Scholars' Holes
david s-a
common rules in a joint process between the R&A Club of St Andrews and the
Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1860. They were largely the local
rules of St. Andrews, and Rule 13 in particular, interested me.
This reads:-
"...13. Neither trench, ditch or dyke made for the preservation of the links,
nor the Scholars' Holes or the Soldiers' Lines shall be accounted a hazard, but
the ball is to be taken out, teed and played with any iron club...".
This sounds like an early form of definition of a man-made obstacle from which
play is prohibited. I am aware that an army regiment was a permanent feature of
the linksland in many parts of Scotland so the term 'Soldiers Line's' is largely
self explanatory.......but 'Scholars' Holes', what is that??
This conjours up in my mind some kind of bunker or relaxation area where St
Andrews students went for a quick tinnie and an illicit fag!. Can anyone
enlighten us as to what the 'Scholars' Holes' really were/are.....and do they
exist to this day?
cheers
david
Pat Williams
<hai...@bigpond.com.com> writes
I am fairly sure that Johnty will chip in here with his knowledge of the
history of the game but a few points from me.
Just for the sake of accuracy, David, the original rules of golf were
drawn up, not by a joint process, but by the Company of Gentlemen
golfers who later became the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, and
in 1744. The Society was based in Leith and the proceedings are recorded
in a minute book of the time. In 1744 the Company played for the first
Silver Club and it was carried through the streets of Edinburgh
accompanied by a "Tuck of Drum" (a drummer marching out in front of an
official carrying the club both there and back) and taken to the course
where the competition was to be played. The first winner was a surgeon,
John Rattray. Interestingly (maybe) he was captured at the Battle of
Culloden, imprisoned in Scotland and in London but released in 1747
through his knowing the President of the council who just happened to be
another member of the "Gentlemen Golfers." The old boy network ruled
then too:-).
At a similar time the Society of St Andrews Golfers which later became
the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews was in existence and they
had no clubhouse but used to meet in Blue Bull Tavern on a regular basis
after they had played. In 1754 (ten years later than the Edinburgh
group) they decided to play a competition for a silver club. They had no
rules but as some members were also members of the Edinburgh group they
chose to use the same set of 13 rules for this their first medal
competition. The only change that they adopted was in Rule V "The water
rule" whilst the Edinburgh gang could tee the ball the St Andrews gentry
had to drop it! This was put down to the area at Leith being soft and
boggy ground and the links at St Andrews being dry and sandy.
Their first competition was an Open comp. "to all golfers in Great
Britain and Ireland". They advertised the event by publishing in the
Edinburgh papers a month before the event and were rewarded by the huge
entry of four golfers. The winner was a local merchant, William Landale.
All winners of the club had to have made and attach a silver ball to the
club for the year that he won.
At last, after much divergence, I come to your point about the "Scholars
Holes and Soldiers Lines". My answer is that I know little about them,
only speculation as you have yourself. I am sure that I spoke to Johnty
about this at one time and he is a much better authority to comment
about it.
However the rule that you mention (number XIII) is regarded almost
certainly a local rule from Leith yet the gents in their cups in the
Blue Bull adopted the same rule for their own course, despite not having
"Scholars Holes and Soldiers lines"! The whisky must have been flowing
freely that night.
Regards
--
Pat Williams
Thomas Prufer
<hai...@bigpond.com.com> wrote:
>This conjours up in my mind some kind of bunker or relaxation area where St
>Andrews students went for a quick tinnie and an illicit fag!. Can anyone
>enlighten us as to what the 'Scholars' Holes' really were/are.....and do they
>exist to this day?
My conjecture is that they are holes made by archeologists,
geologists, and other -ists, and botanizers digging up plants.
Thomas Prufer
david s-a
"Pat Williams" <Pate...@patricroft.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:djLo1PAk...@patricroft.demon.co.uk...
<snip>
> Just for the sake of accuracy, David, the original rules of golf were
> drawn up, not by a joint process, but by the Company of Gentlemen
> golfers who later became the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, and
> in 1744.
<snip>
You may well be right Pat....I am only loosely quoting from an Aussie tome 'The
History of Golf in Victoria' by Garry Mansfield, a renowned historian on matters
to do with golf, but who alas is no longer with us having passed away quite
recently. He is discussing the origins of golf in Melbourne and the particular
para. that caught my attention reads thus:-
".....Looking back it is surprising that golf was played at all in Melbourne in
the 1840's. Even in Scotland at the time, the game was enjoyed by a small
percentage of the population and there were no such things as universal rules,
let alone organised competition. It wasn't until the Royal and Ancient Club of
St Andrews consented to join with Prestwick and the Honorable Company of
Edinburgh Golfers in 1860 that a set of common rules was established and a
tournament was held to find 'the best player in the world'.
This set of 13 rules is well worth recording. They were largely the local rules
of St. Andrews, and when amendments were made in coming decades, it was always
St. Andrews to whom British golfers turned..........etc. etc...."
The 1860 date mentioned by Mansfield certainly seems a little late in the
piece....but I wonder whether this could have been the date the rules were
formulated as 'universal' rules. I note however that St. Andrews appears to have
held an 'Open' competition much earlier than that, albeit in accordance with
their own 'adopted' rules.
Strangely enough, I picked up the thread at the Leith Society discussion site on
this very subject only yesterday where I see the very same subject matter had
been discussed. I was surprised that discussion did not seem to be aware of the
'Soldier's Lines' origin. I mentioned in my posting that this was self
evident....but this is appearently not the case. For those that are not aware
'Soldier's Lines' are the area where troops are/were accommodated, the temporary
tents or permananent barracks buildings are arranged in 'lines' and are/were
referred to as the 'lines'......even I can remember this from waaaaay back last
century when 'I' was accomodated in the 'lines'!! I can well imagine that the
'soldiers' of the time would have taken a dim view to strangely clad 'gentlemen'
flailing away at featheries in amongst their tents!
cheers
david
johnty
were indeed Scholars' holes at St Andrews and they are accepted by most
historians as being practice holes of sorts.
But you are correct that in copying almost verbatim the Leith code, St
Andrews did not have any Soldiers' Lines but added the point anyway. Leith
was of course a garrison town as well as the port for Edinburgh, so areas
for soldiers to practice what they needed to would certainly have been over
the common open land.
David, visit www.ruleshistory.com where you can read more of this sort of
nonsense.
Malcolm L Wadsworth
david s-a <hai...@bigpond.com.com> wrote in message
news:0lkE7.1513$lh4....@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
Malcolm