HISTORY

Timeline

Chronology 1400-1800

1457 Golf forbidden by Act of Scottish Parliament (James II).
1471 Ban repeated (James III).
1491 Ban repeated (James IV).
1502 James IV takes up golf and buys his first golf clubs.
1552 Archbishop John Hamilton given permission by the burgh to establish a rabbit warren on the links. The charter confirms the rights of townspeople to play golf over the links.
1583 Two St Andrews boys rebuked by Kirk Session for golfing on Sabbath.
1611 Archbishop Gladstanes grants a contract confirming Hamilton's charter.
1614 Gladstanes grants a charter confirming his contract.
1620 James VI grants a charter ratifying Gladstanes' contract and charter.
1726 William Gib granted permission to put rabbits on the links, with a proviso that the golfing area must not be damaged.
1754 Society of St Andrews Golfers founded.
1764 Standard round of golf established at 18 holes.
1769 Exchange of land between Laird of Strathtyrum and Town Council, with a condition that the golfing area is not to be ploughed up or enclosed.
1771 Fees of caddies fixed.
1797 St Andrews Town Council reported to be in financial difficulty. Robert Gourlay and John Gunn advance money to the Town Council on the security of the links. Gourlay and Gunn exercise their right to sell the links by disposing of part of the land to Thomas Erskine of Cambo.
1799 Links feu duties sold to Charles and Cathcart Dempster, who introduce rabbits on a commercial scale.

1801 George Cheape, Captain of the Society of St Andrews Golfers, complains that rabbits are destroying the links.
1805 Court of Session decided that inhabitants of St Andrews have the right to kill and destroy rabbits on the links, and the Rabbit Wars begin.
1817 Thistle Golf Club founded.
1821 James Cheape of Strathtyrum buys the links and brings the Rabbit Wars to an end.
1834 Society of St Andrews Golfers becomes Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
1842 Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair elected Provost of St Andrews.
1843 St Andrews Golf Club founded.
1848 George Cheape redeems the fee duty on the Links for £1,000. The gutty ball is invented in St Andrews by Robert Adams Paterson.
1850 Tom Morris's first son, Tom, dies aged four (April).
1851 Young Tom Morris born (20 April). Old Tom moves to Prestwick.
1852 St Andrews branch railway line opened.
1853 R&A and Union Club unite.
1854 R&A Clubhouse built.
1856 Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair appointed captain of R&A. Two holes cut on each green of Old Course.
1857 R&A spring meeting approves cutting of two holes on each green.
1859 Allan Robertson dies aged 44 (1 September).
1864 Tom Morris returns from Prestwick. Andrew Strath moves to Prestwick.
1865 Tom Morris takes over as Custodian of the Links.
1866 Tom Morris sets up his own club and ballmaking business.
1867 Ladies' Golf Club formed.
1868 Andrew Strath dies at Prestwick; Davie Strath turns professional. Rose Golf Club formed.
1869 A bunker disappears from the Old Course and is then reinstated and named Sutherland. Evening classes for caddies begin. Improvements at Links Road and approaches to Old Course. Eighteenth fairway returfed. Memorial to Allan Robertson erected in Cathedral burying ground.
1870 New green created west of Swilcan Burn, enabling the Old Course to be played on left- or right-hand circuits.
1872 R&A Clubhouse extended.
1873 Tom Kidd wins first ever Open over Old Course.
1875 Tommy Morris's wife dies in childbirth (11 September). Tommy Morris dies (25 December).
1876 Davie Strath leaves St Andrews to be Keeper of the Links at North Berwick. Davie Strath ties for Open at St Andrews but loses on a technicality. Tom Morris' wife, Agnes, dies (1 November).
1878 Memorial to Tommy Morris unveiled in Cathedral burying ground (24 September). Davie Strath dies on a health trip to Australia.
1880 The Links Road War.
1893 St Andrews Town Council sets up a committee to examine golfing facilities on the links. R&A appoints a committee to confer with James Cheape with a view to purchasing the links. Dr.Thomas Thornton advises Town Council to seek parliamentary authority to acquire the links. Town Council offer £4,500 for the links; R&A offer £5,000. James Cheape sells the links to R&A. Town Council petitions Parliament for power to acquire the links. George Bruce plans Bruce Embankment reclamation. Jack Morris, youngest son of Tom Morris, dies (22 February).
1894 St Andrews Links Bill goes before Scottish Select Committee. Town Council and R&A tell Select Committee that agreement has been reached between them.
1894 St Andrews Links Act receives the Royal Assent (20 July). James Cheape asks for compensation for loss of pre-emption rights. Andrew Greig appointed Starter at Old Course.
1895 New Course opened for play. Rusack's chimney built.
1896 James Cheape's pre-emption claims settled and feu disposition between Town Council and R&A formally signed. First rules for caddies approved by Town Council.
1897 Jubilee Course opened (22 June) - 12 holes.

