“account .

Long and st

Old course has royal ties

THE British Open will
be held July 20-23 at
St. Andrews Royal and
Ancient Golf Course
in Scotland.

: The history of the Royal
and Ancient Golf Club is
inextricably tied to that of
the \ ancient city of St
Andrews, where golf was
believed already to be a pop-
ular pastime when the uni-
versity was founded in 1413.
Because
of its impor-
tance . as’ the
country’s
religious cap-
ital — the
* resting place
of .the relics
of St.
Andrew .—
and centre of
learning, .the
old city
‘ flourished,.
with a large
population at
the — begin-
- ning of the
sixteenth
century.

But the rich trappings of

“power were not to remain at
_St. Andrews. The reforma-
‘tion. destroyed its religious
* significance, the underfund-
ed university was in danger
Of being removed to Perth
and. the Cathedral once
attended by Robert. the
- Bruce lay in ruins when, in
‘1754; “22 Noblemen and

~* Gentlemen of the Kingdom
of Fife” formed the Society .

of St. Andrews Golfers.
Under the names ef the
“ 22 founders, the first written
reads: . “The
“Noblemen and Gentlemen

at the sp

above named being admired
of the Ancient and healthful
exercise of the Golf, and at
the same time having the
interest and prosperity of the
ancient city of St. Andrews at
heart, being the Alma Mater
of the Golf, did in the year of
our Lord 1754 contribute
for a Silver club having a St.
Andrew engraved on the
head thereof to be played for
on the Links of St. Andrews
upon the fourtcenth day of

“This is the origin of the
game, golf in its purest form,
and it’s still played that way
on a course seemingly
untouched by time. Every .
time I play here, it reminds
me that this is still a game.”

— Amoid Patmer,

oo the Old Course at St. Andrews

/

May said year, and yearly ‘in

‘time coming subjec* to the

conditions and regulations
following.” a

In 1834, King William IV
conferred his patronage on
the Society of St. Andrews
Golfers, giving them the title
of the Royal and Ancient
Golf Club. Agreement was
jater reached with the Union
Club, to use their premises
overlooking the golf course,
and the two clubs were later
to merge.

The impesing clubhouse,
which, in much extended

and modified form, stands ~

sentinel behind the first tee

ried history

1754 could have had no con-
ception that their philan-

of the Old Course roday, was
built in 1854.

Throughout this same
period the golfers of nearby
Leith, who had formed their
club 10 years earlier than the
one in St. Andrews, were suf-
fering a lack of continuity.

The impossibly over-
crowded conditions of the
small five-hole public course
which had been their home
since 1744 finally drove
them to move to the more
generous, but still public,
acres of the nearby nine-hole
Musselburgh links.

Under their new name —
the Honourable Company of
Edinburgh Golfers — they
finally moved even further
from the capital city, to the
village of Gullane, where
their Muirfield course was
opened in 1891.

While the game’s most
senior club was enduring this
extended period of change,
the R&A had become a
model of stability.

“The club being accepted
as. the leading authority was
officially recognized in 1897

when the explosive growth of

the game led to a general
demand for a uniform code
of rules rather than the ran-
dom use of certain regula-
tions in one club and not in
another.

The leading clubs of the
day turned to the R&A for
gutdance and the first Rules
of Golf Committee was
appointed.

From that moment the
R&A has been recognized as
the game’s governing
authority in all countries of
the world except the United
States of America and
Mexico.

The 22 Noblemen and
Gentlemen of Fife who con- .

vened the first meeting in”

Growing
eed of technology.

internet traffic is increasing every day. The number of cell phones is now in

to

30/00

Friday, July 7, 2000 - North Shore News - 21

ritish Open

See Course page 24

thropic attempt to help pro-
tect the golfing reputation of

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