Musselburgh Links Golf Course played on Saturday 22 August 2020

“East Lothian, on the coast of the Firth of Forth to the east of Edinburgh, has been renown as a golfing Mecca for the past century. Referred to as the “Cradle of Golf”, the game was nurtured here by enthusiasts from all walks of life.”

This is how the history of Musselburgh Links and the start of the game of golf is introduced in a little booklet published by the East Lothian Council.

Musselburgh Links, The Old Golf Course, is an original Open Championship venue, hosting the event on six occasions between 1874 and 1889. In that period 5 local players won the Open on Musselburgh.

Willie Park Jr. won the Open in 1887 and in 1889 at Musselburgh. And David “Deacon” Brown, as he was known, won it in 1886. The way he got into the competition is rather unusual.

“The story was told that he was a slater to trade and John Anderson, who was secretary of the Musselburgh Club at the time, sent for him to make up the numbers. When he arrived at the Royal Musselburgh clubhouse he was as black as a sweep and was given a bath, then a pair of striped trousers, a frock coat and a lump hat. This did not prevent him from winning.”

As I understand from Google search, a slater to trade is a person who covers buildings with slate. That is putting a roof on a house.

A slate is a fine-grained grey, green, or bluish-purple metamorphic rock easily split into smooth, flat plates. A trip to the country side in the British Isle and you cannot avoid seeing these slates. (I also understand that a lump hat, in this case is the type of flat cap some of us are wearing on and of the golf course).

Later in this report, I will introduce you to David McGrath and some of his friends that we met in the Old Club House.

In there he added to the story that David “Deacon” Brown, not only was black of the dust from the slates, but also quite drunk. So after the bath and before he teed off, he also got a good drink of whisky. Have we heard something alike before?

That story made my curious about the meaning of his nick name: what does Deacon means? Here you are:

“A Deacon in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches, (is) an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest.”

A bit of the history of golf

There are documentary evidence proving that golf was played on Musselburgh Links as early as 2 March 1672 although Mary, Queen of Scots reputedly played here in 1567. Talking to the locals about the origin of golf over drinks in the club house, you will find the following story – that is the story most of the Musselburgh golfers believe in and like to tell.

In the 15 and 16 centuries a number of people from the Netherlands came to the area of East Lothian. They brought with them the game of kolven, a game involving a ball and curved bats and was played annually in Loenen, the Netherlands, from the end of the 12 century.

The game still is played in the Netherlands, now it’s called Kolf and is played on an indoor course that measures 17.5 metres long and 5 metres wide. The course is flat and marked with looping scoring lines and features an ornate wooden post at each end. Another variation of Kolf was played on the icy flat water and the icy river running through the Netherlands and the capital Amsterdam.

It is easy to see that a flat area of links land can be used for that kind of game. It is also easy to see how enthusiastic golfers from the town of St. Andrew can find other historical reason for golf being “invented” in that area.

The most popular story is that golf was first played by shepherds – that is mostly young boys – who spend most of the day looking after the sheep. And that the bunkers we find on todays courses originates from the depressions or holes the sheep’s made to shelter themselves from the wind.

Anyway – one thing is a fact. The game of golf became popular and golfers at that time as well as golfers of today can get quite addicted to the game. On Wikipedia I found these examples:

In a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, an edict issued by King James II of Scotland prohibiting the playing of the games of gowf and futball as these were a distraction from archery practice for military purposes.

Bans were again imposed in Acts of 1471 and 1491, with golf being described as “an unprofitable sport”. Golf was banned again by parliament under King James IV of Scotland, but golf clubs and balls were bought for him in 1502 when he was visiting Perth, and on subsequent occasions when he was in St Andrews and Edinburgh.

An entry in the Town Council Minutes of Edinburgh for 19 April 1592 includes golf in a list of pursuits to be avoided on the Sabbath. See Wikipedia, History of golf.

I have two reasons for showing this picture.

First; to the left of the house in the wall there is a gate. On that gate it is embedded as : The Cradle of Golf.

