Royal Golf at Birkdale and Mayfair, but what about a ‘Royal Palm Beach’?

Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews

Since Perth became Royal Perth, more than 60 additional clubs have been added.  The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews was second.  You know the members of Royal Perth remind the members of the Royal & Ancient of that fact as often as possible.

The game has been played on and around the St. Andrews links since the 15th century, so it wasn’t the royal designation that elevated the Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to its home of golf status. After all, St. Andrews is the home of the Open Championship, the game’s oldest and most revered major championship.

With the help of Old Tom Morris, the club , which in the 18th century had a 22-hole course, actually set the standard for the modern 18-hole track golfers tend to regard as sacrosanct.

Obtaining the royal designation has probably helped attract golf tourists, but The Links at St. Andrews has figured prominently in shaping the game since James IV took up golf and lifted the ban imposed by James II in 1457 because Scotland’s young men were playing golf rather than practicing their archery.

Royal Montrose, also in Scotland, followed St. Andrews when it, too, obtained the royal designation in 1845, when Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, became the club’s patron.