An island company has scored a ’landmark’ hole-in-one after securing an export order for 870 tonnes of sand for an exclusive golf course in the Inner Hebrides.

Construction materials company Island Aggregates clinched the deal to supply the material for the club in the Scottish island of Jura.

The firm supplied the sand from its Point of Ayre quarry, took it to Ramsey Harbour where it was loaded on a cargo vessel and shipped hundreds of miles in one journey to the exclusive Ardfin Estate golf course on the Scottish isle, to be used for ’top dressing’.

Island Aggregates boss Stephen Smyth believes it is the first bulk order of aggregates such as sand from the island in 60 years and is a fantastic achievement for the Isle of Man.

The general manager told Business News: ’A coming together of circumstances led to us securing the order.

’The cost of shipping off island and availability of lower cost material at most locations in Great Britain and Ireland means export isn’t usually a realistic possibility. ’We’ve historical records of Island Aggregates in its very early days, shipping materials across to Liverpool, but this ceased around 1958 and to the best of our knowledge there has been no export of bulk aggregates from the island since.’

Mr Smyth added: ’The remote location of the Ardfin Estate on Jura means that all materials for course maintenance have to be brought in by sea.

’Great Glen Shipping, the operator of the ships which bring our cement supplies into Island Cement at Ramsey, put us in touch with the golf course manager and we took things from there.’

He continued: ’We know the sand we produce up at the Point of Ayre is excellent for top-dressing sports surfaces, having done some work a few years back with local pitch consultant Mike Atherton.

’This led to the sand being specified for use on local football pitches and endorsed for top-dressing by the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI).

’Thankfully when we sent gradings and other technical data to the course manager at Ardfin, he agreed and the order for a first bulk cargo was placed.’

Mr Smyth was full of praise for his team at the Point of Ayre for the way they handled the job. Seven tippers collected the sand and drove it to the harbourside over a six-hour period where it was loaded on to the vessel called the CEG Cosmos.

The load left Ramsey on the night of Thursday, November 12 and finally arrived in Jura two days later, after a short delay sheltering from bad weather at Bangor Bay in Northern Ireland.

Mr Smyth said Ardfin has been slowly building quite a reputation in the golfing world. Initially developed as a private course by the millionaire owner of the estate, it was designed by Bob Harrison, former lead architect for Greg Norman’s design company, who is on record stating ’I’m convinced that this is one of the most beautiful and spectacular courses in the world.’

It’s still very exclusive and it is now ranked in the World’s Top 100 golf courses.

Mr Smyth said the initial feedback was that the customer ’is very pleased with the quality of the sand. ’So, hopefully we can turn this into a long-term arrangement. Being a keen (albeit very average) golfer myself, I’m obviously itching to get across for a look, once travel becomes more straightforward’.