The Crail Golfing Society is a Scottish golf club established in February 1786 in the Golf Hotel,

Crail Crail (); gd, Cathair Aile) is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018). Etymology The name ''C ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. The society is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. Its oldest course, Balcomie, was formally laid out by

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died t ...

in 1894, but competitions were played there since the 1850s. The courses are north east of the fishing town of

, and the land upon which golf is played straddles the easternmost promontory of Fife, known as

Fife Ness Fife Ness ( gd, Rubha Fiobha) is a headland forming the most eastern point in Fife, Scotland. Anciently the area was called Muck Ross, which is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic ''Muc-Rois'' meaning "Headland of the Pigs". It is situated in t ...

. The East Coast of Fife is particularly dense in links courses and is popular for golf tourism. Crail is south of

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

and from

Kingsbarns Kingsbarns is a village and parish in Scotland lies near the eastern coast of Fife, in an area known as the East Neuk, southeast of St Andrews and north of Crail. The name derives from the area being the location of the barns used to store ...

. To the south west are the links of

Elie Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked vi ...

Anstruther Anstruther ( sco, Ainster or Enster ; gd, Ànsruthair) is a small coastal resort town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther ...

Lundin Lundin is a Swedish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf H. Lundin (1932–2006), Swedish oil and mining entrepreneur * Albin Lundin (born 1996), Swedish ice hockey player * Alexander Lundin (born 1992), Swedish footbalplayer ...

and

Leven Leven may refer to: People * Leven (name), list of people with the name Nobility * Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland Placenames * Leven, Fife Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central ...

. Within an hour to the north are

Scotscraig Tayport, also known as Ferry-Port on Craig, is a town and burgh, and parish, in the county of Fife, Scotland, acting as a commuter town for Dundee. The motto of the Burgh is ''Te oportet alte ferri'' ("It is incumbent on you to carry yourse ...

Carnoustie Carnoustie (; sco, Carnoustie, gd, Càrn Ùstaidh) is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of 11,3 ...

Monifieth Monifieth is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In 2016, the population of Monifieth was estimated at 8,110, making it the fifth largest ...

and Panmure. Crail Golfing Society owns and operates two courses, Balcomie and Craighead, which differ in character. Balcomie, designed by

in 1895, is a traditional links, retaining original holes, and a diverse and distinctive set of Par 3s. The 14th is the most photographed hole, a Par 3 with an elevated tee high above the beach dropping down to a heavily bunkered green. Longer holes, such as the 4th and 5th, feature doglegs around the sea edge. From Balcomie, on the north of the promontory, can be seen the mountain

Lochnagar Lochnagar or is a mountain in the Mounth, in the Grampians of Scotland. It is about south of the River Dee near Balmoral. It is a popular hill with hillwalkers, and is a noted venue for summer and winter climbing. Names The English name ...

in the Balmoral estate, in addition to the Tay estuary, and much of eastern Scotland. Craighead, designed by American architect Gil Hanse is longer, a modern links, with rolling greens, native walls and wildlife typical of the Fife coast. The two links are on north and south edges of Fifeness, respectively, and have different views. Craighead allows views to the Forth Estuary and beyond, with the

Bass Rock The Bass Rock, or simply the Bass (), ( gd, Creag nam Bathais or gd, Am Bas) is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. Approximately offshore, and north-east of North Berwick, it is a steep-sided volcan ...

, Edinburgh and St Abbs Head visible away, and borders a nature reserve.

References

External links

*
Golf History
at Scotland.org - the official online gateway to Scotland

at the

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and cont ...

Scottish Golf History
at www.scottishgolfhistory.org {{Europe topic, Golf in, UK_only=no Golf clubs and courses in Fife Crail 1786 establishments in Scotland Sports clubs established in the 1780s

See also

References

External links