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The Golf Heritage department carries out ongoing research into the history of the Club, publishes printed and other media material on its findings and takes an active role in special projects to promote the heritage of the Club and work of The R&A. These include exhibitions at The Open Championship and at the amateur championships run by The R&A. The department is also responsible for the day to day care of the Club’s historical collections and archive. |
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Vertical Expansion - The Clubhouse 1887-1910
The next building phase of the Club was more straightforward than had been the case with previous architectural developments. Complaints about the state of the Club toilet facilities were minuted in September 1887 and also in March and June 1888.
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The history of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews began on May 14, 1754, when 22 noblemen and gentlemen of Fife presented a Silver Club to be played for annually over the Links of St Andrews. The winner became Captain for the year. The Society of St Andrews Golfers, as the Club was originally known, soon evolved from this competition, meeting regularly to take part in the "healthful exercise of golf", usually followed by a dinner. |
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John Whyte Melville
Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878)
John Whyte Melville (1797-1883) stands out as one of the foremost figures in the history of the Union Club and the Royal and Ancient. He became a member of the latter in 1816, when it was still known as the Society of St Andrews Golfers and in 1823 he served as Captain. |
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The Queen Adelaide Medal
In 1838 John Murray Belshes told the Spring Meeting that the Dowager Queen Adelaide had consented to become Patroness of the Club and at that year's Autumn Meeting he announced that Her Majesty had presented a handsome medal as a mark of her approbation - with a request that it should be worn by the captain on all public occasions. Yet the medal was not immediately associated with the driving in of the new Captain and 14 years later Belshes pointed out that the medal had been given for the purpose of distinguishing the Captain in office. |
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