Founding Fathers of American Golf
“When I first visited Dunfermline Golf Club, I was perplexed. It’s one of the better clubs near Dunfermline but... much, much more importantly, it is the source, the very scion of American golf!
And nobody seems to give a damn! ”
Why were they not shouting this from the castellated rooftops of their 15th-century clubhouse? Why weren’t there flags flying high to say, “We are the champions! We started golf in the good old US of A"? Why were there not queues of American tour buses coming to pay homage and visit this amazing clubhouse?
“Over consecutive visits, my fascination - and frustration grew!”
I was commissioned to do some course photography for the club and produced a marketing video. Despite these positive progressions, I could not help but berate the secretary at the time to share the club’s remarkable story with the world!
My vision was of tour buses packed with American golfers coming to pay homage to the little Scottish club whose members first planted, like Alan Shepard on the moon, a golf flag on American soil!
The idea I believe went to the committee! Nothing happened! It then went to the local tourist board. Nothing happened! I even mentioned it to Fife Enterprise. Zero! Fifers can be a suspicious lot! They were no doubt worried there would be some costs attached!
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Meanwhile, back in the clubhouse on my initial visit, I remember being shown around by Bob De Rose, the then club secretary. The main members’ area, bar and dining room were a modern addition to the 15th-century tower, a late 60s add-on and a veritable ‘carbuncle’, as Prince Charles once said of the proposals to extend London’s National Gallery.
We ascended the winding staircase, the castle’s 3-foot thick walls illuminated by Flemish stained glass windows which were framed with dark, intricately carved oak panels. This was impressive for anyone’s clubhouse and Bob was giving me all the details.
The castle’s origins date back to 1631 when Sir Henry Wardlaw, the wealthy laird was making his pile via strong trading ties with Flanders (modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands).
Wardlaw installed the imported Flemish stained glass as a status symbol and a mark of continental taste, all the rage in those days. Flemish glassmakers were commissioned to create many coat-of-arms panels for Scottish gentry homes. These particular windows depicted the Wardlaw family heraldry or allegorical virtues. Merchants from Dundee, Leith, and Dunfermline imported luxury goods from the Low Countries, including glasswork, tapestries, tiles, and furniture. Flemish artisans were considered Europe’s finest in stained glass.
and later adapted for modern use when the golf club took residence in 1953.
Why Flemish Stained Glass? There are two main reasons why Flemish glass would be found here:
Then, stepping into the dining room, I was struck dumb again: oak panelling, rich with history… and, amusingly, a set of Sony speakers perched atop a cabinet, alongside half-used bottles of ketchup and mayo. A perfect blend of ancient grandeur and modern Scottish pragmatism. The place was breathtaking.
And its story, even more so.
FOUNDING FATHERS
It was from Dunfermline Golf Club that two of its members — John Reid and Robert Lockhart — set sail for America in the late 19th century. Passionate golfers, they later ordered clubs and balls from St Andrews, shipped via Dundee, where local craftsmen were producing the textile products that Reid and Lockhart were selling.
And here near Yonkers, they laid out the first makeshift course in a pasture, America’s very first golf club. They hung their coats, flasks, and clubs on an old apple tree.
THE APPLE TREE GANG
From that humble beginning, the group evolved into St. Andrew’s Golf Club, formally founded in 1888, now recognised as the oldest continuously operating golf club in the United States.
Over time, they moved to Hastings-on-Hudson, but the legacy of The Apple Tree Gang and the Scottish roots from Dunfermline remain at the heart of the club’s identity.
Dunfermline Golf Club isn’t just a course. It’s a place of pilgrimage — the very roots of American golf.
