The SOCIETY Newsletter #107

Leith Links: The Birthplace of the Modern Game

If St Andrews is golf’s cathedral, then Leith Links is its original parish church.

Long before the Old Course gained its iconic status, before championship trophies and televised majors, before golf became a global industry, the game was taking shape on a stretch of common ground beside the Firth of Forth—on the windswept links of Leith, just east of Edinburgh.

Today, Leith Links is a public park, crossed by footpaths and shaded by trees. Few visitors realize they are walking across the most important piece of golfing ground in history. Yet here—more than anywhere else—the foundations of the modern game were laid.

Where Golf First Took Root

Golf was played in Scotland centuries before it was organized, but Leith Links is where it first became institutionalized.

Records show golf being played at Leith as early as the early 1500s.

By the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Leith had become the epicenter of Scottish golf. Its proximity to Edinburgh—then the intellectual and political heart of Scotland—meant that lawyers, merchants, scholars, and statesmen all gathered here to play.

Golf was no longer merely a pastime of shepherds and townsfolk. It was becoming a game of gentlemen, rules, and reputation.

The Honorable Company and the First Rules of Golf

Leith’s greatest contribution to the game came in 1744.

That year, the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith—later known as the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers—organized a competition for a silver club. To govern play, they drafted thirteen articles: the first known written rules of golf.

These rules established principles that still define the game:

 • Play the ball as it lies

 • No improving your lie

 • No changing balls mid-hole

 • Hazards to be played as found

 • No grounding the club in hazards

In essence, modern golf was born on Leith Links.

These rules became the template for the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews and, eventually, the Rules of Golf used worldwide. Every golfer today—whether playing Pebble Beach or Pinehurst—owes something to that small group on Leith in 1744.

The Clubhouse and Competitive Golf

In 1768, the Honorable Company built a clubhouse beside the Links—more than half a century before similar structures appeared at St Andrews. This was revolutionary. Golf was no longer just played; it was organized, socialized, and institutionalized.

Leith hosted early competitions, matches between cities, and contests that drew spectators. The Silver Club and later the Gold and Silver Medals became prestigious prizes. Winning at Leith meant something.

In many ways, Leith Links functioned as the game’s first Open Championship.

Golf Goes Global from Leith’s Shore

Leith’s harbor was once one of Scotland’s busiest ports. Ships departed daily for England, Europe, and the American colonies. Along with wool, whisky, and timber, something else traveled from Leith’s docks: golf.

Merchants, soldiers, and emigrants who learned the game on Leith Links carried it abroad. Early golf in England, India, and North America traces directly back to players who cut their teeth at Leith.

Before St Andrews became golf’s spiritual capital, Leith was its export hub.

It was the game’s gateway to the world.

The Decline—and Quiet Survival

By the mid-19th century, Edinburgh expanded rapidly. Railways, housing, and industry encroached on the Links. Golfers gradually migrated to Musselburgh and then St Andrews. In 1836, the Honorable Company moved permanently to Muirfield.

Leith’s dominance faded.

Its fairways became footpaths. Greens became picnic grounds. The clubhouse disappeared. Competitive golf moved elsewhere.

Yet the ground itself survived.

Unlike many early courses that vanished completely, Leith Links remained open land. It was never built over. The birthplace of modern golf endured—quietly, almost anonymously.

Leith Links Today: A Forgotten Shrine

Today, few traveling golfers make the pilgrimage to Leith. There is no pro shop. No starter’s hut. No merchandise. No tee sheet.

And yet, for students of the game, it may be the most sacred ground of all.

A simple stone plaque marks where the first rules were written. Bronze markers outline former holes. The wind still comes off the Firth. The ground still ripples like true linksland.

Stand there long enough and you can almost hear it—the thump of featheries, the murmur of wagers, the crack of long-nosed woods.

This is where golf learned who it was.

Why Leith Still Matters

In an era of billion-dollar resorts and championship branding, Leith Links offers a powerful reminder:

Golf did not begin as an industry.

It began as a community game, played on common land, governed by honor, and shaped by tradition.

Before trophies.

Before television.

Before endorsements.

There was Leith.

Every rule you follow.

Every handicap you keep.

Every bunker you curse.

It all traces back here.

Conclusion: The Ground Beneath Our Feet

Leith Links is not just a park. It is not just a historical footnote.

It is the birthplace of organized golf.

It is where the game learned discipline.

Where it learned fairness.

Where it learned identity.

St Andrews may be golf’s cathedral.

But Leith Links is its cradle.

The History of Leith Links on the TalkinGolf History

Want to learn more about the History of Leith Links? Click the link below and listen to the TalkinGolf History Podcast’s, “THE HISTORY OF LEITH LINKS with special guest, Mike Tucker.

WISH ME LUCK

As a lover of golf history, I have spent the better part of the last decade talking about golf history and now I may be on the verge of helping to make golf history.

In the next week I hope to report good news. If it doesn’t happen it won’t be without considerable effort.

Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Do you have ideas for stories? Would you like to contribute? I would love to hear from you.