The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews

2. What It Was Not

Three corrections, and they are the spine of the card.

It did not invent golf. Golf as a sport is far older than 1754 — played on the St Andrews links since roughly the fifteenth century — and its Scotland-versus-Low-Countries origin debate belongs to the companion Golf article rather than here. The R&A should never be credited with inventing the game.

It was not the first golf club. The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, founded as the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith in 1744, predates it by ten years and is generally regarded as the oldest club with documentary proof of its origin. St Andrews is commonly described as the third organised golf society. The two were closely associated: in 1773 the St Andrews golfers restricted their competition to their own members and those of the “Leith Society”.

It did not write golf’s first rules. The 13 rules of 1754 were essentially the Leith code — the “Articles & Laws in Playing at Golf”, drafted in 1744 and signed by Leith’s first winner John Rattray — adopted almost verbatim at St Andrews. The St Andrews version even retained references to features that existed only at Leith, which is about as clear a piece of evidence of borrowing as archival history offers.

3. The “Royal and Ancient” Name

In 1834 King William IV agreed to become the club’s patron, and the Society of St Andrews Golfers became The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The application was put forward by Major John Murray Belshes, himself Captain in 1835–36. A traditional anecdote, reported consistently across reputable golf-history sources including LINKS Magazine and a 1954 Sports Illustrated archival article, holds that the King, initially reluctant amid many similar requests, acquiesced once reminded that one of his own titles was Duke of St Andrews — he had been created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews in 1789. This was the second royal accolade for a golf club, following the Perth Golfing Society, later Royal Perth, in 1833.

There is a documented discrepancy in the secondary literature. Some sources claim the club first became “The Royal Society of St Andrews Golfers” in 1834 and adopted “Royal and Ancient” only in 1897. The weight of authoritative evidence — Encyclopaedia Britannica (“It adopted its present name in 1834 by permission of the reigning British monarch, William IV”), Scottish Golf History and LINKS Magazine — supports 1834. The 1897 claim appears to conflate the name change with the separate 1897 milestone when the club took control of the Rules of Golf, and should be treated as unreliable.

The “Ancient” portion of the name has no located primary-source justification at all. It is generally understood as evoking the antiquity of golf at St Andrews, but that is an interpretive and traditional characterisation rather than a documented rationale, and this card flags it as such. If the R&A or a primary archive ever publishes a documented explanation, this would move from traditional to documented.

Royal patronage has continued through successive monarchs. Queen Elizabeth II was patron for 70 years, having accepted following her 1952 accession; the R&A’s secretary Martin Slumbers said in May 2024 that “Her late Majesty’s 70-year patronage of the Club was an immense source of pride for its Members”. King Charles III accepted the patronage on 9 May 2024.

4. The Old Course — Who Owns It

The club has never owned the Old Course in the sense popularly assumed, and the ownership history is a small drama in its own right. James Cheape of Strathtyrum bought the links in 1821 to “save it for golf”. In 1893 his descendant sold them to the R&A, which outbid the Town Council. The Town Council then petitioned Parliament, and the St Andrews Links Act 1894 placed the links in public ownership. Following local-government reform, the St Andrews Links Order Confirmation Act 1974 created the St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the Old Course and the other public courses today.

So the Old Course is public common land. The R&A clubhouse, built in 1854, sits behind the first tee, and that single architectural fact does more to create a false impression of ownership than any written claim ever has. The club is one of several bodies with playing privileges, alongside residents, visitors and the general public.

5. Codifying the Rules

Set the borrowed 1754 code aside, and what remains is the institution’s real achievement. Before the late nineteenth century golf had no single code: St Andrews, Leith, Bruntsfield, Aberdeen, Blackheath and Perth all differed, including on such basic matters as procedure at water hazards and what to do about playing a wrong ball. A game whose rules changed at every course could not become an international sport.

The R&A’s September 1891 code was widely followed; it established its Rules of Golf Committee in 1897; and in 1899 it published the first consolidated national code, which the USGA adopted and published for American golfers in 1900. Since 1952 — following a 1951 joint conference in London and St Andrews attended by the USGA, the R&A, the Australian Golf Union and the Royal Canadian Golf Association — it has jointly administered a single code of the Rules of Golf with the USGA, the USGA governing the United States and Mexico and the R&A the rest of the world. Full uniformity of presentation came later: the first joint Decisions book in 1984, fully uniform editions by around 2000 to 2012.

That is worth stating plainly because it is a genuine and considerable institutional accomplishment, and it needs none of the myths. Equating “the R&A” with “the rules of golf worldwide”, however, overstates its remit and erases the USGA’s co-equal role.

6. The 2004 Split

Between 1897 and 2003 the club developed three functions: administering the Rules of Golf in conjunction with the USGA; running The Open and other key events; and developing the game in existing and emerging golfing nations. In 2004 these were devolved to a newly formed group of companies known as “The R&A” — formally the R&A Trust Company (No. 1) Limited — so that the private members’ club and the governing body became legally distinct. The group owns subsidiaries including R&A Rules Limited, R&A Championships Limited and R&A Group Services Limited, and through R&A Rules Ltd governs the sport outside the US and Mexico on behalf of golfers in some 140-plus countries.

The distinction matters for more than pedantry. The male-only membership policy applied to the club, not to the governing body; and “The R&A” as a governing body has existed only since 2004. Any account that treats the two as one entity gets both the governance history and the discrimination history wrong.

7. The Open, and Other Roles

The Open Championship was founded in 1860 at Prestwick, independently of the R&A, and won by Willie Park Sr. The R&A took over its management following an approach from the Associated Clubs in 1919; the Championship Committee was formed in 1920, when the R&A ran The Open in sole charge for the first time, at Royal Cinque Ports, Deal. It assumed management of the Amateur Championship the same year. Since 2004 The Open has been staged by The R&A group. On naming: the correct name is The Open, or The Open Championship — not “the British Open”.

