Part IV – The Golf House Club
Researched and compiled by Graham Johnston
In part 3 we learnt how the Earlsferry and Elie Golf club became established over the Earlsferry course after the hiatus of the litigation with Malcolm and the Grange Estate.
The club was initially comprised of locals who lived in Earlsferry but as the arrival of the Railway opened up the villages to visitors, holiday makers and second home owners (even in 1870s) so the membership became rather more cosmopolitan with many members joining who lived in Edinburgh and Glasgow. It had ceased in many respects to be a local golf club.
At an extraordinary General Meeting in 1872 the then Captain, W.R. Ketchen a local lawyer and banker who lived in the National Bank Building in Bank Street, resigned. There had been some friction between the Earlsferry Town Council and some of the members and it is probable that Ketchen among others thought the club too parochial and too dependent upon the Town Council of Earlsferry who owned the course. Whether his resignation was well signposted or not we do not know but in the background over the next couple of years it emerged that he had created the foundation of a new golf club. At that time Earlsferry and Elie Golf club did not have its own premises – it was not until 1885 or so that George Forrester offered that club accommodation in his house at Georgeville.
It seems that in 1875 Ketchen along with Major General Briggs, gentlemen called Raimes, Orr Paterson, Browning and Dewar had along with Thomas Currie ,the builder and his son John Currie the architect met and formed the new club or rather had come out into the open as having leased from William Baird what was then known as Melon Park (at least the southern portion thereof lying to the north of the house at Williamsburgh). This is the piece of ground lying to the east of the Ferry Road. Baird leased the ground to Rev. William Hillhouse, John Luke, Thomas Currie and W.R. Ketchen. At that stage they were not trustees for Golf House Club but it became pretty clear that there was an intention to build a clubhouse for the GHC on part of the ground of the Melon Park. However it was only the piece of the Melon Park lying north of the houses at Willliamsburgh and a line drawn from the corner of the quarry to the recreation park. In effect this was just what is now the 18th fairway. It was enough however for there to have been established three holes in that area. This is a plan showing the golf course at that point when it was merely 14 holes. 
And so it happened that by 1877 the following appeared in the newspapers of the time
Of course the consequence of this, as we said earlier, was that the influence of the Earlsferry Town council and the Earlsferry and Elie Golf Clubs waned. No longer did the Town Council control all that happened on the golfing tract and the Town Council would have to give increasing precedence to the wealthier establishment on the east side of Ferry Road. A lot of the kudos perhaps of the GHC was gained by the pedigree and financial clout of most of its members. Initially it was agreed that the management of the golf course (both east and west of Ferry Road) would be in the hands of a joint committee and indeed George Forrester – an Earlsferry man – was appointed first greenkeeper of the new course.
Whilst Baird only leased the southern part of the Melon Park to Ketchen in 1873 he granted a further lease in 1899 over the area lying to the north of the Melon Park and it was this area that enabled the golf club to expand to 18th holes by 1902 as it is today.
As a result of the second litigation between Earlsferry and Sir Robert Malcolm a lease was taken by Earlsferry town Council over the golfing tract thereby as it were giving golf rather than farming the priority over the area.
This map shows the progression of title to the golfing tract. The light blue area was that proscribed by the golfers who reported to the court of session in relation to the litigation. Now whilst there was no doubt that this was the golfing area it was also part of the Malcolm estate so the farmer had certain continuing rights over it. Part of the agreed settlement of the action raised in 1875 was that the farmer/Malcolm would grant the Earlsferry Town council a sub-lease over the area so there was no doubt that the golfers had precedence. The town council did not involve the GHC in this transaction – it was a mere £20 per annum and the Council was so happy to get this problem out of the way that they took it on.
Now therefore we have Earlsferry Town council leasing the golfing tract and GHC leasing the Melon Park. There was aspiration at least in the GHC to have as much land as possible to try to get the course up to 18 holes standard and the GHC then negotiated with Sir Robert Malcolm and the estate for a lease of a further large area of land. In 1886 therefore the area coloured red became part of the golf course but again the lease was in favour of Thomas Craigie Glover, The Captain of GHC, Ketchen, the Secretary, Rev. James Hillhouse again, John Curror [Currie?]of Ardross, James Waddell Town Clerk of Earlsferry, John Berwick of Liberty, Andrew Thomson of Craigforth, James Dunn and George Fortune of Muircambus the then committee and office bearers of GHC. This substantially increased the golf course but also the influence of the GHC.
The next move was a further lease by Malcolm in favour of the GHC of the bulk of the former farm of Grange taking the northern boundary almost up the present fence at the 14th hole and extending the breadth of the course nearer Ferry Road. This is the red portion lying to the north of the golfing tract. The GHC were now firmly in control and both Earlsferry Town council and Earlsferry and Elie Golf club had been effectively side lined. Then there was a further lease of a smaller area at the bottom of the hill on which Grangehill farm is situated. This was leased in 1902 again to GHC.
