History lesson

One of the most iconic venues in sport, St Andrews has been loved by golfers the world over for centuries.

This historic and venerable links is in the spotlight again this week, courtesy of staging the AIG Women’s Open for the third time.

But just what makes St Andrews the spiritual home of golf?

Rooted in history

While there are records of balls being hit with sticks in other locations, none can realistically claim to have had a bigger impact on golf in its current form than St Andrews.

There are traces of golf being played on the St Andrews links as early as the 1400s and it even survived a ban on golf imposed by King James II of Scotland in 1457.

It was not until 1502 that King James IV, a keen golfer himself, would repeal the ban and over 250 years later a significant development occurred that would help shape the sport of golf we know and love today.

The R&A

A collection of 22 noblemen, landowners and professors joined forces to form the Society of St Andrews Golfers, which would later become ‘The Royal and Ancient Golf Club’, on 14 May 1754.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club was the original governing body for the game of golf, and thus it naturally came to be that St Andrews became known as the spiritual 'home of golf'.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club released its rule-making authorities to the Royal and Ancients or, simply, The R&A – which is one of two bodies, along with the USGA, that has such rule-making ability – in 2004.

But it is not just the historical significance that makes St Andrews the home of golf.

It is a venue steeped in grandeur, glory and prestige, and it first hosted The Open way back in 1873.

So many greats have collected silverware in this golfing wonderland, from Tom Kidd and James Braid to Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, who summed it up beautifully by saying: “To win at St Andrews is the ultimate.”