A NEW ERA FOR THE HONOURABLE COMPANY OF EDINBURGH GOLFERS

This week, the AIG Women’s Open was played at Muirfield for the very first time and was hugely successful. Speaking in the TV commentary box on Saturday, Dame Laura Davies, who made her 42nd appearance in the championship, said that she hadn’t heard a single complaint from the players in the locker room. (Davies, coincidentally, had played at Muirfield in the 1984 Curtis Cup 38 years earlier as an amateur, just prior to turning professional the following year).

The fairways, greens and indeed, the welcome from the Members, were all immaculate. The Members at Muirfield, who are known as The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (HCEG), were proud to welcome the world’s best women golfers.

At the start of a new era for female professional golf and the AIG Women’s Open, Past Captain Robin Dow welcomed us to the clubhouse to look back and gain a flavour of the culture and traditions that have shaped the club since 1744.  

Robin, what’s your connection to the club?

Muirfield has played host to 16 Open Championships in the men’s game. As a past captain from 2013-2015, I was fortunate to present the Claret Jug to Phil Mickelson here in 2013 as well as the silver medal for the leading amateur to Matt Fitzpatrick and the silver salver to Henrik Stenson as the runner-up. I have been a member of Muirfield for more than 30 years and I am passionate about the history and heritage of our club.

What is the club’s connection to the origins of the game?

If I take you back 565 years, to 1547, the Scottish government banned golf and football because they wanted people to practise archery to defend the monarchy, because there were no guns or gunpowder at that time. The Act of Parliament is the earliest known written evidence for the game in Scotland. Fast forward to 1707, the Royal Company of Archers, who were based in Edinburgh, were the Royal bodyguard and looked after the kings and queens, decided that they would like to have an annual competition. They approached Edinburgh Council to ask if they would provide a prize for such a competition and they said, yes, they would provide a silver arrow. Many of the people who were archers were also golfers and they thought, how come the archers have a silver arrow and we don’t have anything? They asked Edinburgh Council for a trophy for a golf competition and after a bit of deliberation, the council gave them The Silver Club. This was engraved with Edinburgh Castle’s coat of arms and the date 1744 on it…