In 1744 a Silver Club was presented by the Edinburgh Town Council to the winner of a golf competition over the Links of Leith. A condition of receiving the club was for the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith to write the rules of golf. These rules are the first known written rules. The winner of this event was one John Rattray and thus he became Captain of The Golf and was permitted to attach a silver ball bearing his name to the Silver Club…the oldest known trophy in golf.
Eventually Leith Links became overcrowded and the club sought a different course to play. From about 1820 the now named Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers played over what is now known as Musselburgh Old, a 9-hole links within the Musselburgh Racecourse. As a town Musselburgh was front and centre for the evolution of the game and home to the famed Park family whose influence on the golf cannot be overstated. Six Opens would be contested over Musselburgh between 1874 and 1889. Due to congestion, 1891 would see the emergence of Muirfield as the home of the Honourable Company. Two years later the 32
nd (first 72 hole Open) Open was held at Muirfield and Musselburgh would become a course worthy of only fine print status so far as championship golf is concerned. Incidentally, the great amateur Harold Hilton won this Open by pipping John Ball and two popular Scots, Sandy Herd & Hugh Kirkaldy.
The old 4th...I don't know the year, but I don't expect it was much later than the turn of century. It looks as though the hole was blind.
H Roundtree painting circa 1910. The 4th & 14th greens
This photo may be just prior to Colt's work.
By 1922 the club purchased the land and an additional 50 acres. Harry Colt was called in to make amendments. By this time Muirfield had been tinkered with many, many times. Although Colt is often credited with creating the loop within a loop routing, he in fact tidied up the original Old Tom Morris routing which was close to a loop within a loop. That isn’t to say Colt didn’t perform major surgery, but perhaps Old Tom Morris deserves more credit than is often attributed. Tom Simpson, who was hitting his stride by the 1930s, did work to the course in the 1930s. It may seem surprising, but he drastically reduced the number of bunkers! Other than this, I believe the superb 13
th is the only hole which can be credited to Simpson. In any case, the work seems to have been completed in time for the 1935 Open at Muirfield. In preparation for the 2013 Open, the club did a land swap deal with Renaissance Club which enabled the 9
th to be lengthened and a further six holes were extended. Muirfield now measures 7209 yards for championship play.
Ensconced within three walls, Muirfield is a bit of an oddity in that it is a links on a hill above and well away from Gullane Bay. There are no vistas of dunes and for all the sand, Muirfield is a course built on subtle land. Renaissance Club is the immediate neighbour to the east. Gullane and Luffness New are to the southwest, cut off from Muirfield by the town of Gullane. Although not as hilly as the Gullane Hill courses, I consider Muirfield as part of the Gullane family. There are few tricky lies to be found due to the rumple free terrain and the turf is of a high standard. These are characteristics shared with the Gullane Hill courses and the bunkering is for the most part not overly dissimilar. Truth be told, my memory suggested the Muirfield pots were precision maintained. This is not what I found during my round, but that is a comment only meant to convey that the bunkers between the five courses are more similar than not. It is the placement of sand which is of more importance and Muirfield’s ~150 bunkers quite clearly are features which influence play. It is said Muirfield and Sandwich are courses whereby driving the ball is of great importance. It is one of the beauties of golf that two courses which look and play so differently could emphasize a similar aspect of the game. Unlike Sandwich, well struck assertive strokes are rarely treated indifferently by Muirfield.
The routing in place for the 1903 Amateur with the yardages and par as detailed by Harold Hilton. This is not radically different to Old Tom's design. A Mr Wauchope could well be responsible for the changes between the 1891 design and that below.
Muirfield 1928 plan after Colt worked on the course.
Players Cigarette Card Map of Muirfield...circa 1936.
More to follow.
Ciao