This page was last updated on: Monday, 04 January 2010

History

On 1 January 1810 a golfing society was instituted in Montrose, Scotland, entitled "The Montrose Golf Club". History tells us it is the ninth oldest golf club in the world.

The name of the Club was altered to the "Montrose Royal Albert Golf Club" in 1845 when His Royal Highness, Prince Albert, became the Club’s Patron. The Club’s present Patron is His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, The Duke of York.

In 1864 another golf club was founded in Montrose called "The Montrose Victoria Golf Club", and in February 1986 The Montrose Royal Albert Golf Club and The Montrose Victoria Golf Club amalgamated to form the Royal Montrose Golf Club. Later that year in June the North Links Ladies Golf Club (originally founded in 1927) merged with the Royal Montrose Golf Club.

Before the Rules of Golf became controlled and administered by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the United States Golf Association, Rules were formulated at Montrose and at other early Scottish Golf Clubs and indeed form the basis for some of the present day Rules of Golf.

Over the years Montrose has produced many excellent golfers and one of the earliest was Charles (Chay) Burgess, Club keeper of The Montrose Royal Albert Golf Club from 1903 to 1908 who left these shores in 1909 and became professional at the Woodlands Golf Club in the Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts, USA.

At Woodlands Burgess became coach and mentor to Francis Ouimet, who became US Open Champion in 1913 at the age of nineteen. Chay Burgess also became the first ever coach of soccer at Harvard University !

In the late nineteenth century various Open Golf Tournaments were played at Montrose, one of the most notable being that of 3 October 1888. The names of the players and the results are recorded in the first Minute Book of the Club in neat precise handwriting.
 

The players included:-

The prize winners were as follows:-

The first Minute Book of the Club also contains hand written details of the card of the Montrose Golf Course in 1849 which was 17 holes long and measured some 6120 yards !

The present standard of 18 holes was introduced sometime later and no doubt caused a little consternation at Montrose !