Royal Aberdeen Golf Club

Royal Aberdeen is one of the oldest golf clubs anywhere: it was founded in 1780 and calls itself the sixth oldest club in the world. Its home is Balgownie Links at Bridge of Don, on the North Sea coast just north of Aberdeen city centre, where the club has played since 1888.

Balgownie is a classic out-and-back links. The front nine runs out through a valley between high dunes close to the beach, and the back nine returns along a higher plateau that is flatter but full of blind tee shots, hidden hollows and tricky greens. The prevailing wind often comes from the southwest on the way home, so club selection changes from day to day.

From the Blue tees the championship course measures 6,918 yards to a par of 71, with a course rating of 74.8 and a slope of 144, which puts it among the tougher tests in Scotland. Shorter White, Yellow, Red and Green tees make it playable for a wider range of golfers. The club also runs a second 18-hole layout, the Silverburn course, which is much shorter at par 64.

The club began life as the Society of Golfers at Aberdeen, with members admitted by secret ballot; the original ballot box, marked 1780, is still kept in the clubhouse. In 1783 the members introduced a five-minute limit on searching for a lost ball, which the club describes as the first rule of its kind. The society became the Aberdeen Golf Club in 1815, and King Edward VII granted the Royal title in 1903.

For most of the 19th century members played on the Queen’s Links near the city. In 1888 they moved across the River Don to Balgownie. The course was first laid out by the Simpson brothers, Archie and Robert, of Carnoustie, and was later re-bunkered and lengthened by James Braid.