Although 1867 was not a particularly historical year, it did mark the conclusion of almost thirty years of Queen Victoria’s [1819-1901] sixty-four-year reign. It also gave rise to a number of significant British sporting clubs, including the oldest Scottish Association Football Club Queen’s Park FC, and the Sheffield Wednesday FC which also came into being, when it was inaugurated at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield. It was initially an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club and went by the name of The Wednesday Football Club until it changed to its present title in 1929. In common with all rugby union clubs at the time, the Wasps Football Club kicked off as an amateur team. Now known as the Wasps Rugby Football Club it was based in Middlesex, West London until 2014 when it relocated to the 32,000 seat Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
However, arguably the most remarkable sporting creation of that specific year was the foundation of the oldest miniature golf course which still in existence, the St. Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club. Founded as a ladies only member’s club, it was required to closely observe the masculine self-indulgent customs of the day, declaring it undignified and conspicuously unladylike to raise a golf club past shoulder height.
Around 1860, caddies from the St. Andrews course laid out a small putting area, close to where the Rusacks Hotel now stands, just a flick with a sand-wedge from the world-famous 18th hole of the Old Course. There they would pass the time of day polishing up their putting skills while waiting for a golfer to engage their services.
At the time croquet, battledore and archery were just some of the sporting pastimes in which respectable young women might actively engage. But when the caddies’ course was quiet, a few of the more adventurous young ladies would venture out and play, which resulted in significant friction developing between the caddies and the spirited ladies. So much so that a piece of ground to the north of the Swilcan Burn was put aside, where the ladies could indulge in a little demure putting, as long as they remained ladylike and didn’t make too much noise. The ground was rough and pitted with rabbit holes and was used by local washer-women to dry their clothes. Nonetheless, a nine-hole miniature links was laid out by the St. Andrews keeper of the green and professional, Old Tom Morris [1821-1908], and the vilified ladies were presented with their own little piece of St Andrews upon which the St Andrews Ladies’ Golf Club was formed.
Article © of Roy Case
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