Read the dates alongside the places
The timeline brings together written evidence, club foundations, course openings and championship landmarks. An early reference to golf establishes that the game was being discussed or played by that date; it does not identify the day golf was invented. A club’s foundation and the opening of its present course can also be different events. Follow the source beside an entry when that distinction matters to your visit.
Dates are shown at the precision supported by the source. An entry giving only a year should be read as a year, while a complete date identifies a particular recorded occasion. The final entries include announced future championships: they belong to the programme ahead, rather than a roll of completed results.
Choose a period that interests you, then use the championship and course histories to explore it in more detail. The existing Open history and Ryder Cup history provide two starting points, with different competitive traditions and different kinds of spectator occasion.
Golf through the years
A parliamentary ban
A Scottish Act banning golf provides the earliest known written Scottish reference to the game.
Royal equipment
Accounts record golf clubs bought for James IV at Perth.
The St Andrews charter
Archbishop Hamilton reserves townspeople’s rights to use the St Andrews links for games including golf.
Golf at Carnoustie
Parish records cited by Carnoustie Golf Links refer to the game being played there.
Golf in the legal record
A Kelso prosecution records a fatal golf-ball injury; the evidence did not establish who struck it.
Golf in print
David Wedderburn’s Latin textbook includes an early vocabulary of golf.
Mapping the game
A map of Aberdeen shows named golf holes.
A golfer’s notebook
Thomas Kincaid records observations about the swing, clubs, balls and handicapping in his diary.
Clubs from St Andrews
Alexander Monro’s letter accompanies golf equipment sent to Edinburgh.
The Goff
Thomas Mathison’s poem becomes the first printed book devoted wholly to golf.
Written rules
The Edinburgh golfers compile thirteen Articles and Laws for their competition at Leith Links.
The St Andrews society
The society that becomes The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews holds its first Silver Club challenge.
An eighteen-hole round
The St Andrews round is reduced from twenty-two holes to eighteen.
A laid-out course at Carnoustie
Carnoustie credits Robert Chambers with laying out an early course.
Robertson’s Carnoustie course
Allan Robertson creates a ten-hole course at Carnoustie.
The first Open
Willie Park Snr wins at Prestwick, beginning the championship’s recorded history.
Amateurs join the field
Old Tom Morris wins the first edition to admit amateurs as well as professionals.
Old Tom’s emphatic defence
Old Tom Morris retains the title at Prestwick by thirteen strokes.
Old Tom’s fourth title
Old Tom Morris takes his fourth and final Open at Prestwick.
Young Tom wins
Young Tom Morris wins the first of his four Open titles.
Royal Liverpool is founded
A meeting at Hoylake establishes the club and an original nine-hole course is laid out.
The Challenge Belt is secured
Young Tom Morris wins three successive championships and takes permanent possession of the original belt.
Four in succession
Young Tom Morris wins again after the championship’s unplayed year in 1871.
St Andrews enters the rota
Tom Kidd wins the first Open staged on the Old Course.
Carnoustie reaches eighteen holes
Old Tom Morris creates an eighteen-hole course at Carnoustie.
Musselburgh hosts
Mungo Park wins the first Open held at Musselburgh.
Anderson’s first
Jamie Anderson begins a run of three successive Open victories.
A new champion
Bob Ferguson starts his own three-year sequence of Open wins.
The Amateur at Hoylake
Royal Liverpool stages the first Amateur Championship.
Portrush is founded
The County Club is formed in May; it takes the Royal Portrush name in 1895.
Morris meets the next generation
Hugh Kirkaldy wins at St Andrews, before the championship moves to four rounds the following year.
Four rounds at Muirfield
Harold Hilton wins the first 72-hole Open, also the first at Muirfield.
The Women’s Amateur begins
Lady Margaret Scott wins the inaugural championship at Lytham & St Annes.
The Open reaches England
J.H. Taylor wins at Royal St George’s, the first English host.
Vardon’s first title
Harry Vardon wins at Muirfield after a play-off against J.H. Taylor.
Taylor wins at St Andrews
J.H. Taylor wins his third Open on the Old Course.
Herd at Hoylake
Sandy Herd takes the championship at Royal Liverpool.
A French champion
Arnaud Massy wins at Royal Liverpool.
