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Golf in St Andrews
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St Andrews
Royal and Ancient Golf Club
(or "R&A") is the international governing body for golf, and dates back to a meeting of 22 of the local gentry in 1754, who founded the Society of St Andrews Golfers, being "admirers of the ancient and healthful exercise of golf". The game itself has been played here since the fifteenth century. Those early days were instrumental in establishing Scotland as the home of golf, for the rules were distinguished from those of the French game by the fact that participants had to manoeuvre the ball into a hole, rather than hit an above-ground target. It was not without its opponents, however - particularly James II who, in 1457, banned his subjects from playing since it was distracting them from archery practice.
The approach to St Andrews from the west runs adjacent to the famous
Old Course
, one of seven courses in the immediate vicinity of the town. The Old Course's strictly private
clubhouse
, a stolid, square building dating from 1854, is at the eastern end of the course overlooking both the eighteenth green and the long beach made famous in the film
Chariots of Fire
. Pictures of golfing greats from Tom Morris to Tiger Woods, along with clubs and a variety of memorabilia donated by famous players, are displayed in the admirable
British Golf Museum
on Bruce Embankment, along the waterfront below the clubhouse (April to mid-Oct daily 9.30am-5.30pm; rest of year Thurs-Mon 11am-3pm; A?3.75). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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