1.
St Andrews
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St Andrews is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland,10 miles southeast of Dundee and 30 miles northeast of Edinburgh. The town is home to the University of St Andrews, the third oldest university in the English-speaking world, according to some rankings, it is ranked as the third best university in the United Kingdom, behind Oxbridge. The University is an part of the burgh and during term time students make up approximately one third of the towns population. St Andrews has a population of 16,800, the town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle. There has been an important church in St Andrews since at least the 8th century, the settlement grew to the west of St Andrews cathedral with the southern side of the Scores to the north and the Kinness burn to the south. The burgh soon became the capital of Scotland, a position which was held until the Scottish Reformation. The famous cathedral, the largest in Scotland, now lies in ruins, St Andrews is also known worldwide as the home of golf. Visitors travel to St Andrews in great numbers for several courses ranked amongst the finest in the world, as well as for the sandy beaches. The Martyrs Memorial, erected to the honour of Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, the civil parish has a population of 18,421. The earliest recorded name the area is Muckross, after the founding of a religious settlement in Muckross in around 370 AD, the name changed to Cennrígmonaid. This is Old Gaelic and composed of the elements cenn, ríg and this became Cell Rígmonaid and was anglicised Kilrymont. The modern Gaelic spelling is Cill Rìmhinn, the name St Andrews derives from the towns claim to be the resting place of bones of the apostle Andrew. According to legend, St Regulus brought the relics to Kilrymont and this is the origin of a third name for the town Kilrule. The first inhabitants who settled on the fringes of the rivers Tay. This was followed by the people who settled around the modern town around 4,500 BC as farmers clearing the area of woodland. In AD877, king Causantín mac Cináeda built a new church for the Culdees at St Andrews and later the same year was captured and executed after defending against Viking raiders. In AD906, the became the seat of the bishop of Alba. In 940 Constantine III abdicated and took the position of abbot of the monastery of St Andrews, the establishment of the present town began around 1140 by Bishop Robert on an L-shaped vill, possibly on the site of the ruined St Andrews Castle
2.
Fife
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Fife is a council area and historic county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with boundaries to Perth and Kinross. By custom it is held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib. It is an area, and was a county of Scotland until 1975. It was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire in old documents, a person from Fife is known as a Fifer. Fife was a government region divided into three districts, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and North-East Fife. Since 1996 the functions of the councils have been exercised by the unitary Fife Council. Fife is Scotlands third largest local authority area by population and it has a resident population of just under 367,000, over a third of whom live in the three principal towns of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. The historic town of St Andrews is located on the northeast coast of Fife and it is well known for the University of St Andrews, one of the most ancient universities in the world and is renowned as the home of golf. Fife, bounded to the north by the Firth of Tay, the earliest known reference to the common epithet The Kingdom of Fife dates from only 1678, in a proposition that the term derives from the quasi-regal privileges of the Earl of Fife. The notion of a kingdom may derive from a misintrepretation of an extract from Wyntoun, the name is recorded as Fib in A. D.1150 and Fif in 1165. It was often associated with Fothriff, the hill-fort of Clatchard Craig, near Newburgh, was occupied as an important Pictish stronghold between the sixth and eighth centuries AD. Fife was an important royal and political centre from the reign of King Malcolm III onwards, Malcolm had his principal home in Dunfermline and his wife Margaret was the main benefactor of Dunfermline Abbey. The Abbey replaced Iona as the resting place of Scotlands royal elite. The Earl of Fife was until the 15th century considered the principal peer of the Scottish realm, wool, linen, coal and salt were all traded. Salt pans heated by local coal were a feature of the Fife coast in the past, the distinctive red clay pan tiles seen on many old buildings in Fife arrived as ballast on trading boats and replaced the previously thatched roofs. This endeavour lasted until 1609 when the colonists, having been opposed by the population, were bought out by Kenneth Mackenzie. Fife became a centre of industry in the 19th century
3.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
4.
