Golf in Perth

Early History

The origins and early history of golf in Scotland are obscure, but the game must have been sufficiently common for parliament to prohibit both football and golf in favour of archery practice in 1458, 1471 and 1491.

Royal Patronage

These prohibitions did not prevent King James IV, who had approved the last one himself, having a game of golf at an unknown location with the Earl of Bothwell in February 1504. The royal expenses were recorded as 42 shillings (£2.10) for the king 'to play at the golf' with Bothwell (possibly for a wager), and 9 shillings (£0.45) for 'golf clubbes and balles' for the king's game. Other royal golfers are said to include Mary, Queen of Scots and King James VI. In 1618 James VI granted a monopoly on the manufacture of golf balls to three Scotsmen, the price of each ball not to exceed 4 shillings (£0.20), and prohibited the import of golf balls from Holland.

Perth

Among the earliest records of golf in Perth are cases of breach of Sabbath before the Kirk Session. On 19 November 1599 John Gardiner, James Bowman, Laurence Chalmers and Laurence Cuthbert confessed 'to playing at the golf on the North Inch in the time of preaching afternoon on the Sabbath'. On 2 January 1604 six young boys were punished for 'playing at the golf on the North Inch at the time of preaching afternoon' on the previous Sunday. Robert Robertson, the ringleader, was fined one merk (œ0.66), and he and the rest were ordered to appear the following Sunday in 'the place of public repentance in presence of the whole congregation'. Golf was sufficiently well established that on 21 October 1633 the Town Council reserved the Inches for archery, golf and other pastimes according to use and wont.

Golf in Mourning

Henry Adamson, who lived in Perth in the 17th century, mourned the death of his friend, James Gall, in a poem, The Muses Threnodie. In the poem he mentions playing golf:

And ye my clubs, you must no more prepare
To make your balls flee whistling through the air,
But hing your heads, and bow your crooked crags,
And dress you all in sackcloth and in rags;
No more to see the sun and fertile fields,
But closely keep your mourning in your bields.

South Inch

Golf was played on both the North and South Inches. In the 18th century the South Inch course had first 8, then 10 holes. By the start of the 19th century this had increased to 12 holes. The South Inch lost its popularity as a golf course after the Royal Perth Golfing Society moved its matches to the North Inch in 1834. By the mid 19th century the South Inch had been largely abandoned as a golf course.

North Inch

The North Inch course is thought to have had 6 holes in 1803. By 1834 its course had increased to 9 holes, with a 10th being added the following year. In 1864 two more holes were added. In 1892, after an agreement with the owner and tenant of a field at Muirton, 6 more holes, laid out by Old Tom Morris of St Andrews, were added, making a course of 18 holes. In the 19th century golf was played all over the North Inch; it was not as today confined to the northern end.

Design of Golf Course

The courses of the past were not like those of today. The tee was within a few clubs' length of the previous hole and the 'green' was an area of grass cut lower with a scythe.

Battle of the Trees

In 1861 the Town Council planted trees on the North Inch as an amenity for the public. The wrath of the golfers of Perth was aroused because the trees would interfere with their play. Eventually a mob marched to the Inch and uprooted the trees, which the Council decided not to replant.

Perth Tournaments

In 1864 and 1866 the North Inch was the venue for two open tournaments. That of 1864 was won by Old Tom Morris, then of Prestwick. The tournament of 1864 also saw the first public contest of Young Tom Morris, then still a schoolboy, who played a match with Willie Greig, a Perth schoolboy.

Local Manufacturers

John Jackson was Perth's first manufacturer of golf clubs and feather balls. In 1864 he was succeeded by Walter MacDonald, who began making the more recognisable guttie type of ball.

Golf in Perth Today

The Perth Golfing Society, Perth's oldest golf club, was formed in 1824 and continues today as the Royal Perth Golfing Society: it secured royal patronage from King William IV in 1833. In 1858 the King James VI Golf Club was formed, taking its name from the tradition that James had played golf on the Inches. It held its matches on the North Inch until 1897. After a dispute with the tenant of Muirton over grazing rights had led to the temporary loss of the extension to the North Inch course, it opened its own course, laid out by Old Tom Morris, on Moncreiffe Island. In 1879 Perth Artisans Golf Club was formed: it still plays on the North Inch. The Craigie Hill Golf Club was formed in 1909 and has its course at Craigie Hill, opened in 1911.