The GHC had in effect by their greater financial and organisational clout managed to control the bulk of the golf course. Earlsferry was very much side-lined although it still did have a right to control what happened in the golfing tract. The office bearers and committee of the GHC who were parties to the lease between Malcolm and the GHC make interesting reading. The Captain was John Earnest Laidlay. He was one of the most important and successful amateur golfers of the era having won two British Amateur Golf championships and numerous (said to be over 130) medals of the various clubs he was a member of. He lived off private means and was resident then in Grangemuir. He was also a member of the committee in 1899 when the golf course was initially extended. Sir Ralph Anstruther of Balcaskie was on the committee on both occasions. We know his late father, Sir Robert, was patron of the Earlsferry and Elie Golf Club at one time. James Scott Davidson a charter accountant from Glasgow – again he was also on the committee in 1899. William Jamieson the factor of Elie estate. James Nicholson Loden Kirkwood designed as being a colonel in the Indian staff corps who was also on the committee in 1899, Dr. Philip Grierson Borrowman who took over the medical practice of Dr. Macallum in Elie in 1891 – by 1899 he had moved to Crieff but he still retained his committee membership of GHC. If this committee was representative of the quality breeding and financial standing of the members of GHC the locals did not have a look in.
This then was the lay out of the golf course when all these leases were taken into account. The area of the Coalbakie had always been part of the Earlsferry commonty and now the golfing tract became part of the area of ground in Earlsferry owned by the town council on behalf of the residents of the village.
One of the consequences of the GHC establishing itself in 1875 was the formation of the “artisan” club of Earlsferry Thistle – of which more later. The local population of Earlsferry who did not qualify as a result of their social status to be invited the join the GHC now formed their own club. It was into the Thistle that the vast majority of the very good local Earlsferry golfers aspired. Also there were a number of professionals who joined the Thistle. At that time 1875 the “professional “ golfer was still not defined. Playing for money could not be the main criterion since most of the members of GHC would play stakes on a game. It was Dougie Rolland* who first alerted the golf authorities, such as they were, to the difference between an amateur and a professional in his application for entry to the Amateur championship at Hoylake in 1885.
*See section on professional golfers.
At the annual meeting in 1879 there was this report:
So within a very few years the club membership had risen to 102 and the annual subscription was now £90. But this minute forecast a few rocky roads on the way forward. 
This looks like an attempt to bring Earlsferry and Elie golf club into the fold (subject always to the member being acceptable to the GHC) and it looks as if the cost of upkeep of the course had fallen exclusively on Earlsferry Town Council which seems prima facie unfair since at least 75% of the course was now under the control of GHC.
In 1882 came this report 
Because of the control over 75% of the course by GHC this gave rise to obvious anomalies. If we accept that residents of Earlsferry were entitled to play free of charge on the old golfing tract and the Coalbakie what should or would they have to pay to play on the extended course (the astute Mr. Baird had made it a provision in the lease to the fledgling GHC that Earlsferry and Elie Club members and any members of a recognised golf club would be entitled to play over the Melon Park – one cannot but wonder whether this may have rankled with the GHC committee.) Should the members of GHC pay to play on the golfing tract and Coalbakie – no such reciprocal right appears to have been granted to the GHC members ? The current arrangement would therefore have meant that Earlsferry and Elie golf club members could play on the full course free of charge but GHC members were subject to the control of the town council vis a vis the golfing tract and Coalbakie. One cannot help feeling that this was anathema to GHC members who were paying an annual subscription and it maybe was this that predicated the arrangements that were then negotiated and finalised in the first agreement between Earlsferry town Council and the GHC in 1909. Prior to that it was Earlsferry Town Council that was paying for the upkeep of the course.
These questions obviously exercised the minds of both sides in the enterprise. Earlsferry and Elie golf Club had many members who were not resident in Earlsferry and therefore not entitled per se to the privilege of playing on the golfing tract free of charge. Their subscription to the club probably allowed them to play on that part of the course but it also entitled them to play on the Melon Park by virtue of Baird’s condition. At the same time one gets the feeling that the town council would rather like to wash their hands of the obligation to maintain the links.
In any event this agreement of 1909 formed the foundation of subsequent agreements up until 1974. The terms and conditions set out in 1909 were as follows:
Firstly as a result of meetings between the Town council and GHC the Town council agreed to hand over the expense of maintaining the links to the GHC – of course the bulk of the course was now in the control of the GHC anyway so effectively the town council merely handed over the management of the golfing tract and coalbakie.
Secondly the GHC were given entitlement of make charges for playing over the links. A scale of charges then followed in the agreement. Remember that this would have applied to all and sundry who were not members of the GHC but there was an interim concession to the members of Earlsferry and Elie Golf Club who should not have to pay more than seven shillings and sixpence for an annual ticket when the non member of either club would have to pay ten shillings for a two monthly ticket or twelve shillings and six pence for an annual ticket. This did not give a right to use the GHC clubhouse.
