The Course

The Old Course at Musselburgh is a 9 hole, par 34 links golf course, located in the heart of Musselburgh, just miles 3 from Edinburgh and surrounded by Musselburgh Racecourse.

The course was originally 7 holes, another hole was added in 1838 and then the full 9 holes came into play in 1870. I really enjoyed walking round the historic course taking a look at the layout and in particular I wanted to see the infamous 4th hole, “Mrs Foremans”. It’s named after the pub, Mrs Foreman’s Inn, which sits behind the 4th green and where in years gone by refreshments could be passed to golfers through a hatch in the wall of the pub adjacent to the green – the perfect halfway house!

The history of Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club

I met up with Robin McGregor, the Secretary of Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club, who told me about the history of the course and how it had come to pass that Musselburgh Links was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest golf course.

Documentary evidence shows that golf was played on Musselburgh Links since 1450 and Mary, Queen of Scots even reputedly played there in 1567. However, there are no definitive records of this other than the one in 1672 when someone actually recorded play. Robin explained to me that the record comes from an Edinburgh accountant, called Sir John Fowles, who recorded in his account book on that date that he played at Musselburgh Old Course and lost the huge amount of £3 5/–.

The Open

This great historic golf course played host to six Open Championships between 1874 and 1889. It was one of the three original venues for The Open, the others being Prestwick and St Andrews.

Not many people know that Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club has produced 5 Open champions, who managed to win the Open 11 times between them. Robin pointed out engravings of each of the winners on the front of the clubhouse. Firstly there was the very first winner of the Open in Prestwick in 1860, Willie Park Snr. He won the Open 4 times in total, all at Prestwick. His brother Mungo won the first Open played at Musselburgh in 1874. His son Willie Park Jnr also won two Opens, one of which was the very last open to be held at Musselburgh Old Course in 1889. Also depicted on the clubhouse wall are Open champions David Brown who won in 1886 and Bob Ferguson, who had a unique feat of winning 3 successive Opens in 1880 1881 and 1882.

Musselburgh’s infamous drainpipes

If you’re like me then at some stage in your golfing past you will have lipped out a putt and wished that the size of the hole on the green was just a bit larger. Well, in this episode Robin pointed out to me the culprit responsible for the size of standard golf holes – a drainpipe outside the clubhouse!

Robin explained to me the historical significance of the drainpipes in golfing history. Back in 1829 Robert Grey invented the first hole-cutting machine. To do this he used the first thing to hand which happened to be a piece of Musselburgh Clubhouse drainpipe. The drainpipe has affected every golf course that has ever been built, and ever likely to be built in the future as in 1891 the R & A made the four and a quarter inch diameter hole size mandatory by incorporating it into their Rules of Golf.

Prior to the standardization of the hole in 1891 the hole size could be anything depending on the golf course you played on. So if you ever miss a putt because the hole is too small you can blame Musselburgh’s drainpipes for being too small!

The Musselburgh Clubhouse

The Clubhouse is located within 50 yards of the course. Robin gave me a tour of the Clubhouse during my visit and it’s certainly a beautiful original period Clubhouse. It was originally built in 1873 and despite its modern facilities it has managed to retain its casual elegance and inspiring atmosphere as you mingle amongst pictures of some of our greatest golfing forefathers. As well as being a Clubhouse steeped in history it also provides you with a welcoming place to share a few drinks after a round of golf or enjoy a delicious meal served by their chef.

The Musselburgh Challenge

On the day of filming Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club was playing host to the 10th Musselburgh Challenge.

This is spectacular event where all of the competitors use period golf clubs, some of which will have been originally made at Musselburgh at the turn of the 20th century. The idea behind the challenge was to not only raise the profile of Musselburgh as the oldest golf course in the world, but also to encourage all of the clubs who have had an association with Musselburgh Old Course over the years to join together to compete for the trophy.

Clubs competing in the Musselburgh Challenge included Prestwick, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Royal Musselburgh and Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club.

The format for the competition was foursomes golf and each club is represented by four players, who represent a joint total which determines who wins the competition. During this well organized gala event the golfers all play in a time preserved fashion by using hickory shafted golf clubs and gutta percha golf balls.
Robin pointed out to me that in 2007 the Royal & Ancient of St Andrews entered this competition and they won it – the first team competition that their club has ever won during its 250 year history!

This year it was The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club who won the trophy with an impressive score of 83.

The results are as follows:

Winners: The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club. Richard Bush, Arthur Reid, Ian Gordon & David Lindsay
Runners Up: The British Golf Collectors Society. John Rigg, Steven Doyle, Jim Colville & Scott Patrick
Third Place: The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Alistair Low, Alistair Brown, Henry Fairweather & Peter Thomson

Hickory clubs

During my time at Musselburgh I also took the opportunity to chat with John Rigg of the British Golf Collectors Society and Eddie Whoriskey who is the Captain at Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club. With them I discussed how amazing it is to visit a golf course which has so much history poured into it and what a great opportunity it presents to everyday golfers like myself for us to tread in the footsteps of famous past golfing champions.

We also talked about the growth in popularity of hickory tournaments. I could see for myself as I watched the teams participate in the Challenge what a unique golfing experience using hickory clubs presented to the modern golfer. As John quite rightly pointed out to me, we have all this new advanced golf technology and equipment yet what a lot of golfers want is to go back to basics and experience the game as it used to be played.

If you like the idea of playing The Musselburgh Old Course the way your golf forefathers did then you can rent a set of hickory golf clubs from the Clubhouse for a small fee. I thoroughly recommend playing at the World’s Oldest Golf Course. For a totally unique experience you should leave your own golf clubs in the trunk of your car and challenge yourself to 9 holes of golf using hickory clubs.

Becoming a member at Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club

During our interview Robin told me that Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club are offering a unique opportunity for golfers from anywhere in the world to become members of Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club for only £85 per year. For this moderate fee new members receive a stunning presentation box containing everything a new member needs, including merchandise bearing the club crest such as a leather membership bag tag, leather key ring, repairer/ ball marker, a replica gutta-percha golf ball, a super high quality colour booklet detailing Musselburgh’s rich history, a personalized certificate of membership and most importantly you gain the right to play golf at the world’s oldest golf course.

This fantastic package allows you to be associated with the oldest golf course in the world and walk in the footsteps of your great golf forefathers who graced these links in the past. This is a unique opportunity and an absolute must for golfers worldwide to become part of golfing history!

For full details on how to apply to become a member visit their website.

Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club

10 Balcarres Road

Musselburgh

East Lothian

Scotland

EH21 7SD

Telephone Number 0131-665-6981

Fax Number 0131-653-1770

Website: mocgc.com

Email: Secretary@mocgc.com

Finally the Question of the Day:

Where do you play your golf and how old is your golf course? Leave your comments below and we’ll have fun reading them!