Thanks to research by Scottish Golf History (http://www.scottishgolfhistory.org/oldest-golf-courses/1812-elie-and-earlsferry/) it is now authenticated that when you golf on the links at Elie you are playing on one of the oldest courses in the world where golf was first played in 1589.
“Earlsferry and Elie are adjacent villages which merge into one. Though it is today referred to as the Elie course, the original course was more in Earlsferry than Elie. The first club formed was Earlsferry Golf Society which can be traced to 1787, although its existence was apparently forgotten by the time the Earlsferry and Elie Golf Club was formed in 1858.
There are reports of the game being played on ‘Earlsferry Mure’ from the 15th Century and a right to golf was included in the 1589 Burgh Charter, though the original document was lost in a fire. This is only 34 years after the similar rights mentioned in St Andrews charter and definitely suggests golf being played here as long as it has been anywhere in Scotland”.
For those who enjoy being a part of golfing history, a game on the links at Elie is a true trip into the past (Editor).
Reproduced with kind permission of Neil Laird.
Plan Your Golf Tour
Make Elie your base when planning your tour of great courses in and around Fife.