The second reason is that the white house in those days was a pub and a place where golfers met after the round. The story goes that is was in this pub that the idea of the claret jug came to life. The Claret Jug became the winners price, after the Young Tom Morris had won the original Challenge Belt outright in 1870 by winning the Open Championship three years in a row. So instead of the belt (to most people the belt is associated with what boxers get for winning a championship) the golfers needed a new trophy.

At that time wine was a popular drink in those social circles. Wine was imported in barrels and served in jugs like the trophy the Open Champion are getting.

That is, the champion is not getting the Claret Jug. He get his name engraved on it – together with all the other winners since 1871, but are getting a copy for him to keep. Rumours goes that the idea came from Old Tom Morris and Billy Park, sitting in the pub bar enjoying a glass of wine, after they had finished the final round of an Open competitions at Musselburgh Links. But that cannot be confirmed.

Sadly this building has recently been sold to a developer that will convert it into flats, so a lot of golf history will be lost.

The discussion about women and golf have been going on since Mary, Queen of Scots was accused by her political enemies of playing golf after her second husband, Henry Stuart, was murdered in 1567. Subsequently one of the Lords of that time wrote that she had been playing “sports that were unsuitable to women”.

But in Musselburgh in 1811 women didn’t care. They made their “women only” competitions.

Just think about it. As noted in an earlier blog about our visit to Muirfield. Female members was only accepted in 2016.

Meet the local golfers

One can get rather confused when it comes to find the club house of the old links course. But with a bit of help from the starter, we found the club house. It was around 7 in the evening we just had finished our round and the bar was about to close. But we got a fantastic reception.

In the bar was 6-8 local golfers enjoying their beer and a chat. Very quickly we were asked all the “usual” questions. Whom, from where, when, why and did we enjoy the course? And I can tell you these guys knew their history of golf.

That evening we were back in our B&B a bit over 12 midnight.

Our game

Interestingly, you don’t need a luxurious club house, a modern golf shop with the latest news, or a golf course in a spectacular setting. The fairways doesn’t need to be meticulously cut with a clear indication of what is fairway and what is rough. You don’t need all this to have fun and enjoy your game.

The course is “only” 5908 yards from the white, par 68, and 5468 yards from the front tee, par is 72. SSS are 69 and 71 respectively.

And sure it is not the most difficult course I have played, but you still need to hit the shots. The good thing is that it is a 9 hole course, meaning that you will play all the holes twice. I played the course in 74. That is 6 over par. Just about my handicap.

In a way, I like all holes. Though, a couple of the more interesting holes are number 4 and 9.

Hole 4 is stroke index 1, par 4, 431 yards. Slight dogleg right about 130 meter from the green. Be sure to cross the white fence to the race track and don’t be too long. Then you will run into trouble being to close to the white house or the brick wall, as you can see on one of the pictures.

Hole 9 is a great golf hole. A sharp dogleg left. Only 350 yard, index 11/12. One can cross the dogleg in the second shot. But you need to find the right length and direction – it’s a blind shot. A fine bunker in front of the green is ready to take your ball if too short and the gorse is ready to take your ball if too long and/or to the left.

Of course the course is not suited for golfers who hit the ball a mile. The long hitter can leave the driver and woods, as well as the longest iron in the car, and I am sure he (or she) will enjoy the walk as much as the more ordinary golfer. That taken into account:

We can recommend all golfers who are making a trip to Scotland. Go to Musselburgh and try the oldest golf course in the world where golf is still played.

Evaluation of the golf course

As you know, I have developed a standard scheme for evaluating golf courses. But in the case of the Old Links course, I don’t think that kind of evaluation makes sense.

What you see is what you get. You can get away with hitting out of the fairway, you can find your ball and in most cases get back to the fairway or hit the green from the rough. The ambience is fantastic and the authenticity is fully intact.

Just go and enjoy your walk. This is a place where golf have been played for at least the last 400 years. And it doesn’t cost a fortune.