Crail Golfing Society’s 225th anniversary golf match held on Saturday (25th June) was a truly global event, with matches contested on all five continents counting towards the overall result.
From Crail to Kabul, Seville to Sydney and Atlanta to Buenos Aires, members of the ancient Society took on members of other golf clubs – all of whom represented the Rest of the World team – in a series of individual matches involving over 250 men and women players. The result was a win for Scotland’s Crail Golfing Society by 71 matches to 46 with 21 drawn.
“The worldwide enthusiasm for this unique match has been tremendous,” said Crail Golfing Society Captain, Ian Dickson. “Members in over 20 different countries have taken part, including some in very dangerous places like Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m delighted that so many of our overseas members took part in the celebration to mark 225 years of the Society’s existence.”
In the top match at Crail, representing the Rest of the World, Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Group Captain Sir Patrick Hine, and his partner, Honorary Professional Jim Farmer, took on Crail Captain Ian Dickson and the Society’s professional Graeme Lennie, over Balcomie Links. Local knowledge came to the fore, resulting in a win for the Crail pairing.
There was even a hole in one recorded at Crail, when a member, retired General Practitioner Dr Stephen Illingworth, aced the 13th hole on Craighead Links on his way to winning his match – and the nearest the pin competition.
The names of all the members who took part, and their opponents’ names, will be permanently recorded and on display in the Society’s clubhouse.
Crail Golfing Society is the seventh oldest golf club in the world, having been formed by 11 local golfers in 1786, and now has 1400 members at home and abroad. The Society has two courses; Balcomie Links, opened in 1895, was laid out by the father of golf course design, Tom Morris, and Craighead Links, which opened in 1998, was designed by the 2009 Golf Course Architect of the Year, American Gil Hanse, giving the members and visiting golfers the best of ancient and modern course design.
“We are now looking forward to our 250th anniversary in 2036,” said Ian Dickson. “Who knows, perhaps we will have a member on the moon taking part by then!”
Contact:
David Roy, Managing Secretary, Crail Golfing Society.
Tel +44 (0) 1333 450686
Email manager@crailgolfingsociety.co.uk
Web site www.crailgolfingsociety.co.uk
