1794 Dunbar Golf Club (1856)
The earliest golf recorded in the Dunbar environs are prosecutions for Sunday golf by the kirk, probably over the West Dunbar Links, as outlined in 1616 Dunbar.
Dunbar Golfing Society on West Barns Links
In 1794, the 'Dunbar Golfing Society' set down its Regulations and listed 27 members, of whom 26 were present and one was marked absent. The Regulations only concerned the club and covered the process of the meeting and club payments and not the rules of golf.
“The Regulations of the Dunbar Golfing Society, May 14, 1794.
1 The members shall meet at the West Barns Links the second Wednesday of every month.
2 When the expense of each member for dinner amounts to 2 shillings and 6 pence the club shall be dissolved.
3 Every member for every time he is absent, shall pay 1 shilling towards defraying the expense of dinner.”
This document was apparently in the possession of others for over 100 years. It was held, in turn, by the Rev William Whitfield, the Rev John Kerr and J.H. Taylor before coming back into the possession of the Dunbar Golf Club in 1946. A copy of it is on display in their clubhouse.
Image and text courtesy of Dunbar Golf. Map courtesy of National Library of Scotland
As mentioned in the Regulations, the early club played over the West Barns Links, which can be located in later Ordinance Survey maps, seen on this page, and shown on 1616 Dunbar.
No further record of the early Dunbar golfers survives. The West Barns Links were taken over for military training, during and after the Napoleonic Wars (1794-1815). There was a rifle range, as a result of which, golf there waned for decades.
Though there is anecdotal evidence of occasional play throughout the early 19th century, it was the opening of the railway line in 1846 and the establishment of local military barracks in 1855 that signalled a new beginning for golf in the area.
In 1890, the West Barns Links revived, but when the local Council opened the Winterfield Links it rendered West Barns unviable and the course disappeared.
Dunbar Golf Club on East Links
When the West Barns became problematic golfing declined. Then, in 1856, when the Dunbar Golf Club was formed, it negotiated playing rights over the East Links. The ‘official’ club beginning(revival) was on 20th December 1856, when six gentlemen met at the town hall. They were George Warrender of Lochend, (later the 7th Baronet of Bruntsfield), Captain James Cox of the Berwickshire militia, Lt. John Stewart, William Anderson, James Brand and John Jaffray. At the time, Dunbar was a military town and, as with other contemporary golf clubs, the services played an important part in the creation and running of the club.
The Club minutes reported that the first course required “clearing of the ground” which strongly suggests that there was no pre-existing course. Initially, fifteen holes were laid out to the seaward side of the large wall which runs between current eighteenth and fourth holes. The course became known as Broxmouth Links or East Links.
The first Captain was George Warrender, who had organised the inaugural meeting. Initially, the Dunbar club used the St Andrews club rules, with the additional rule that any obstruction within twenty yards of the putting hole be removed. In 1859, they formed a committee to create their own rules.
The Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe provided the club with a clubhouse in 1871. The old club-house building still exists and is the house on the right at the entrance to the club's drive.
Dunbar Old Club-house 1871
In 1902, this clubhouse was superseded by a new one, which was extended in 1968 after years of agonised debate over costs and plans.
Dunbar club-house beside 3rd green
The Broxmouth Links were extended to 18 holes in 1880. The course covered 4,701 yards, going as far as the current 8th green and in 1883 the club adopted white flags for the outward nine holes and red for the inward holes.
Dunbar Castle Club
In 1882, a local residents club, called the Dunbar Castle Club, was formed. It's objective was to provide lower cost golf. It paid green fees to the Dunbar Club for the use of the links and rented space in their clubhouse, apart from a brief period 1903-1908, when they rented the 'Golf House' as there was not enough room in the senior club's new clubhouse.
In 1884, the Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour joined the Dunbar Castle Club and was appointed Captain. At the time, he was a member of the British Cabinet, but he became Prime Minister in 1902. The Castle club continues, but members are required to join the Dunbar Golf Club itself.
Dunbar Ladies Club
Women golfers are known to have formed a club in 1870 and played on holes to the west of the links. The club flourished for several years and acquired several trophies. This makes Dunbar an early location of organised women's golf.
The formal inauguration of the Dunbar Ladies Golf Club was 1894. They operated independently, much like the Castle club, renting space in the Dunbar men's clubhouse (apart from also having to use the Golf House 1903 to 1908) and paying to play the course. For many years they played a shortened round of the first 6 and last 6 holes, under instructions to give way to male golfers, if required, and only being allowed to play after 5 pm. (Such restrictions were not unusual for women golfers for most of the 20th century.)
In 1914, after raising funds towards an extension to the men's clubhouse, they finally achieved a Ladies' clubroom, called the south clubroom, which was described at the time as 'commodius'. There were restrictions, including the men's club setting the rules for admission and the protocol for the election of the ladies committee and: -
"lady members cannot attend the general meetings of the Dunbar Golf Club [n]or have any interest in the accounts [n]or the railway's golf tickets ... No excisable liquor shall on any consideration be sold to a lady member ... Club members can only use the south clubroom if accompanied by a lady."
Women membership rose to 60, which was twice the number at formation twenty years before. Their membership grew steadily over the years and at an EGM in 1998, their status was finally upgraded from associate to full voting rights, with payment of full subs!
Dunbar East Links holes 7 & 14 with Bass Rock in backround