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South Inch Golf Course, Perthshire.

Thanks to Ian Cairns for his permission to use the information below which was taken from his book “Golf over two Inches, the story of Perth’s historical courses, by I H Cairns”.

"The South Inch is thought to be the first place where golf was played in Perth but it may be it was the first place where a course was laid out. It is said that the South Inch was the first laid out course in Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots (1542 - 1587) is reputed to have played on the South Inch. There is a record of golf being played on the South Inch in 1613. However there is no hard evidence such as Kirk Session minutes. Certainly the North Inch was meadow land whereas the South Inch was boggy. Golfers may have naturally favoured the North Inch Golf Course. The first Tee was at the end of the present Scott Street. The course played up towards St Leonard’s Bank and then the second hole and a third midway played towards the Craigie Burn and Croft Park. The fourth played alongside Craigie Burn then the next two holes played back towards the present Edinburgh Road, four then played on what we now know as the Lesser South Inch and finally Holes eleven and twelve played back to Scott Street. Four-holes were initially available, then eight, then twelve, as described, by the 19th century. Finally four of the “twelve” layout appear to have been played twice to give a sixteen hole course.  In previous times the Inches would have surrounded the town. Increasingly, through Victorian times, the town expanded round the Inches. The South Inch in particular became bounded by development. It was still some time before 18-holes became the norm for the sport but golfers would have seen the limits occurring and been aware of the great space afforded on the North Inch. The Perth Golfing Society, founded in 1824, played initially on the South Inch. In 1833 the Society moved to the North Inch and this marked a decline with the course dropping back to eight holes and leading to golf ceasing on the South Inch about 1850. Towards the end Golfers were increasingly cutting their own Holes and this led to the original layout being forgotten".

Meeting of the Perth Golfing Society in April 1925.

Perthshire Courier Friday 6 May 1825. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Result of a competition played on the South Inch in May 1826.

Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle Sunday 14 May 1826. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Competition played on the South Inch in September 1832.

Inverness Courier Wednesday 3 October 1832. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

In September 1833 the Royal Perth Golfing Society met on the South Inch to compete for the silver medal. It was won by Hope Grant, Esq. Following this competition the Society moved to play most of their golf  on the North Inch course.

In January 1834 His Majesty King William IV became patron of the Society and conferred on it the title of the Royal Perth Golfing Society. 

Below are a couple of competitions played by the Royal Perth Golfing Society on long lost golf courses in Perthshire. Articles for these courses are recorded separately on this website.

Below is the result of a competition played on the Connachan (Conyachan) course in April 1840.

Perthshire Courier Thursday 23 April 1840. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Below is the result of  a competition played on the Delvine course in May1843.

Caledonian Mercury Saturday 13 May 1843. Public Domain.

Ordnance Survey Map from the 1860s showing the South Inch. The golf course had gone by this time.

O.S. Map Survey Date 1860; © Crown Copyright {year of publication 1866}.