Modern functions extend well beyond championships: equipment standards, jointly with the USGA under a shared statement of principles; the World Handicap System, launched in January 2020 after roughly eight years of joint development and replacing six regional systems; rules education and enforcement; and game-development and inclusion initiatives. In 2017 The R&A merged with the Ladies’ Golf Union, effective 1 January, and now stages the AIG Women’s Open along with women’s and girls’ championships.

8. Female Membership, 2014

The club admitted women for the first time in 2014, 260 years after its founding. On 18 September 2014 members voted to admit female members effective immediately; the bylaw change passed with 85.5 per cent approval — 1,581 voting yes and 268 no, per Golf Digest — with more than three-quarters of the club’s roughly 2,500 worldwide members participating in an unprecedented postal and proxy ballot, according to then-secretary Peter Dawson. On 10 February 2015 the club announced seven honorary female members: the Princess Royal, Dame Laura Davies, Renee Powell, Belle Robertson, Lally Segard, Annika Sörenstam and Louise Suggs. Claire Dowling was appointed the club’s first female captain, for 2026–27.

The comparative framing is part of the fact. Augusta National admitted its first women, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore, in 2012 — two years earlier — and the St Andrews change followed sustained public pressure, including from the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Muirfield, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, was later still: it voted to admit women only in 2017 and admitted its first twelve in 2019, after The R&A removed it from the Open rota.

The exclusivity itself is a well-documented social fact and is recorded here rather than omitted: a clubhouse that reportedly once bore a “No dogs or women” sign, and women admitted as golfers only during the 2007 Women’s British Open. An institutional history that leaves this out is not a history.

Timeline

1. 1744

   The Gentlemen Golfers of Leith are constituted

   The first documented golf club, and author of the first written code

2. 14 May 1754

   The Society of St Andrews Golfers is constituted

   22 subscribers buy a Silver Club to be played for annually

3. 1754

   The 13 rules are adopted

   Essentially the Leith code, taken almost verbatim — references to Leith features and all

4. 1773

   Competition restricted

   To St Andrews members and those of the “Leith Society”

5. 1821

   James Cheape of Strathtyrum buys the links

   To “save it for golf”

6. 1833

   Perth Golfing Society becomes Royal Perth

   The first royal accolade for a golf club

7. 1834

   William IV becomes patron

   The Society becomes The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews

8. 1854

   The clubhouse is built

   Behind the first tee — the source of a persistent ownership myth

9. 1860

   The Open Championship is founded at Prestwick

   Won by Willie Park Sr, independently of the R&A

10. 1893

    The links are sold to the R&A

    Outbidding the Town Council, which then petitioned Parliament

11. 1894

    St Andrews Links Act

    Places the links in public ownership

12. 1891 & 1897

    Rules authority consolidates

    The 1891 code is widely followed; the Rules of Golf Committee is formed in 1897

13. 1899

    First consolidated code published

    Adopted by the USGA and published for American golfers in 1900

14. 1919–20

    The R&A takes over The Open

    Championship Committee formed 1920; first sole-charge Open at Deal

15. 1952

    Joint code with the USGA

    Following a 1951 conference; two bodies, one set of Rules

16. 1974

    St Andrews Links Order Confirmation Act

    Creates the St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the Old Course today

17. 2004

    Governance is split off

    “The R&A” group of companies formed; the club reverts to a private members' club

18. 2012

    Augusta National admits its first women

    Two years before St Andrews — the comparison matters

19. 18 Sep 2014

    The club votes to admit women

    85.5% in favour; 1,581 to 268; effective immediately

20. 10 Feb 2015

    Seven honorary female members announced

    Including the Princess Royal, Laura Davies, Renee Powell and Annika Sörenstam

21. 2017 & 2019

    Muirfield votes, then admits, women

    After The R&A removed it from the Open rota

22. 9 May 2024

    King Charles III accepts the patronage

    Following Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years as patron

Did You Know?

• The 1754 St Andrews rules kept references to features that only existed at Leith — the clearest possible sign they were copied.
• The first Captain was a local merchant, William Landale, who won the competition rather than being appointed.
• Every Captain since 1754 has hung a silver ball from the Silver Club.
• William IV reportedly agreed to be patron once reminded that he was already Duke of St Andrews.
• Royal Perth got its royal title in 1833, a year before St Andrews.
• The R&A bought the links in 1893 — and Parliament took them into public ownership the following year.
• The Open was founded at Prestwick in 1860 and only came under R&A management in 1919–20.
• “The R&A” as a governing body is younger than the World Wide Web: it was created in 2004.
• The club admitted women in 2014, two years after Augusta National and three before Muirfield's vote.
• The World Handicap System, launched in January 2020, replaced six separate regional handicap systems.

Honest Caveats

• The “Ancient” rationale is undocumented and is presented here as traditional. No primary source explaining it has been located.
• The 1834-versus-1897 name-change discrepancy exists in secondary sources. The better-sourced position — Britannica, Scottish Golf History, LINKS — is 1834, with 1897 most likely a conflation with the Rules milestone.
• Membership figures are quoted variously as about 2,400 and about 2,500. Both appear in official and press materials and reflect rounding over time.
• “Home of Golf” is a promotional and traditional epithet, not a documented claim of priority.
• Golf’s own origins are not settled here. The Scotland-versus-Low-Countries debate belongs to the companion Golf article; this card is about an institution founded in 1754.
• Some widely circulating sources on this subject are AI-generated aggregators or low-authority blogs. Those were used only where corroborated by authoritative sources: R&A official materials, the St Andrews Links Trust, the USGA, Encyclopaedia Britannica, the BBC and established golf-history references.

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