The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club is a

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

Prestongrange House Prestongrange House is a historic house at Prestongrange near Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland, UK. It is situated near to two other historic houses, Hamilton House, East Lothian, Hamilton House and Northfield House, East Lothian, Northfield ...

Prestongrange Prestongrange is a place in East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, situated between Musselburgh to the west, and Prestonpans to the east. The place name derives from "Preston", meaning "priest's town", and a Monastic grange, grange (or granary ...

near

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( , Scots: ''The Pans'') is a mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the council area of East Lothian. The population as of is . It is near the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans (first ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, on the B1361. Between 1774 and 1926, the club was based at Levenhall Links,

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

History

The first golf clubs were founded in the 18th century. The first was the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, instituted in 1706, followed by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1744,

the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

in 1754, and the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club in 1774. These clubs gradually accepted some responsibility for the links on which they played. What is now the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club was established in 1774 as the Musselburgh Golf Club, and the Old Club Cup was played for the first time. It is the oldest golf trophy that has been played for continuously in the world, and it can be seen in the

Clubhouse Clubhouse may refer to: Locations * The meetinghouse of: ** A club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal ** In the United States, a country club ** In the United Kingdom, a gentlemen's club * A ...

. In 1811 the first Lady Golfer competition took place, and in 1834 the club issued a new set of rules. The RMGC is the fifth oldest golf club in the world. It was originally played over the nine-hole course at Levenhall Links, and in 1872 the first clubhouse was built at the Links. In 1876 the club became the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club. The royal title was granted by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, godson of the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. He remained as Patron of the club until his death in 1942. In 1908 RMGC merged with the New Club, one of four golf clubs on the Links. In 1922 the Club entered a new era through the move to

and Estate, made possible through CISWO, the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation. The new clubhouse was a 12th-century

historic house A historic house generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list. A second factor is that the building be i ...

, originally owned by the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s of

Newbattle Abbey Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercians, Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently became a stately home and then an educational institution. Monastery It was founded in 1140 by monks from Melrose ...

. An 18-hole course was designed by renowned golf course architect James Braid as a traditional parkland course, yet close to the sea. The yardage is 6237.

The club in the 21st century

Royal Musselburgh Golf Club is part of

Lothian and Borders Police Lothian and Borders Police was the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian between 1975 and 2013. The force's headquarters were in Fett ...

's "Golf Initiative" which enables school pupils to have free coaching and support. In the Telegraph newspaper's search for the most characterful golf course in Scotland, RMGC won the accolade of "Most venerable" golf course.

Photo gallery

Image:PrestongrangeHouse06.jpg, Royal Musselburgh Golf Club Image:PrestongrangeHouse01.jpg, Main entrance of Prestongrange House Image:PrestongrangeHouse03.jpg, Front of Prestongrange House Image:PrestongrangeHouse07.jpg, Golfers on the Royal Musselburgh golf course

References

*Baker,Sonia; (2000); "Prestongrange House"; Prestoungrange University Press, 2000
Website of CISWO, the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation
*RCAHMS DPM 1860/137/1 - 10 plans/sketches of Royal Musselburgh Golf Club building, 1865 - 1875]
Telegraph newspaper: RMGC the "Most venerable" of golf clubs

A Royal and Ancient Game
by Robert Clark 1875 and 1893, reprinted 1975 by EP Publishing.
Scottish Golf Book
by Malcolm Campbell, Glynn Satterly; publ. 1999 by Sports Publishing LLC, 224 pp.
History of Royal Musselburgh Golf Club 1774-1999
by Robert Ironside and H. Douglas, priv. prtd. 1999, 213pp'

External links

*
Visit East Lothian on Edinburgh's Doorstep (map leaflet)
{{Authority control 1774 establishments in Scotland Sports clubs and teams established in the 1770s Golf clubs and courses in East Lothian Organisations based in Scotland with royal patronage Musselburgh Organisations based in East Lothian Royal golf clubs

History

The club in the 21st century

Photo gallery

See also

References

External links