I posted a comment previously. This is one of those pictures with a lot in it. I have seen it a couple times since commenting. For the first time, I want to go to Musselburgh.
I have seen the ancient pictures in the Darwin and Hutchinson books, where it always looked like a wide open field. I have Google Earthed it and pieced the layout together. The course's place in Golf's history is hard to beat; The Parks versus the Morrises, the fistfights at matches.
And yet, somehow, I never thought the course would be much more than a relic; or worse, an amusement. Musselburgh is contained by a racetrack, so, by nature it's contrived. I had developed a belief that it was like the infield of any racetrack in North America. It never interested me from a golf course design perspective. My own passion for golf starts there.
And now, looking at this photo - taken on a high res camera mounted on a drone - it's clear to me how immensely modern technology will impact the golf industry. Now, Musselburgh interests me as a golf course . . . immensely. Enough that I want to play it with hickories, not as some kitschy throwback activity. I want to play these holes (that, design-wise, I'm liking more and more every time I inspect the details) with something approximating the same weapons used by Parks and Morrises. I suspect I would find a moment or two of deeper understanding in that.
A sudden thirst to jump back centuries. Made possible by a drone and a very creative photographer whose thirst was triggered first.
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1672 was a long time ago…
Back then some gentlemen got together and thought they would hit a small white bunch of feathers around an open piece of land with a stick made of hickory with the aim being to get the ball into a small hole often hundreds of metres away.
Sounds fun right?
Well that was the birth of the game that we all love (and hate at times) - GOLF.
Visiting Scotland created in me a strong desire to go back to where it all began and that was at Musselburgh Links (@mocgc_links1672) on the outskirts of Scotland. This 9 hole course is widely regarded as the birthplace of golf.
The course is still in operation and you can play a round with hickory sticks and gutta percha balls. Kind of fun really.
The only think different about the place now is there is a functioning racetrack around the golf course. I captured these aerial images on a beautiful Scottish morning. Enjoy and let me know if you have been here to play.
Musselburgh Links features in my new book Great Golf Courses of the World - https://lnkd.in/ggfyeb2w . Shipping anywhere in the world.
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Vice President, Golf & Retail Fairmont
1moMagical view!