United States Golf Association
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The United States Golf Association is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U. S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules of golf, the USGA also provides a national handicap system for golfers, conducts 13 national championships, including the U. S. Open, U. S. Womens Open and U. S. Senior Open, and tests golf equipment for conformity with regulations, in addition, the USGA is a leader in turfgrass research through its Green Section and it provides hundreds of grants to grass-roots programs through its Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The USGA Foundation has provided more than $60 million in grants to programs for underprivileged youth and it is the largest contributor to The First Tee program. The USGA is currently led by Executive Director Mike Davis, and President Thomas J. OToole Jr. and is headquartered at Golf House in Far Hills, the Bob Jones Award is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. The inaugural award was given in 1955, the USGA was originally formed in 1894 to resolve the question of a national amateur championship. Earlier that year, the Newport Country Club and Saint Andrews Golf Club, Yonkers, New York and that autumn, delegates from Newport, St. On December 22,1894, the Amateur Golf Association of the United States was officially formed, theodore Havemeyer was the first president, and the U. S. Amateur trophy is named in his honor. The first U. S. Amateur was held in 1895 at the Newport Country Club, the first U. S. Open was held the following day, almost as an afterthought. It was not until 1898 that the two events were held at separate clubs, today, the USGA administers 13 separate national championships, ten of which are expressly for amateurs. The USGA gradually expanded its membership from the five clubs. There were 267 club members in 1910, and 1,138 clubs by 1932, membership fell off during the Great Depression and World War II, but recovered by 1947. By 1980 there were over 5,000 clubs, and today membership exceeds 9,700. On September 17,1956, Ann Gregory began competing in the U. S. Womens Amateur Championship, the USGA organizes or co-organizes the following competitions, An open golf championship is one which both professionals and amateurs may enter. In practice, such events are won by professionals nowadays. The two leading opens in the U. S. are, U. S. Open – no age or gender restrictions, established in 1895, it is the second-oldest of the four major championships. U. S. Womens Open – females, no age restrictions, established in 1946 and administered by the USGA since 1953, it is the oldest of the five womens majors. The last win by an amateur at the U. S. Open was 84 years ago in 1933, the USGA also conducts the U. S
5.
Golf
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Golf is a club and ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not utilize a standardized playing area, the game is played on a course with an arranged progression of 18 holes. Each hole on the course must contain a tee box to start from, there are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the fairway, rough, sand traps, and hazards but each hole on a course is unique in its specific layout and arrangement. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels, while the modern game of golf originated in 15th-century Scotland, the games ancient origins are unclear and much debated. Some historians trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, one theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game. Others cite chuiwan as the progenitor, a Chinese game played between the eighth and 14th centuries, the game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages. Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England, the Persian game chaugán is another possible ancient origin. In addition, kolven was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year earlier. The modern game originated in Scotland, where the first written record of golf is James IIs banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery. James IV lifted the ban in 1502 when he became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first recorded in 1503-1504, to many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, a links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. In 1764, the standard 18-hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes. Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records. The oldest surviving rules of golf were compiled in March 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York. The levels of grass are varied to increase difficulty, or to allow for putting in the case of the green, while many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the teeing area to the green, some holes may bend either to the left or to the right. This is commonly called a dogleg, in reference to a dogs knee, the hole is called a dogleg left if the hole angles leftwards and dogleg right if it bends right. Sometimes, a holes direction may bend twice, this is called a double dogleg, a regular golf course consists of 18 holes, but nine-hole courses are common and can be played twice through for a full round of 18 holes. Early Scottish golf courses were laid out on links land. This gave rise to the golf links, particularly applied to seaside courses
6.
