Golf Events & Exhibitions

David Joy is a golf historian, author, artist, actor and also a superb raconteur. On our opening night of the Festival, we are honoured to have David give a talk about Old Tom Morris and golfers of Old Tom's era.  

For more information on David's work, please go to www.golfhistorian.co.uk

Mungo Park is the great grandson of Willie Park Senior, who won the very first Open Championship in 1860. We are truly honoured to have Mungo give us a talk on his family history and to bring the dynamic relationship between Old Tom and Willie Park Snr to life. He will also reflect on the other Open Championship winners in his family both Willie Park Jnr and his namesake, Mungo Park.

Mungo is an architect and specialises in golf clubhouse design.  For information on this please visit: www.mungo-park.co.uk

One of the most exciting players every to strike a golf ball, Seve Ballesteros was one of the influential figures in European golf from the mid 1970's to the early 1990's.

Born in Pedreña, Spain on the 9th of April 1957, Seve played with panache and a passion that was a delight to witness. Learning golf from the age of 8 with an old 3 iron on the local beaches, Seve went on to win 5 majors including the Open in St Andrews. His reaction on holding his birdie putt to win on the 18th of the Old Course is one of the most viewed clips in golf.

One of the greatest impacts that Seve had was on the Ryder Cup both as a player and Captain. His competitiveness was inspirational. He scored 22½ points in 37 matches against the United States. His partnership with fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal was the most successful in the history of the competition with 11 wins and two halved matches out of 15 pairs matches.

Seve was the No 1 golfer in the world for many years and inspired a generation of young golfers. At his best, Seve made the game look like an art form.

Image credit: www.joeausten.com

We are delighted to have David give a talk at the Festival. David is not only one of the finest and funniest golf writers, he is also a speech writer for some of the biggest names in golf including part Ryder Cup captains.

The book ' The Greatest Game' is a lovely satirical take on the noble game of golf. Their talk will be set to the back drop of the cartoon artwork of Hugh Dodd.

This will be a nice Sunday afternoon treat for golfers and non-golfers alike.

Jo McCusker produced and directed the emotive BBC documentary on Seve. 

We will be showing the film on the large screen at the Scores Hotel, beside the Seve exhibition. This will be a unique setting to watch one of the greatest stars in golf from the highest moment in his career winning in St Andrews in 1984 through to his battle against his illness.

A unique afternoon for Seve fans.

Bobby Jones was one of the most elegant and dynamic golfers in history. Born on 17th March 1902 in Atlanta, Georgia, Jones remained an amateur and never turned professional. Despite this status he still managed to beat the greatest professional players of his era including Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen.

In 1930 Jones completed the Grand Slam, winning all four majors of his era (the Open and amateur championships in both the U.S. & the U.K.) However, shortly afterwards, at the peak of his game, he retired to concentrate on his 'paid work' which was as a lawyer. Between 1923 and 1930 Jones had won 13 majors in 20 attempts.

Jones remained strongly connected to golf throughout his life with his own brand of golf equipment and numerous instruction films and books. He co-designed Augusta National and in 1934 co-founded The Masters, golf's fourth major. Jones was a gentleman of extraordinary talent and exemplary sportsmanship. 

Image credit: www.joeausten.com

Lewine Mair was the first woman to serve as the Daily Telegraph's Golf correspondent – and the first to have been given a specialist position on the sports pages of a national paper.

She is the author of several superb books, including 100 Years of Women’s Golf, Carefree Golf, Woman Golfer, the story of Scotland’s Belle Robertson, and The Real Monty, Colin Montgomerie’s biography.

We are delighted to have Lewine as one of our key speakers.

David Hamilton is a prolific golf author with many titles including the Scottish Golf Guide. He is a golf historian and will be talking about the genesis of the game through the artisan players.

This topic is often over looked in the history of golf and it promises to be an entertaining evening indeed.

Ivan Morris is the author of 'Golf As A Way of Life’ and many other golf books. Respected as one of the best golf journalists, Ivan has many, many stories to tell.

Ivan has been a single-digit, category one golfer for over fifty years. Voted Golf Nut of the Year by the Golf Nut Society of America in 2002 (the first non-American to receive the dubious accolade), on the strength of his first book - Only Golf Spoken Here (2001), Ivan is also the author of The Life of O’Reilly (2002) and The Doonbeg Ghosts (2006). Morris also co-authored Larry Lambrecht’s magnificent photographic coffee table book on Irish seaside golf, Emerald Gems (2003) and has been a contibuting editor to Golf Digest Ireland since 2003 as well as having articles published in Great Britain, the USA, Denmark and Sweden.