Thirdly and here is where the concession was apparent. “that no charge shall be made on any inhabitant of Earlsferry or members of the Thistle Golf club resident in Earlsferry or Elie but other members of the said club [Thistle] resident outside Earlsferry or Elie and who are not bona fide workmen in either of these places shall pay the same charges as are levied on the members of Earlsferry and Elie Golf club.” There was a further proviso that visitors were not entitled to play over the extended course except on the terms specified in the table of fees.
So if in doubt apply to join GHC but if rejected because of your social standing join the Thistle. Has this not been the position for over 100 years now !
The agreement was said to last until 1926 and that the rent for the commonty payable to the town council by the GHC was to be £3 per annum, that the maintenance of the Seatangle Road shall fall on the GHC and the salmon fishermen were still entitled to dry their nets on the Coalbakie. The agreement also provided that the GHC were not entitled to increase the charges in the scale of green fees without the consent of the Town Council.
The next pressing issue, as it were, was the definition of resident in Earlsferry. With the huge increase in second home ownership did this privilege apply to second home owners who were ratepayers of Earlsferry?
In 1939, after what seemed like a lot of wrangling, there was a further agreement between GHC and the now Elie and Earlsferry Town Council. On this occasion, still getting convoluted with the fact that Earlsferry residents had a privilege, it was agreed that (1) No green fee shall be payable by a ratepayer of Earlsferry who was ordinarily resident there, the wife, husband or children of the above, members of Earlsferry Thistle who were ordinarily resident in Earlsferry or bona fide workmen in Elie or Earlsferry. This novel concept of bona fide workman was defined to include any shop assistant, clerk, craftsman, artisan, apprentice or person normally employed in manual labour or any other person of similar class – any dispute about this to be decided by the provost.
Then an attempt to be a bit more precise. This provided that:
1. No green fee shall be payable by ratepayers and residents who live in the area which previously formed the Royal Burgh of Earlsferry (this was post amalgamation of the two burghs in1929). [Note women and children abandoned!]
2. A green fee of 30 shillings per annum shall be paid by a ratepayer or resident who lives in the Burgh of Elie and Earlsferry but outside the area in (1) and is not a member of the GHC, Elie and Earlsferry Ladies Golf Club, Earlsferry Thistle Golf Club or Elie and Earlsferry Ladies Thistle Golf Club. In essence you pay 30 shillings per annum if you are not a member of any of the clubs but you must live in Elie and Earlsferry.
There then followed a detailed requirement as to how much members of the Thistle clubs should contribute to the coffers of the GHC. Again there were distinctions this time: ratepayers or residents in Elie and Earlsferry, ratepayers and residents who live within a radius of three miles, those living outside that circle but within five miles. Resident is defined as living for not less than six calendar months in each year. Each of the clubs had to submit a list of their members with the appropriate category and there would be a sliding scale of the amount the clubs were to pay to the GHC.
All these shenanigans were purely and simply to appease the Ferrymen who had this right to golf over the commonty/golfing tract. You bet the GHC could have done without this hassle.
The rest of the history of the GHC can be found A.M. Drysdale’s centenary book of the GHC history – that is if you can get a hold of a copy.
The final chapter in this story happens in 1973/1974. Fife Council possess a common good fund consisting of the assets of the old Royal Burgh Earlsferry. Common good funds in Fife were assets which had previously been owned by Burghs in their own right on behalf of the ratepayers/burghers and which by successive local government reorganisations became the property of much larger institutions. They are retained for the benefit of the Burgh whence they derived. Elie/Earlsferry had (until recently) two assets in their common good fund – Earlsferry Town Hall, now acquired by a community buy out and “the right to golf on Earlsferry Links”. This was and probably still is valued modestly at £1.
With the looming reorganisation of local government in 1974 it seemed very likely that the ownership of the commonty/coalbackie and golfing tract would pass to Fife Council. This was a concern at the GHC, in particular, so a policy was put forward to try to buy out all the leases of the ground occupied by the golf club including, of course, that owned by the Royal Burgh of Earlsferry. After negotiations the GHC agreed to pay the Earlsferry Town Council the sum of £1000 for the area of ground. Similar negotiations took place with Miss Baird who then owned the Melon Park, the Gourlays of Kincraig (this was in relation to effectively the 13th Green and 14TH Tee) and the Malcolm family representing the Grange Estate. All parties were happy to agree to this buy out so that in 1974 the whole golf course became owned by the GHC. No longer was a bona fide artisan, craftsman manual labourer required to be considered in a special position when it came to the golf course. Almost 100 years of uncertainty had been resolved since the acquisition of the tenancy of the Melon Park by Ketchen and his associates (aka GHC).
Next part – Earlsferry Thistle GC.