Golf in Scotland
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Golf in Scotland was first recorded in the 15th century, 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, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, known as the R&A, is the world governing body for the game. The Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association was founded in 1904 and the Scottish Golf Union in 1920 and they merged in 2015 into a new organization, Scottish Golf. To many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, an ancient links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage, There are many other famous golf courses in Scotland, including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Muirfield, Balcomie and Royal Troon. The worlds first Open Championship was held at Prestwick in 1860, for example, the Old Course at St Andrews is a charitable trust and Musselburgh Links is public courses. Council-owned courses, with low fees and easy access, are throughout the country wherever demography and geography allow. Therefore, golf courses, whether public or private, are far more common in the Lowlands than in the Highlands and Islands, where shinty is often the traditional sport. One page that explains the history of golf in Scotland starts off by stating that, There has been debate as to the origins of the game and, in some cases. One thing is certain — the game of golf as we know it was born in Scotland, the highest concentrations are around Glasgow and Edinburgh, since these two cities and their environs account for the bulk of the population. But the other districts still average about 40 courses each, even the distant northern islands have 14 options. Such largesse is possible because Scotland boasts more courses per head of population than any other country, the word golf was first recorded in the 15th century, appearing twice in an Act of the Scots Parliament of 6 March 1457, in the reign of James II. The Act, which ordered the holding of four times a year for the purpose of archery practice, stated that the fut bal ande the golf were to be vtterly criyt done. Offenders were to be punished by the courts, otherwise they were to be tane be the kingis officiaris. Football and golf are again both explicitly named and forbidden in two further 15th century Scottish statutes encouraging archery practice, in 1470 and 1491, Links, first recorded in 1453 - Et de xxx s. Putt, first recorded in 1743 - Let each social soul Drink to the putter, the balls, the most widely accepted theory is that the modern game of golf originated in Scotland in the High Middle Ages. The first golf courses and clubs were established in the country, the first written rules originated in Scotland, as did the establishment of the 18 hole course. The first tournament structures developed and competitions were held between various burghs, the modern game was spread by Scots to the rest of the world. The earliest reference to golf is the purchase of a set of clubs by James IV from a bowmaker of St Johnston in 1502
7.
Country club
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A country club is a privately owned club, often with a closed membership, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offerings are golf, tennis, and swimming, a country club is most commonly located in city outskirts or suburbs, and is distinguished from an urban athletic club by having substantial grounds for outdoor activities. Country clubs originated in Scotland and first appeared in the US in the early 1880s, Country clubs had a profound effect on expanding suburbanization and are considered to be the precursor to gated community development. Country clubs can be exclusive organizations, in small towns, membership in the country club is often not as exclusive or expensive as in larger cities where there is competition for a limited number of memberships. In addition to the fees, some clubs have additional requirements to join, for example, membership can be limited to those who reside in a particular housing community. Country clubs were founded by upper-class elites between 1880 and 1930, by 1907, country clubs were claimed to be “the very essence of American upper-class. ”The number of country clubs increased exponentially with industrialization, the rise in incomes, and suburbanization in the 1920s. During the 1920s, country clubs acted as community social centers, however, the number of country clubs decreased drastically during the Great Depression for lack of membership funding. Historically, many country clubs refused to admit members of minority groups as well those of specific faiths, such as Jews. This was known as being “restricted”, discrimination was not limited to clubs founded by Protestants. Beginning in the 1960s civil rights lawsuits forced clubs to drop exclusionary policies, the Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest country club in the United States. Country Club Of Salisbury is also one of the oldest country clubs in the U. S, Country clubs exist in multiple forms, including athletic-based clubs and golf clubs. Examples are the Breakfast Point Country Club in Sydney, the Castle Hill Country Club, the Gold Coast Polo & Country Club, Elanora Country Club, in Japan, almost all golf clubs are called Country Clubs by their owners. Private ski area Gentlemens club, a social club Gymkhana
8.