Vardon’s sixth
Harry Vardon takes his record sixth Open at Prestwick.
The King’s and Queen’s courses
Gleneagles opens its original courses before the hotel is complete.
Golf after the war
George Duncan wins at Royal Cinque Ports as The Open resumes after the First World War.
A transatlantic precursor
Gleneagles hosts a match between British and American professionals, before the official Ryder Cup begins.
Hagen breaks through
Walter Hagen takes his first Open at Royal St George’s.
Troon joins the rota
Arthur Havers wins the first Open staged at Troon.
Gleneagles hotel opens
The hotel opens after the original golf courses, establishing a major Scottish golf resort.
Lytham’s first Open
Bobby Jones wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Jones on the Old Course
Bobby Jones wins his second Open, at St Andrews.
The Ryder Cup begins
Worcester Country Club hosts the first official Ryder Cup.
Jones at Hoylake
Bobby Jones wins at Royal Liverpool during his Grand Slam season.
Carnoustie’s first Open
Tommy Armour wins the first Open held at Carnoustie.
Prince’s hosts
Gene Sarazen wins the only Open yet staged at Prince’s.
The first Curtis Cup
Wentworth hosts the opening match between women amateurs from the United States and Great Britain and Ireland.
The championship resumes
Sam Snead wins at St Andrews after the Second World War interruption.
Across the Irish Sea
Max Faulkner wins at Royal Portrush, The Open’s first host outside Great Britain.
Hogan at Carnoustie
Ben Hogan wins The Open on his sole appearance in the championship.
Birkdale’s first
Peter Thomson wins the first Open staged at Royal Birkdale.
Palmer wins at Birkdale
Arnold Palmer wins his first Open at Royal Birkdale.
Nicklaus completes the set
Jack Nicklaus wins at Muirfield to complete a career Grand Slam.
The Women’s Open begins
The championship starts at Fulford, with amateur Jenny Lee Smith its first winner.
The Duel in the Sun
Tom Watson beats Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry.
Seve wins at Lytham
Seve Ballesteros wins his first major championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Europe joins the Ryder Cup
Continental European golfers become eligible for the team previously representing Great Britain and Ireland.
Seve at St Andrews
Seve Ballesteros wins his second Open after a closing birdie on the Old Course.
Faldo’s breakthrough
Nick Faldo wins his first Open at Muirfield.
Faldo on the Old Course
Nick Faldo wins his second Open at St Andrews.
Faldo’s third
Nick Faldo regains the title at Muirfield.
Evian Masters launches
The tournament that becomes the Evian Championship is first staged.
Lawrie at Carnoustie
Paul Lawrie wins the play-off at Carnoustie.
Woods completes the career Grand Slam
Tiger Woods wins on the Old Course.
A new women’s major
The Women’s British Open becomes a major championship.
Harrington wins the play-off
Padraig Harrington wins at Carnoustie.
Harrington retains the title
Padraig Harrington wins again, this time at Royal Birkdale.
Cink and Watson
Stewart Cink wins the Turnberry play-off against Tom Watson.
A Scottish Women’s Open champion
Catriona Matthew wins the Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Clarke wins at Sandwich
Darren Clarke wins his first Open at Royal St George’s.
Evian becomes a major
The Evian Championship replaces the Evian Masters and enters the women’s major calendar.
McIlroy at Hoylake
Rory McIlroy wins his first Open at Royal Liverpool.
A Ryder Cup at Gleneagles
The Perthshire resort stages the Ryder Cup.
Stenson and Mickelson
Henrik Stenson wins at Royal Troon after a final-round contest with Phil Mickelson.
Lowry at Portrush
Shane Lowry wins as The Open returns to Royal Portrush.
The Solheim Cup at Gleneagles
Women’s team golf takes centre stage at Gleneagles.
Schauffele at Troon
Xander Schauffele takes The Open at Royal Troon.
A centenary Ryder Cup season
Adare Manor is the announced venue for the Ryder Cup’s centenary year.
The Open returns to St Andrews
The R&A schedules the 155th Open for St Andrews, a century after Bobby Jones’s win there.
Useful reading for your visit
Visit today
- St Andrews Old Course visitor guide
- The Open 2027 at St Andrews
- Where to stay for The Open 2027 at St Andrews
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