As the final talk of the Festival, we are delighted to be finishing on a hugely entertaining note and with a Morris too!

For legal reasons, we should make it clear that Ivan is not related to Old Tom.

Kyle Phillips is one of the most respected golf course architects in the world. His designs, including The Grove in Hertfordshire, have won countless awards and plaudits.

His work at Kingsbarns is simply breathtaking. The course is consistently rated in Top 20 courses in the world.

We are very fortunate to have Kyle come to the Festival to talk about how he came to create one of the finest courses in the world.

www.kylephillips.com

Born in St Andrews in 1821, Old Tom grew up in a town that was already historic. Golf has been played since the 1400's. In fact it was so popular in 1457, that the reigning monarch, King James II, persuaded the Scottish Parliament to ban it! In St Andrews, children played a form of golf up and down the narrow streets of St Andrews with sticks and old corks. However Old Tom's era solidified the town as the Home of Golf.

Old Tom served as a caddy from a very young age and started working as an apprentice at the age of 14 with golf equipment maker Allan Robertson, who already had a reputation as the town's best player, if not the world. From the 1840's Robertson chose Old Tom as his golf partner and legend suggests that they were never beaten.

Tom went on to win the Open four times and still holds the record for oldest winner at 46. His record win of a major by the largest margin of 13 strokes held until it was beaten by Tiger Woods in 2000.

Old Tom was a prolific course designer including Carnoustie (with Robertson), Muirfield and Lahinch. He introduced top dressing to greens and the reason we play 18 holes now is thanks to him reducing St Andrews from 22 (?) holes to 18.

Very few people have left such a legacy as Old Tom and the reason we have the game we love today is largely thanks to his love of golf.

Image credit: www.joeausten.com

Harold Riley is one of the most sought after golf artists. His work has been exhibited all over the world.

Harold Riley is one of the most sought after golf artists. His work has been exhibited all over the world.

He has painted some of the greatest golfers in the world including Jack Nicklaus.

His portrait work is outstanding and he has also painted many prominent people from the Kennedys and various popes through to royalty to Nelson Mandela.

Since turning professional at the beginning of 1997, Richard has been painting some of the most prestigious and famous courses in the world as well as private commissions. A journey which has taken him from Pebble Beach to Augusta. His evocative and detailed images of the great courses in Scotland, Ireland the United States and Europe have won him acclaim and admiration. His modesty, charm and warm personality have endeared him to those who know him and his talent speaks for itself.

Since turning professional at the beginning of 1997, Richard has been painting some of the most prestigious and famous courses in the world as well as private commissions. A journey which has taken him from Pebble Beach to Augusta. His evocative and detailed images of the great courses in Scotland, Ireland the United States and Europe have won him acclaim and admiration. His modesty, charm and warm personality have endeared him to those who know him and his talent speaks for itself.

Some of his most notable achievements are as follows:

Winner of the inaugural ‘Art of Golf Festival’ held in Pinehurst – sponsored by Golf Digest. Founding member of the ‘Academy of Golf Art.’ Official artist for the Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament.

Official artist for the Ryder Cup held at Oakland Hills Golf and Country Club.

Dr Steven Reid is a former captain of Royal Lytham Golf Club and is an expert and author on the life of Bobby Jones.

Dr Reid will be giving us an insight to the life of Jones and how he inspired millions but ultimately paid a high price for his success . 

One of the most knowledgeable and reputable golf historians has kindly agreed to give a guided walk around the top golf spots in St Andrews.

This is a very rare treat and not to be missed.

We are very fortunate to have a 5th generation St Andrean giving guided walks around St Andrews. Mr Jimmy Bone also plays Old Tom's caddy in the Old Tom Morris theatre production.

Jimmy will be provide a unique walking tour around St Andrews that takes in the historic golfing locations including the 18th green of the Old course, Old Tom Morris’ home and newly refurbished shop and the town cathedral cemetery that has a number of Open champions including Young Tom and Willie Aucterlonie.

This walk is a must for every golf historian enthusiast. With St Andrews as the historic back drop, some of golf’s most influential moments will suddenly be right in front of you.

Golf in St Andrews Golf has been played on the Links at St Andrews since around 1400 and the Old Course is renowned throughout the world as the Home of Golf. The course that Old Tom played however is very different to the manicured links we have today. Old Tom would be have been playing through tighter fairways and lies that most modern players would deem unplayable. They even played in the snow. The Old Course undoubtedly has a magical aura and the backdrop to the first tee where many of the greats have stood, has remained largely unchanged in 150 years. If you see the pictures of Bobby Jones receiving his Open Championship trophy, you will notice very little in the town has changed. The ability to step back into history is just one of the charms of the town.