St Andrews Links
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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 played since the 15th century. The courses of St Andrews Links are owned by the authorities and operated by St Andrews Links Trust. St Andrews is also home to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, one of the most prestigious golf clubs, in general, St Andrews is a popular hub for golf tourism, as there is a high density of links and heathland courses in the area. In addition to the public there are two courses at the privately owned Fairmont Hotel to the south of the town, the Dukes and Drumoig. A few miles further South are the links of Kingsbarns. Also nearby are the courses at Elie, Lundin, Leven, Scotscraig, within 45 minutes drive are Monifieth, Downfield, Carnoustie and Panmure. Control of St Andrews Links was regulated by an act of Parliament in 1894, the Balgove Course, named after the farm on which it was built, is a 1,520 yard, par 30, nine-hole course. It was originally opened in 1972 and remodeled in 1993, the Castle Course opened in June 2008, becoming the seventh public course at St Andrews. The course is set on a top with spectacular views over St Andrews. The course is a par 71 and measures 6,759 yards from the back tees, the Eden Course opened in 1914 after demand on the existing courses grew. It was designed by Harry Colt, and alterations in 1989 by Donald Steel maintain Colts standards and it was named after the Eden estuary by which it resides, as the profits from mussels collected there once made up an important part of the St Andrews economy. The Jubilee Course is the championship golf course at the Home of Golf. It was named after Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee celebration in 1897, originally intended for Victorian dressed ladies, and other golf beginners, it has evolved into one of the hardest courses at St Andrews Links. The course is used to test junior and amateur golfers for the British Mid-Amateur Golf Championship. Initially a 12-hole course, it was expanded to 18 holes in 1905, the course has seen considerable developments under the management of Willie Auchterlonie, Donald Steel, David Wilson and Graeme Taylor. It now plays at around 6,745 yards, and is host to the St Andrews Links Trophy, the Jubilee is one of several courses in Scotland that are under threat from erosion. The Strathtyrum Course, opened in July 1993, became the first new 18 hole layout at St Andrews in nearly 80 years and it was built on land that was previously part of the Strathtyrum estate and sold to the St Andrews Links Trust by Mrs Gladys Cheape in 1986
9.
William IV of the United Kingdom
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William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death. The third son of George III and younger brother and successor to George IV, he was the last king, William served in the Royal Navy in his youth and was, both during his reign and afterwards, nicknamed the Sailor King. He served in North America and the Caribbean, in 1789, he was created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. Since his two brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. Although William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, through his brother, the Viceroy of Hanover, he granted his German kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution. William was succeeded in the United Kingdom by his niece, Victoria, William was born in the early hours of the morning on 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, the third child and son of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He had two brothers, George and Frederick, and was not expected to inherit the Crown. He was baptised in the Great Council Chamber of St Jamess Palace on 20 September 1765 and his godparents were his paternal uncles, the Duke of Gloucester and Prince Henry, and his paternal aunt, Princess Augusta, then hereditary duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He spent most of his life in Richmond and at Kew Palace. At the age of thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman and his experiences in the navy seem to have been little different from those of other midshipmen, though in contrast to other sailors he was accompanied on board ships by a tutor. He did his share of the cooking and got arrested with his shipmates after a brawl in Gibraltar. He served in New York during the American War of Independence, I am fully persuaded, that it is unnecessary to caution you against offering insult or indignity to the persons of the Prince or Admiral. The plot did not come to fruition, the British heard of it and assigned guards to William and he became a lieutenant in 1785 and captain of HMS Pegasus the following year. The two were friends, and dined together almost nightly. At Nelsons wedding, William insisted on giving the bride away and he was given command of the frigate HMS Andromeda in 1788, and was promoted to rear-admiral in command of HMS Valiant the following year. William sought to be made a duke like his brothers, and to receive a similar parliamentary grant. To put pressure on him, William threatened to stand for the House of Commons for the constituency of Totnes in Devon, Williams political record was inconsistent and, like many politicians of the time, cannot be certainly ascribed to a single party. William ceased his active service in the Royal Navy in 1790, the following year he spoke in favour of the war, expecting a command after his change of heart, none came
