British Golf Museum helps golfers, and the uninitiated alike, gain a deeper understanding of Scotland’s most cherished sport. From the earliest ball and stick games to the current trophies and outfits worn by champions, each of the zones is carefully curated.
British Golf Museum also houses the Learning Room, packed full of interactives and crafts making it perfect for families. It is a must-visit for those touring St Andrews before or after teeing off on the Old Course.
Origins of the Game
Located across from the Royal and Ancient clubhouse on West Sands this museum is golf’s one-stop shop. Its exhibits are packed with stories and fascinating facts about the development of this sport that traces its origins back to the 1600s. Its scope includes the men’s and women’s games, both amateur and professional, as well as equipment, clothing and art work.
British Golf Museum
It also documents the history of the Open Championship which was first held in 1872. The British Golf Museum underwent a major refurbishment in 2014 / 15 designed by Richard Murphy. This included a redesign of the entrance facade, re-modelling the ground floor shop and reception as well as relocating the first floor cafe to maximise views west over the Old Course.
TheBritish Golf Museum also features a Learning Room, offering a variety of bookable courses and activities for groups. There are also Family Trails and Sensory Bags available to help visitors explore the exhibitions with children. The Museum is also home to the world’s oldest complete set of golf clubs, a collection of over 400 years of paintings and drawings as well as trophies from the game’s most famous players.
Equipment & Design
Located just behind the Old Course and the Royal and Ancient Club building in St Andrews, this is golf’s most comprehensive museum. A visitor can easily spend an hour wandering around the exhibition areas examining all the clubs, clothing, balls and equipment that have been part of the game over 500 years.
The collection includes items from both amateur and professional players. The British Golf Museum curators carefully monitor environmental conditions such as temperature, relative humidity (RH) and light levels to ensure that the collections are preserved for future generations. For example, the first minute book from 1754, laying out the thirteen Articles and Laws which are still used today, is displayed under low LED light to prevent the ink from dissolving.
The British Golf Museum also features a gallery of hands on activities for youngsters. They can putt with featheries, test out their putting skills on a replica of Old Tom Morris’s famous putter and try out the equipment that tour professionals have to lug round a course today. Those with more artistic skills can try their hand at drawing on a large floor jigsaw that features the Swilcan Bridge and 18th hole.
Clothing & Accessories
Golf is not just about the club and the ball; it’s also about the attire worn by the players. The museum exhibits clothes, shoes and accessories from golf’s history to illustrate the etiquette of the sport.
In the 1840s, men’s sartorial style changed with the introduction of short boots and low slip-on shoes. Men also wore tailored coats such as tailcoats and frock coats, with matching trousers. They wore ties with the stickpin and a tasteful watch chain, and hats and caps in various styles.
St Andrews Taxis
The British Golf Museum is located in St Andrews, the “home of golf”, opposite the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse on the West Sands. The museum has recently undergone a redevelopment and rebranding exercise to become the R&A World Golf Museum. Blooloop spoke to Angela Howe, Museum and Heritage Director and Sarah Clarke, Managing Director of Visitor Experience Design consultancy Mather & Co, to learn more about the redevelopment project. They also tell us about the range of exclusive golf wear and gifts available at the Museum – featuring the Open Championship Claret Jug and Links Trust emblem.
The Game Today
A visit to the British Golf Museum is a must for golf lovers and will delight even those who think they already know everything there is to know about this remarkable game. The collection spans five centuries and includes equipment (clubs and balls, as well as manufacturing and clothing), prizes and medals, decorative art, film and photographs, archives, books and periodicals. The museum has one of the most comprehensive collections on display in the world and, since 1990, has become a Recognised Collection of National Significance.
St Andrews Taxi
The recent renovations, completed in 2013, have seen the addition of a cafe on the first floor. Our proposals for this development were unanimously approved despite the fact that they were originally rejected by the Fife Council’s North East Fife Planning Committee over concerns that the cafe would impact on a view of St Andrews’ world-famous West Sands beach and affect the landscape setting of the museum, which is listed. In addition to a new layout for the cafe space, our proposal also moved the museum entrance facade forward to give it greater presence and visibility.
Learning Room
Located across from the Old Course and the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse in St Andrews, this museum uses diverse displays to present the history of golfing. Its network of galleries explains the game’s history, from its medieval origins and development into a global sport through equipment and clothing, tournaments and famous players.
It’s not just about the artifacts though, there’s a range of interactive elements throughout the museum which makes for a fun visit with kids. There are touch screens and games to play, objects to handle and dress up, film footage and a quiz – plus a fun Pynes putting course where you can practice your putt with clubs and balls from different eras.
Tour Services St Andrews
During the planning process for the new museum, an opportunity presented itself to address the Museum’s absences in terms of the place of women’s experience within its collections and in the wider discourse of golfing heritage. The interviews undertaken through this AHRC Collaborative PhD project have helped to make a significant contribution to this, and we hope that the work will also benefit colleagues within the game’s governing body in their efforts to encourage more women to engage with golf.