Club information | |
---|---|
Location | Crail, Fife, Scotland |
Established | February 1786 |
Total holes | 36 |
Website | crailgolfingsociety |
Balcomie Links | |
Designed by | Tom Morris |
Par | 69 |
Length | 5861 yards |
Course rating | 70 |
Craighead Links | |
Designed by | Gil Hanse |
Par | 72 |
Length | 6651 yards |
Course rating | 74 |
The Crail Golfing Society is a Scottish golf club established in February 1786 in the Golf Hotel, Crail, Fife. The society is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. Its oldest course, Balcomie, was formally laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1894, but competitions were played there since the 1850s.
The courses are two miles (three kilometres) northeast of the fishing town of Crail, and the land upon which golf is played straddles the easternmost promontory of Fife, known as Fife Ness. The East Coast of Fife is particularly dense in links courses and is popular for golf tourism. Crail is 10 miles (16 kilometres) south of St Andrews [1] and four miles (six kilometres) from Kingsbarns. To the south west are the links of Elie, Anstruther, Lundin and Leven. Within an hour to the north are Scotscraig, Carnoustie, Monifieth and Panmure.
Crail Golfing Society owns and operates two courses, Balcomie and Craighead, which differ in character. Balcomie, designed by Old Tom Morris in 1895, [2] is a traditional links, retaining original holes, and a diverse and distinctive set of Par 3s. The 14th is the most photographed hole, a Par 3 with an elevated tee high above the beach dropping down to a heavily bunkered green. Longer holes, such as the 4th and 5th, feature doglegs around the sea edge. From Balcomie, on the north of the promontory, can be seen the mountain Lochnagar in the Balmoral estate, in addition to the Tay estuary, and much of eastern Scotland.
Craighead, designed by American architect Gil Hanse is longer, a modern links, with rolling greens, native walls and wildlife typical of the Fife coast. [3] [4] The two links are on north and south edges of Fifeness, respectively, and have different views. Craighead allows views to the Forth Estuary and beyond, with the Bass Rock, Edinburgh and St Abbs Head visible 60 miles (100 kilometres) away, and borders a nature reserve. [5]
The following is a partial timeline of the history of golf:
St Andrews Links in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, is regarded as the "Home of Golf". It has one of the oldest courses in the world, where the game has been played since the 15th century. Today there are seven public golf courses: the Balgove, Eden, Jubilee, Strathtyrum, New, and the Old Course all on the links, and The Castle Course, a mile to the east of the town. The famous Old Course is widely considered one of the finest courses in the world. The courses of St Andrews Links are owned by the local authorities and operated by St Andrews Links Trust, a charitable organization.
Crail is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews clubhouse sits adjacent to the first tee, although it is but one of many clubs that have playing privileges on the course, along with some other non-clubhouse owning golf clubs and the general public. Originally known as the "golfing grounds" of St Andrews, it was not until the New Course was opened in 1895 that it became known as the Old Course.
Thomas Mitchell Morris, otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died there as well. Young Tom Morris, also a golfer, was his son.
Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hinterland. The course is near the Prestwick airport, and some holes run along railway tracks on the eastern side of the course.
Lundin Links is a small village in the parish of Largo on the south coast of Fife in eastern central Scotland.
Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie Golf Links is one of the venues in the Open Championship rotation and has hosted golf's oldest major on eight occasions, as well as the Senior Open Championship in 2010 and 2016 and the Women's British Open in 2011 and 2021.
Kingsbarns is a village and parish in Scotland lies near the eastern coast of Fife, in an area known as the East Neuk, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southeast of St Andrews and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) north of Crail. The name derives from the area being the location of the barns used to store grain before being transported to the Palace at Falkland.
Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked villages of Elie to the east and to the west Earlsferry, which were formally merged in 1930 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929. To the north is the village of Kilconquhar and Kilconquhar Loch.
Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Aberdeen, Scotland, was founded in 1780 and claims to be the sixth oldest golf club in the world. It was founded as the Society of Golfers at Aberdeen, and became the Aberdeen Golf Club in 1815 subsequently receiving royal patronage in 1903.
Golf in Scotland was first recorded in the Scottish late Middle Ages, and the modern game of golf was first developed and established in the country. The game plays a key role in the national sporting consciousness.
Glasgow Golf Club, founded in May 1787, is the ninth oldest golf club in the world. It has changed location several times during its history, but has been based at Killermont in Bearsden since 21 May 1904. The club is unusual in also having a links course, at Gailes, near Irvine, on the Ayrshire coast, some 35 miles away.
The Golf House Club, Elie established in 1875, is a historic members golf club located in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Members have playing rights over Elie Links, a UK Top 100 Golf Course.
James Learmonth, Lord Balcomie (1600–1657) was a 17th-century Scottish judge and Senator of the College of Justice.
St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club, originally known as the St Andrews Ladies Golf Club when it was first established in 1867 for female golf players to use, now the club is also known as the Ladies’ Putting Club of St Andrews, or simply the Putting Club. The club is still a ladies only golf club based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is generally known to visitors as The Himalayas putting course, which is where the club's members and visitors play, and is thought to be the first minigolf course ever made. The Himalayas name comes about from the peaks and troughs on the course. It has both 9 and 18-hole courses, and is open to men, women and children visitors alike for a nominal fee. The club is the world’s oldest ladies’ golf club.
Conwy Golf Club in Conwy, Wales was officially opened as Caernarfonshire Golf Club in 1890. The links course on the Morfa Conwy peninsula was designed by Jack Morris. The championship course is 6,910 yards (6,320 m) long with a par of 72.
Crail Lifeboat Station was located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Crail, at Balcomie Links on Fife Ness, a headland at the most easterly point of the Fife peninsula.