Author: randa360

James Ogilvy Fairlie was Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1850. A member of the Ayrshire gentry, he was a fine golfer. He won the R&A gold medal, as well as gold medals at Prestwick and North Berwick. One of the founder members of Prestwick Golf Club, Fairlie is credited with persuading Tom Morris to move there from St Andrews in 1851 to lay out and maintain the original 12-hole course.

Fairlie was instrumental in establishing The Open in 1860. In early October of that year, he wrote to eleven clubs inviting them to nominate a maximum of three professional players to compete for the Challenge Belt. The first Open was played on Wednesday 17 October and attracted a field of eight competitors.

Henry Cotton (1907-1987) was Open Champion on three occasions – 1934, 1937 and 1948. In 1968 he was made an Honorary Member of the R&A. He was awarded the MBE for war-time charity work and he became the first golfer to receive a knighthood when he was given that honour in January 1988.

His painting was commissioned by Langley Park Golf Club, where Berrie was a member, and it was also where Cotton had worked as the professional early in his career. The portrait was presented to Cotton by Langley Park and he in turn gifted it to the R&A in 1971.

Aikman was a painter of landscapes, portraits and town scenes. He trained as an engraver, working for his father, before moving on to painting in oil and watercolour. He specialised in moorland, woodland, coastal and harbour scenes.

This painting shows a golfer, his ball in an awkward lie in Hell Bunker, as his young caddie looks on. The St Andrews skyline is visible on the horizon and the steam from a train can be seen on right side of the painting.

Hell Bunker was one of the bunkers created on the 5th hole, the Hole O’ Cross. It was the first green to have two holes cut on it and was so named because the outgoing and incoming players crossed on the course.

The earliest known map of the St Andrews links dates to 1821.  It shows the 18-hole layout, with the double green at the Hole o’ Cross.  The existence of this double green therefore predates 1821 and also predates the work Allan Robertson supervised over the winter of 1856-57 to create seven double greens. The holes are all named on the 1821 map, but none of the bunkers are present. A subsequent map of the course, dated 1836, shows the bunkers, including Hell Bunker.

Attributed to the 17th Dutch artist, Adam van Breen, this painting was donated to the R&A by one of its members, Robert Boothby MP, in 1949. It is the oldest painting in the R&A’s collection.

The scene takes place in Utrecht on the River Vecht. The Dom Church Tower can be seen in the background. The painting is filled with figures, some of them regally dressed. They engage in a range of activities; some are strolling, some stop to converse, while the two gentlemen on the left are playing a game of kolf. Kolf or Colf (both spellings were used in the Low Countries from the 16th to 18th centuries) was a long game played outside towards a target, usually a hole or a pole. It was often played on the ice of frozen rivers or canals during the winter months.