Chronology 1900-2005

1902 New Golf Club founded.
1903 David Honeyman, Tom Morris's henchman, dies (7 June). Sheriff of Fife approves bye-laws for caddies. Tom Morris retires as Custodian of the Links.
1904 Andra' Kirkaldy prosecuted for caddying. Caddies' shelter erected behind 18th green of Old Course. Death of Robert Adams Paterson, inventor of the gutty ball.
1905 Jubilee Course extended to 18 holes. St Andrews Golf Club buys a
clubhouse.
1906 Tom Morris's third son, Jamie, dies.
1907 R&A build a shelter at first tee of New Course. Planting of whin bushes on sand dunes at Jubilee Course.
1908 Tom Morris dies after an accident in New Golf Club (24 May).
1912 Rumours that R&A might leave St Andrews. Proposals for a new Provisional Order the subject of a plebiscite.
1913 Links Act receives the Royal Assent (10 July). James Cheape leases land to Town Council for fourth (Eden) course. H.S. Colt commissioned to design Eden Course.
1914 Eden Course formally opened (4 July) with first match between a local team and a team of R&A members.
1915 Links gets its own water supply from Cairnsmill.
St Andrews Town Council begins formation of West Sands Road by controlled refuse dumping. Andrew Greig, Starter at Old Course, dies (29 April).
1919 Jimmy Alexander appointed Starter at Old Course.
1920 Eden Tournament inaugurated.
1923 Granny Clark's Wynd gets a tarmacadam face-lift.
1924 1924 Links Act receives the Royal Assent (29 May).
1931 Championship Committee proposes gate money as a means of regulating crowds.
1932 Links Act receives the Royal Assent (16 June).
1934 Andra' Kirkaldy dies (April).
1936 James Cheape sells part of Eden Course to Town Council.
1938 Proposals for adapting New Course to become a new Championship course. Willie Auchterlonie authorised to supervise reconstruction of Jubilee Course.
1941 Air Cadets Parkinson and Tulip play first legalised Sunday golf over
Eden Course.
1945 R&A admits difficulty in meeting its commitments to the courses.
Local plebiscite favours Sunday golf on Eden Course.
1946 Tribunal meets in Edinburgh (26 and 27 July) to consider Town
Council's petition to Parliament.
1946 Links Act receives the Royal Assent, abolishing the St Andrews citizens' right to free golf (19 December). Reconstructed Jubilee Course opened (1 June)
1949 Hull's bunker on 15th fairway of Old Course filled in. Lord Brabazon introduces the caddie cart to Old Course.
1953 Town Council and R&A discuss the club's financial difficulties.Agreement between council and R&A to set up a Joint Links Committee
for the control and management of all courses.
1958 Death of Jimmy Alexander, Starter at Old Course.
1972 The first nine hole course was opened - the Balgove, a simple layout for children.
1974 The St Andrews Links Trust was created by an Act of Parliament to continue running the Links as public golf courses open to everyone.
1985 The Alfred Dunhill Cup was held at St Andrews for the first time.
1993 A new 18 hole course, the Strathtyrum, was opened along with the completely redesigned nine hole course, the Balgove, and a Golf Practice Centre. With a total of five 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course, St Andrews Links became Europe's largest golf complex.
1995 St Andrews Links Clubhouse, the first clubhouse in St Andrews freely available to visitors was opened by Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher. The culmination of years of preparation and planning, the Links Clubhouse was the only non-membership clubhouse in St Andrews where visiting golfers, men and ladies, can change, shower, shop and enjoy a drink or a meal after their game.
2000 The Eden Clubhouse, the second clubhouse for the public is opened. It is next to the first tees of the Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgove Courses and includes changing rooms, lounge, bar, shop and a room for junior golfers.In June the biggest event in golfing history - the World Shotgun 2000 - is held with golfers around the world hitting a ball simultaneously in a global celebration of six centuries of golf and the new millennium. In July the Open Championship is held at St Andrews for the 26th time. Tiger Woods wins The Open on the Old Course with a record 19 under par total.
2001 Course wide irrigation system installed on the Links. St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association (SALJGA) formed. Coastal defences built on Eden Estuary. The Dunhill Links Championship played for the first time.
2002 The Links Trust adopts the Committed to Green environmental programme. In what will become an annual season-opener, the Old Course can be played in reverse, its original routing, for several days at the start of April.
2003 St Andrews Links receives an award from the British and International Greenkeepers Association for its good environmental practices.
2004 Planning permission is given for Course No 7, to be designed by David McLay Kidd. The Links Trust wins the Environmental Excellence Award. The R&A celebrate 250 years. The British Amateur Championship is played on the Jubilee and Old Courses.
2005 Work begins on Course No 7. The Open returns to St Andrews for the 27th time, when Tiger Woods wins to join Bob Martin, JH Taylor, James Braid and Jack Nicklaus as a two-time champion at the Home of Golf. Jack Nicklaus bids farewell to competitive golf at the Old Course.
2006 St Andrews Links Golf Academy opens in the extended Golf Practice Centre.
2007 The seventh course at St Andrews is named The Castle Course. Lorena Ochoa wins the Ricoh British Women's Open, the first professional event for ladies to be held on the Old Course.
2008 Opening of The Castle Course.