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World's First Golfer at Perth, Scotland |
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Scone Palace, Perth Click picture for larger image King James IV of Scotland (1473-1513) was a man of many talents. He inherited the Scottish throne at the age of fifteen and unified the outlying areas of his kingdom by force of arms. He practised dentistry and founded the Royal College of Surgeons in Scotland, many years ahead of that in England. He introduced compulsory education, requiring large landowners to send their sons to school and to one of the universities at St Andrews, Glasgow or Aberdeen. Yet his most lasting legacy is probably that in 1502, he decided that the threat of war with England had receded sufficiently to lift the longstanding ban on golf, futilely imposed to encourage archery practice. He bought his first clubs from a Perth bow maker. At the time Perth served as the capital and it was where James was crowned at Scone Palace on 26 June 1488. His official accounts noted the following in 1502.
There were 20 shillings to the Scottish Pound. Given the number of clubs and balls James IV purchased, it is likely that it was the links or long game he played. That makes James IV, at almost 30 years old, the first recorded player of golf as we know it and it makes Perth the oldest dated location in the world, where a named golfer played golf. It is later recorded that he bought golfing equipment at Edinburgh and from St Andrews in the next few years. Less certain is exactly where James IV played. It is said that he played golf on the North Inch, (shown in the middle of the map below) which still has the North Inch golf course to this day. The North Inch and the South Inch were two large parkland areas given to Perth in 1377 by King Robert III. The North Inch was the scene of the famous Battle of the Clans in 1396, which left only twelve men standing from a total of sixty from the clans of Chattan and Kay. Whether or not James played there, he must have played around Scone Palace, to the north of Perth (shown in the picture above and on the map below). He also must have played at his other royal residences especially Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Falkland Palace in Fife and Linlithgow in West Lothian, as he significantly extended them all. Stirling castle would also have been another haunt of his, with a noted purchase of 12 golf balls on 27th February 1505, possibly for play in the Royal Park, close to where the Stirling Golf Club would later be formed in 1869.
By the 18th century, golf was being played on both the North and South Inches of Perth. The Perth Golfing Society started by playing over six holes on the South Inch, but later, they moved to the North Inch to a course, which has had a varying number of holes over the centuries. When the flood barrier was completed recently it became 18 holes again, shown in the picture below. In 1833, the Perth Golfing Society was granted the title Royal by William IV - the first golf club anywhere to be given the Royal accolade.
North Inch Golf Course First Hole It is reported that the some treasures of the Royal Perth Golf Club were sold off in 1998 and the Valderrama Golf Club in Spain paid a world record price of $174,900 for an iron putter of theirs, dated to 1795. Also shown on the map at the bottom is the course of the King James VI Golf Club founded in 1858, who play on the unique course on Moncreiffe Island, surrounded by water and accessible only on foot. This club is named after James IV’s great-grandson, who is also alleged to have played on North Inch. The North Inch golf course is a public course, owned by Perth and Kinross Council, whose website is here. Below are scorecard and layout with contact details
North Inch Golf Course scorecard and course layout Cricket is also now played on the North Inch, as it is on Leith Links, though there is still a golf course on the North Inch, unlike Leith Links.
More details of history and course are available from the King James VI Golf Club website. More details of history and course are of the Stirling Golf Club. |
