- Muirfield
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For other uses, see Muirfield (disambiguation).
Muirfield
Muirfield is a privately owned links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The Open Championship.
Muirfield has hosted The Open Championship fifteen times, most recently in 2002 when Ernie Els lifted the trophy. Other past winners at Muirfield include Nick Faldo (twice), Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Henry Cotton, Alf Perry, Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon and Harold Hilton. Muirfield has also hosted The Amateur Championship (ten times), the 1973 Ryder Cup, the 1959 and 1979 Walker Cups, the 1952 and 1984 Curtis Cups, and many other important tournaments.
Although Muirfield is a links course as it is set upon elevated ancient land claimed from the sea as highlighted by its sandy base and small sea shells in the bunkers, it has an unusual layout. Most links courses run along the coast and then back again leading to two sets of nine holes, each of which face roughly in the same direction. Muirfield, however, was amongst the first courses to depart from this arrangement and is arranged as two loops of nine holes, one clockwise, one counterclockwise. This means that, assuming the wind direction remains the same throughout a round, every hole on the course has a different apparent wind direction from the tee. No more than three consecutive holes follow the same direction at any stage.
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The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, now based at Muirfield, holds the distinction of being the oldest organised golf club in the world, although the game of golf is several centuries older. The club's records date continuously back to 1744, when it produced thirteen "Rules of Golf" for its first competition which was played at Leith Links for the "Silver Club". The first competition was won by John Rattray, who signed the rules and became the first club captain.[1] The club played on the five holes at Leith Links for nearly a century, but overcrowding forced a move in 1836 to Musselburgh Old Course's 9-hole Old Course. Musselburgh, like many prestigious Scottish courses including St Andrews, is a public course, and this course also eventually became too crowded for the liking of the HCEG's members.
In 1891 the club built a new private 18-hole course at Muirfield, taking the Open Championship with them. This situation caused some ill feeling at Musselburgh, which lost the right to hold the Open from that point forward. Old Tom Morris designed the new course, which met with wide approval from the start; it has been modified and updated several times since, in significant ways up to the late 1920s, after which it has remained stable.[2] The first Open held on the new course in 1892 was the first tournament anywhere contested over four rounds, or 72 holes.[3]
The Open Championship
The Open Championship was first held at Muirfield in 1892 and has been held there fifteen times.
Year Winner Score R1 R2 R3 R4 Total 1892 
Harold Hilton (a) 1st78 81 72 74 305 1896 
Harry Vardon 1st83 78 78 77 316 PO 1901 
James Braid 1st79 76 74 80 309 1906 James Braid 3rd77 76 74 73 300 1912 Ted Ray 1st71 73 76 75 295 1929 
Walter Hagen 4th75 67 75 75 292 1935 Alf Perry 1st69 75 67 72 283 1948 Henry Cotton 3rd71 66 75 72 284 (-4) 1959 
Gary Player 1st75 71 70 68 284 (E) 1966 
Jack Nicklaus 1st70 67 75 70 282 (-2) 1972 Lee Trevino 2nd71 70 66 71 278 (-6) 1980 Tom Watson 3rd68 70 64 69 271 (-13) 1987 Nick Faldo 1st68 69 71 71 279 (-5) 1992 Nick Faldo 3rd66 64 69 73 272 (-12) 2002 
Ernie Els 1st70 66 72 70 278 (-6)PO 2013 - Note: Superscript number besides the player's name is the number of the Open Championship in their respective careers.
- (a) denotes amateur
The Senior British Open
The Senior British Open Championship was first held at Muirfield in 2007.
Year Winner 2007 Tom WatsonSee also
- Golf in Scotland
References
- ^ Allan Burnett; Olive Geddes (summer 2010). "Slicing into History" (pdf). Discover NLS - Magazine Issue 16. National Library of Scotland. pp. 16–19. http://www.nls.uk/about/discover-nls/issues/discover-nls-16.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
- ^ The Golf Course, by Geoffrey Cornish and Ronald Whitten, 1981.
- ^ The World Atlas of Golf, second edition, 1987, Mitchell Beazely publishers, London.
External links
The Open Championship rota courses Current rota courses St Andrews · Carnoustie · Muirfield · Turnberry · Royal Troon · Royal St George’s (Sandwich) · Royal Birkdale · Royal Lytham & St Annes · Royal Liverpool (Hoylake)Former rota courses Categories:- Golf clubs and courses in Scotland
- Venues of The Open Championship
- Sport in East Lothian
- Ryder Cup venues
- Curtis Cup venues
- Walker Cup venues
- 1744 establishments
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