The Royal Burgess Golfing Society, a club of wealthy Edinburgh merchants and professionals, is thought to have been founded as early as 1735 and played golf on Bruntsfield links in the city. However Edinburgh's congestion (some things never change) led them, in 1836, to travel to the outskirts and play at the longer course, with one more hole, of Musselburgh where golf had been played since 1672. Royal Musselburgh, playing the same links, was founded in 1774 and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers who, as the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith began the formalisation of golfing rules with their 'Articles and Laws in Playing at Golf' in 1744, also moved here in 1836. The earliest known strokeplay competition was played over Musselburgh by the Thorn Tree Golf Club in 1774 and the Open Championship was played here six times between 1874 and 1889.
Musselburgh was the home of Willie Park snr and Willie Park jnr, the famous clubmakers. Both men won the Open Championship. Willie jnr, born here in 1864, was one of the most successful clubmakers of his era with, by 1895, around sixty staff at his base in Musselburgh and retail branches in Edinburgh, London and Manchester. It was at this time he visited the US and Canada and this resulted in a New York shop operated by his brother, Mungo. In the early years of the twentieth century his interests moved from clubmaking to course architecture and, in this line of business, he opened offices in New York and Toronto. Park's legacy to Scottish courses is immense with his designs ranging from the 9-hole borders courses at Melrose, Jedburgh and Selkirk; northern courses at Forres and Grantown-on-Spey; capital courses at Baberton, Barnton and Murrayfield to work on great links courses such as Montrose, Carnoustie and Gullane. In all he designed over 100 British courses and around 70 in North America. Sir Guy Campbell hailed him as the doyen of course architects. Willie Park died in Edinburgh aged 61.
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