adverts, and in addition there was one for A. Kirk, Joiner.

The photo below also appeared in the guide, showing the play park next to the Common. The play equipment here has been upgraded and altered a couple of times since then and an inclusive playpark with accessible play equipment now exists on the opposite side of the road down to the Sports Club. This was opened in June 2019.

So, the 1980s tourist guide book was much more visual that those from half a century before which were more formal and text heavy.  There were some paragraphs included in the modern brochure about the history of the area but these were brief and the focus was firmly on promoting events taking place over the summer months and on local businesses offering services to visitors. In the next post - Upper Largo information from the booklet.

The previous post covered the 'Mile Dyke' wall that divides the golf links of Leven from those of Lundin. This post will look a little more at the events around the division of what was once a shared course. The photograph above, captured by John Patrick the Leven photographer, shows the former shared links. John Patrick returned to the scene on 29 November 1909 to visually record the opening of the new Leven course - going on to create a range of postcards days later, including of Major Shepherd driving the first ball (see advert below from the 1 December 1909 Leven Advertiser).
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Described in the same edition of the Leven Advertiser as "the end of an auld sang", the course division prompted mixed feelings among golfers. Many felt sorrow as they played their last round on the shared links, others relished the thought of the new challenge. The origins of the change date back to a meeting of the Joint Green Committee (made up of members drawn from the Innerleven, Leven Thistle and Lundin clubs) held on 8 August 1907. The question of applying for a renewal of the leases of the links with Sir John Gilmour and Mr R.M. Christie of Durie was raised (the leases being up at Martinmas 1909). While the renewal was being considered, the issue of congestion in the summer months was repeatedly raised. A sub-committee was created to look at potential solutions. Several schemes were considered. Ultimately, Sir John decided that a complete eighteen hole course should be laid out on the Lundin side.

This initially caused some consternation among the Leven golfers and left them little alternative but to do the same on the west side of the Mile Dyke. Negotiations opened up with Mr Christie of Durie and with Mr Russell of Silverburn. Eventually, terms were agreed with both men. The football ground to the north of Leven's bowling green and the Ladies golf course was taken in, as was a stretch of Silverburn ground. A new site was found for the Ladies golf course. The sketch below from the 30 June 1909 Leven Advertiser illustrates the new Leven layout, as set out by clubmaker Alex Patrick.
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Ground also had to be acquired on the Lundin side for the new full course there. Two fields from Sunnybraes Farm plus the Ladies golfing ground provided the necessary space. Champion golfer James Braid laid out the new Lundin Golf Course, an outline sketch of which is shown below. The Ladies were found a new location at the Standin' Stanes Park and an adjoining field. 
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The day of the opening ceremonies of the two new courses (Monday 29 November 1909) saw brilliant sunshine after an early morning mist had lifted. In an opening address, Major Shepherd stated that they had "just parted with a very old and dear friend whose every feature and peculiarity they had through long association become intimately acquainted with; a friend in whose company most of them had spent perhaps the pleasantest hours of their leisure; a friend whose memory would remain with them so long as they lived". 

It was also acknowledged in the address that course congestion had been a nuisance, especially in the summer months, at both ends of the course. Often there would be a wait of an hour or an hour and a half at the halfway point. For the Leven event, both John Patrick and Miss Mayor "took some striking shap-shots in connection with the opening ceremony". The above photograph by Mayor shows: standing from left to right - Mr J. Ogilvy Shepherd, Mr James Henderson, Mr John Adamson, Councillor T.T. Greig, and seated from left to right - Councillor Aitken, Major Shepherd and Mr J.C. Rolland.

Meanwhile, on the Lundin side, the course was opened with a speech by Sir John Gilmour who presented a golf club to Captain Benjamin Connell Cox (resident of Largo House) with which to drive the first ball.  The couples that set off behind the Captain and Vice-Captain were as follows....

The list includes quite a few familiar names - such as John Adam, Sam Duncan (proprietor of the Lundin Links Hotel), Andrew Masterton, Andrew Peebles, Robert Paxton, Andrew Somerville, and Dr Eggeling. Photographs of the event was captured by Robert Paxton and Mr A Hutt. Many of those listed above appear in the photograph below. The men seated from left to right are: 

Mr R.C. Paxton (ex-Captain)
Sir John Gilmour 
Mr B.C. Cox (Captain)
Mr George Russell (Vice-Captain)
Reverend D. Macmichael

On the far right standing is John Adam. Further below is an image of Benjamin Cox driving off the first tee. The trophy at stake for the inaugural day's play was a silver cup presented to the club by Cox. It was won by George Russell, with a score of 91 less 9 - 82. After the competition, the players adjourned to the Lundin Links Hotel for lunch. Being a November weekday, many of the Edinburgh contingent of summer visitors were not present. However, they sent a collective telegram wishing the new course every success. Also absent was club stalwart Thomas Nicoll due to ill-health. All agree that it had been a red-letter day and that despite the sentimentality regarding the old course, better sport would be provided by the new one.