In 1754 the Society of St Andrews Golfers was formed. This was a local golf club playing at the St Andrews Links. In 1834, King William IV became its patron and the club became known under its present name, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. In 1897, the Society set out the rules of golf and over the next 30 years was invited to take control of the running of golf tournaments at other courses. The R&A is the ruling authority of golf everywhere (mainly the British Isles) except the United States and Mexico, where this responsibility rests with the United States Golf Association (USGA). Their presence in St Andrews adds to the allure of the town. In addition to working on the development and sustainability of the game, the R&A most recent success was in their work to make golf an Olympic sport.

St Andrews now has seven courses that are all open and accessible for all golfers. Old Tom's design for the New Course is a local's favourite. The greens are hailed by many to be the best in Scotland.

St Andrews has more Open and major champions than any other place in the world including Old Tom, Young Tom, Tom Kidd, Willie Auchterlonie, Bob Martin, Jamie Anderson, Willie Fernie, Hugh Kirkaldy and Andrew Strath.

The town is rich with stories of great rivalries, closely fought matches and massive galleries who would follow the players side by side, even on to the greens. It is largely thanks to the great enthusiasm that St Andrews created for the sport and some key individuals such as Allan Robertson and Old Tom, that we are able to enjoy the game we love today.

Image credit: www.joeausten.com

Ladies have been playing golf for many centuries. History books tell of Mary Queen of Scots' love of the game. She played in St Andrews and in her trial it was actually used against her. It was claimed that she was playing golf only two days after her husband, Lord Darnley's death.

Katherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry the VIII, is the first noted woman to play the game. In the 1700's the fishwives of Musselburgh had an established flourishing club.

In 1867, the ladies started to play over the putting green at St Andrews and by 1893 there were over 50 Ladies clubs in the UK. Ladies golf has a rich and fine history. Throughout the years there have been golfing legends with inspirational stories. From the 18 year old, Lady Margaret Scott's Ladies Open Championship win in 1893 through to the outstanding record of Laura Davies who has won 81 titles, four majors and the Ladies European Tour order of merit seven times.

Image at top of page credits: www.kaiameans.com

Created by local historian, artist, guest speaker, playwright and author David Joy, the artwork is simply wonderful and a must see for any golf enthusiast.

The Dunvegan Hotel is one of the most popular bars in St Andrews for golfers. This all year round exhibition gallery has portraits of every Open Champion dating back to 1860. From Willie Park Snr to Darren Clark, they are all here.

 For more information on David's work and his new projects, please visit http://www.golfhistorian.co.uk.

Image credit: David Joy

The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. It started out as an exhibition match in 1926 between USA and the British PGA at Wentworth, Surrey. The first competitive match was held in 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.

In 1979 the GB team was expanded to include Europe. The United States had traditionally dominated the matches but in 1985 at The Belfry captained by Open and US Open champion Tony Jacklin, the European team finally won.

Easily one of the most exciting tournaments in golf, the Ryder Cup offers an atmosphere that is second to none. Historical records indicate that the first unofficial Ryder Cup-style matches were played in 1921 at Gleneagles Golf Course, Perthshire and it will be back at Gleneagles in 2014 on the PGA Centenary Course.

By Dan Perry [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Keepers of the Green is an international golfing fellowship, founded in 1995 and based in St Andrews, whose mission is to promote the game of golf and to improve lives through powered mobility.

Since its formation, Keepers of the Green's extensive fundraising activities have resulted in life changing experiences for over 200 individuals who have been presented with powered wheelchairs (worth approx £700,000).

Their main wheelchair presentation takes place, through the generous co-operation of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, at each year's Open Championship. 

The Patron of Keepers of the Green is the internationally renowned Golf Historian, David Joy, best known as "the man who plays Tom Morris", portrayed internationally on stage and screen. Honorary Members include Peter Alliss, Peter Thomson, Sir Michael Bonallack and Emil Pacholek.

A chance to meet the Ryder Cup and award winning artist.

http://www.chorleygolfprints.com/

John Hagen wrote the hugely entertaining book 'Play Away Please' about his experience buying the Old Course's starter's tee box - one of golf's greatest icons. 

www.playawayplease.com

He is a founder of the Friends of St Andrews which was established by the St Andrews Links Trust to assist in the preservation and maintenance of the historic golf courses at St Andrews, including the Old Course.

