Golf history in the west of Scotland did not shine as early as that in the east. The rainfall in the west is higher because the clouds make landfall there from the Atlantic. Today there are well-known golf links courses in the south-west of Scotland, but in the 16th and 17th Centuries, golf was a game played between December and March, when the grass was naturally cropped short and there was no agricultural work to be done. At this time of the year, prominent Scots from the shires went to Edinburgh for the social ‘season’ and the convenience of warmer winter city living. This meant they mainly played their golf in the east.

First mentions of golf in the west, as is common elsewhere, are in the annals of the Kirk. In 1589, the Glasgow Kirk Session decreed ‘no golf, carrict, shinnie, in the High or Blackfriars yard, Sunday or weekday’. As this stricture does not limit itself to just ‘Sunday observance’, it may have been occasioned by the dangers of playing ball and stick games in confined spaces, much as you see the signs today ‘NO BALL GAMES ALLOWED.’ The location also implies the game being banned was the ‘short’ form of golf, as discussed at length by David Hamilton.

Possibly because there were no coastal links accessible to the good burgesses of Glasgow in the early days of golf, they used Glasgow Green, shown above as it is today. Glasgow Green has been landscaped and most of it looks very different now to the time when the golfers played there.

In 1642, Glasgow University, like St Andrews University in the same year, declared their approval of such sports as ‘Gouffe, Archerie, and the lyk’ (sic).  In 1674, there is a record of golf equipment being bought for the young Earl William of Annandale, who was attending Glasgow Grammar School.

In 1721, James Arbuckle, a student at Glasgow University, wrote a poem about the River Clyde, which he called ‘Glotta’.  In it, he incidentally records several details about golf on Glasgow Green, the clubs and the game, though he does not appear to have been a golfer himself.

Care in needed in interpreting exact details, given the difficulties of poetic rhyme and the ‘licence’ poets take as a result.

Glasgow Golf Club played on Glasgow Green from 1787 to 1870 when they moved to Queens Park because the Green was common ground and becoming popular.  From the beginning of the 19th Century play became difficult. The overcrowding was compounded by a municipal drainage scheme in 1813, which apparently made the area ‘unpleasant’. This role is now fulfilled by the local brewery.

Glasgow Green Templeton Business Centre

There are many historical sights on Glasgow Green including the Templeton Business Centre built in 1839 as a carpet factory and shown above. There is also the first civic Nelson Monument, started in 1806, and the Peoples Palace, opened in 1898, which commemorates the history of Glasgow from 1750 to the present day. A picture and more details of the Nelson Monument can be found on the page about the early history of Glasgow Golf Club.

One early visitor to Glasgow Green was James Watt.  In his account of his invention of the improved steam engine, James Watt referred to the 'Golf Course' on Glasgow Green. While walking on Glasgow Green one Sunday in 1765, he passed by the old washhouse and, before he had reached the Golf Course, he had developed a clear vision of the separate steam condenser, which greatly improved the efficiency of steam engines and thus began the industrial age.  The event is commemorated on the Green by the James Watt Boulder, pictured above. Good job he was not hit by a golf ball.

More details of Glasgow Golf Club

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