In recent times the 'Mile Dyke' has been known for being the dividing point between the course of the Lundin Golf Club to the east and the Leven Links Golf Course to the west. However, the wall or 'dyke' itself predates both courses, going back to the eighteenth century. The 'Miledyke Wood' appears on the 1854 O.S. map (see below). And, in the accompanying O.S. Name Book, the Miledyke Wood is described as "A wood chiefly composed of oak, beech and elm trees, planted nearly a century ago on the estate of Lundin". Historically the dyke was a march wall that formed the boundary between the estates of Lundin and Durie. 
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Always a local landmark and notable point of reference, mentions of the Mile Dyke in the local newspapers often relate to property lost close to it - see examples below from the Leven Advertiser in the early 1900s. 
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However, most frequently, the Mile Dyke is mentioned in relation to golf. Leven Links dates back to 1846 and originally ended to the east at the Mile Dyke. It was extended beyond the dyke by 1868, towards Lundin Mill. Lundin Golf Club was instituted at the same time. The Mile Dyke thus became not a golfing boundary but a hazard in the centre of the green. A shared Leven-Lundin golf links arrangement meant that play started at both ends with a pause at the half-way point to take turn about. However, by the early years of the 20th century, the increasing popularity of golf locally led to frequent congestion and drastic change was required. In 1909, new full eighteen-hole courses opened at each end and the golf links was divided. James Braid designed the Lundin course, while Alex Patrick laid out the new Leven course. When an end came to the previous combined arrangement, the Mile Dyke reverted to its role as a boundary point.
 

The Leven Mail ran a poem about the Mile Dyke on 16 October 1946, penned by James Dingwall of Leven. Shown in full below, the humorous words highlight the robustness and longevity of the wall. The piece ends with the fitting statement that the Mile Dyke "will for lang years yet be seen".

Following on from the previous post about Largo Curling Club, it is worth pointing out that for a time there were three curling ponds in the villages. The 1912 O.S. map above shows these three ponds (ringed and numbered in green): 

1. Lundin Links Curling Club's pond by the 9th tee of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club
2. Largo House Pond (original home of Largo Curling Club)
3. Upper Largo's artificial pond (created in 1905 for Largo Curling Club

When Largo Curling Club moved to their new artificial pond in Upper Largo in 1905, many of the curlers that lived in Lundin Links decided the time was right to create a new pond in their village too. Lundin Links Curling Club was formed around this time (not to be confused with the pre-existing Lundin and Montrave Curling Club that had been around since 1885 and had a pond on the Montrave estate). 

The above story from the 10 August 1905 Leven Advertiser tells us that discussions around the creation of a "curling pond for Lundin Links, Drummochy and Lower Largo" had begun. Robert Gilchrist, the Lundin Mill builder responsible for the Temperance Hall, led the meeting, where it was "unanimously agreed to form a curling club". Interestingly, the initial idea was to convert the tennis courts into a pond in winter by spraying them. The tennis courts had only been officially opened the previous month. This plan must have been quickly discounted, as the following year a different scheme had been set in motion.

The 27 December 1906 Leven Advertiser (below) refers to both Montrave and Upper Largo ponds before noting that the folks of Lundin Links had "set about realising the ambition of having a pond" and that it was to be "at the side of Fir Park". Note that this was 1906, and therefore was three years prior to the move of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club to its present course. So the nearest landmark at the time really was Fir Park (the substantial cluster of trees close to the Lundin Links Hotel). The "ample water supply" mentioned is the Hatton Burn.

The more detailed 1912 map above shows that there was a small building to the west of the pond, presumably for storage of the curling stones and other equipment (which were of course too heavy to be brought along for every match). Most ponds had a 'curling house' for this purpose, of varying degrees of grandeur. The curling house at the Gosford Estate in East Lothian is shown below.
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From its 1905 origins, the Lundin Links club continued for several decades. Various fund raising efforts took place over the years. For example, the above 'Great Jumble Sale' (December 1921) was in aid of new artificial rinks. This suggests that the original 1906 pond was something basic and more natural - the flooding of a low lying dip perhaps rather than a man-made surface. Below is an advert for a 'Grand Concert' in the Montrave Hall in April (Leven Advertiser). This concert was to raise money to repair the curling pond. Artistes came from Kirkcaldy to perform - arranged by Mrs Nisbet of Beffens. She performed herself in an "amusing sketch". There were two one-act plays, violin selections, songs, piano playing and recitations (21 April Dundee Telegraph). 
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As well as regular fund raising events, there were 'curlers' dinners'. The 4 March 1933 Fife Free Press describes one of these below. On this occasion, the Lundin Links Curling Club invited guests from neighbouring clubs Largo, Leven and Montrave to the Lundin Links Hotel. But the heyday of the Lundin Links Club would soon be over. In 1937, the club approached Largo Curling Club to discuss amalgamation. It is unclear what the outcome of this was but references to the Lundin Links Club in the newspapers peter out around this time. Notably, 1938 saw the opening of Kirkcaldy Ice Rink, a facility which would have starkly contrasted with the Lundin Links curling pond. The Second World War would have likely signalled the end of the club had it survived into 1939. If you know more about the demise of the Lundin Links Curling Club, please leave a comment. 
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