In addition to 'Play Away Please', he has also written 'Pebble Beach–the Novel' and a memoir 'Chance Encounters.' 

Joe Austen is one of the world's most renowned painters. All year round his work adorns the walls of the Macdonald Rusacks Hotel.

For more examples of Joe's work, please visit www.joeausten.com

David's meticulous drawings of Open Champions adorns the walls of The Dunvegan all year round.

Tonight will be a chance to meet David and to hear his stories about his unique work.

Releasing the first 5 beers in Mid-March the St Andrews Brewing Co. is a new brewery based in Fife.

The brewery is owned and run by East Neuk resident Bob Phaff, and is ready to bring the range of bottle conditioned real ales to the historic streets of St Andrews, Fife and further afield. 

Stocking beers through farm and specialist beer shops, farmers markets, restaurants, hotels and golf clubs.

St Andrews Brewing Co. - The History, The Golf, The Uni........The Beer

www.standrewsbrewingcompany.com
Facebook - St Andrews Brewing Co
Twitter - @standysbrewing

Shena Porteous, a professionally qualified Blue Badge tourist guide,is offering visitor/family friendly tours of St Andrews. See where Protestant martyrs were burned at the stake; find out where Robert the Bruce was in 1318; where Wills and Kate studied and met for coffee and much, much more......

Shena Porteous, a professionally qualified Blue Badge tourist guide,is offering visitor/family friendly tours of St Andrews. See where Protestant martyrs were burned at the stake; find out where Robert the Bruce was in 1318; where Wills and Kate studied and met for coffee and much, much more.

Meet outside R&A Clubhouse.  

Cost £5 per person.  Family rates available.

Shena can also offer private individual tours by car throughout Scotland.  If you have time either before or after the Golf Festival then why not get in touch?  Shena looks forward to sharing her love of Scotland with you.  

Advance booking essential for car tours. 

Contact

E: shenaporteous@hotmail.com

M: 07765 417537   T: 01334 653561      

(Image courtesy of www.visitscotland.com)

Author of 'St Andrews: The Home of Golf', Henry's book marked the 150th anniversary of golf's oldest and most prestigious tournament with a lavish visual journey along the medieval city's bustling cobbled streets, through the doors of many prestigious golf clubs residing within its venerable greystone walls, and around each one of St Andrews' several great courses - from the famous Old Course to the stunning new Castle Course.

For those who know and love St Andrews, this book evokes fond memories.

For those still to make the pilgrimage and walk in the footsteps of golf's greatest players, 'St Andrews: The Home of Golf' is a must-read that no lover of the game should be without.

Henry will be giving a short talk ahead of the book signing.

John Letters is one of the most celebrated club makers in the world. Their tour players have lifted practically every major title and includes the like of Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Cathy Panton and Sam Torrance.

Their gallery in St Andrews shows the legends of John Letters, highlighting their rich heritage.

For more information on John Letters and the new custom fit store in St Andrews, please visit www.johnletters.com 

Based in St Andrews, Scotland, The Openview Gallery offers a collection of  golf photography, canvas art, moving photographic images and unique marquetry pieces made in wood by two times Major winner and four time Ryder Cup Captain Tony Jacklin.
 
Their collection of historic golf photography dates back to the 18th century celebrating the beauty and emotion of a game steeped in history. Each photograph is carefully developed by hand in a dark room from the original negative by skilled craftsmen.
 
In addition, Openview Gallery offers a superb array of exquisite jewellery, stocking exclusive ranges in diamond, solid silver and costume jewellery and our in house jeweller makes a range of unique pieces each stamped with the exclusive St Andrews Makers Mark and offers a bespoke jewellery making service.
 
Openview Gallery also works with Golf Clubs and Resorts by offering an interior design service and making bespoke cufflinks,trophies and other silver pieces.

Visit the website 

St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park, St Andrews

The story of St Andrews is beautifully told in this glorious Victorian mansion that also has a great homemade food café. There are also art exhibitions upstairs throughout the year and delightful gardens to enjoy.

St Andrews Preservation Trust, 12-16 North Street, St Andrews

The St Andrews Preservation Trust Museum is a small, independent museum situated in a lovely 17th century house in the heart of the town’s old fisher quarter, a stone’s throw from both the Castle and the Cathedral.

http://www.standrewspreservationtrust.org.uk/museum.html

Image credit: David Joy

This is a real treat for those who are fans of golf memorabilia. Situated just off South Street down Burghers Close, the shop is an Aladdin’s Cave of golf art, equipment, old books and more. Well worth a visit and the prices are great too.