Some history of golf in Central Scotland
The diversity of the Perthshire countryside was not lost on some of Scotland's
most famous golf architects.
James Braid, five times British Open Champion, was involved in the creation of
many of Perthshire's golf courses.
Gleneagles Kings
and Queens courses,
Crieff Ferntower,
Taymouth Castle, Alyth and
Blairgowrie Rosemount
are all Braid designs.
In all these courses Braid matched aesthetics with challenge. His designs
are just as much a challenge to today's players as they were to earlier
enthusiasts of the game.
Golf in Perthshire did not really begin to take off until the Victorian
interest in the game. Many Perthshire courses are now either coming up to, or
have recently celebrated, their centenary, which makes them still relatively
young in Scottish golfing terms.
However the Royal Perth Golfing Society does hold the oldest royal charter in
Britain, granted by William IV in 1833, a year before the R&A's.
Records also show that golf was played in the North Insch of Perthshire in 1599
and quite probably long before that.