The red leather-bound club minute book on a polished table, gilt-embossed Panmure Golf Club 1845, with its brass clasp

The Club

The Club Since 1845

It is a measure of our continuity that the constitution adopted at the first meeting differs little from the one that governs the club today.

The founding

On 3 May 1845, seventeen gentlemen gathered and agreed to form Panmure Golf Club.

A month later, on 6 June, Allan Robertson and Alexander Pirie came from St Andrews to lay out the original ground at Monifieth for a fee of thirty shillings. The links were extended to eighteen holes in 1880, and in 1899 congestion at Monifieth brought the club to Barry, onto land bought the previous year from Arthur, 14th Earl of Dalhousie, who would take the Captaincy in 1907.

Panmure is the 21st oldest golf club in the world. The club is named for William Maule, first Lord Panmure, and takes its emblem from the Maule family arms.

The Maule shell Championships

Close-up of the Captains of the Panmure Golf Club honours board, names legible from 1845 onwards

1527 onwards

Key Dates

1527
Robert Maule
“Exercist the gowf” on Barry Links for drinks, with the loser settling the bill. Barry Links is defined in Timothy Point’s map of 1597 as lying between the Buddon and Barry Burns. The 12th & 13th holes of today’s layout at Panmure play over the Barry Burn.
1845
Formation
Seventeen gentlemen met on 3 May and agreed to form Panmure Golf Club. On 6 June, Allan Robertson and Alexander Pirie came from St Andrews to lay out the original ground at Monifieth for a fee of thirty shillings.
1880
The Medal Course
The links at Monifieth were extended to eighteen holes.
1899
The Move to Barry
Congestion at Monifieth prompted the move. The land was bought in 1898 from Arthur, 14th Earl of Dalhousie, who took the Captaincy in 1907. Old Tom Morris laid out the new course; R. Duff of Edinburgh, who built the New Course at St Andrews and Muirfield, constructed it.
1923–1947
Evolution
A long period of refinement under Colonel J. Lindsay Henderson, who described the ground as “unpromising to the greenkeeper, yet full of promise to the golf architect”.
1927
Ladies Panmure Golf Club
Formation of Ladies Panmure Golf Club (LPGC).
1931
The First Open at Carnoustie
Open qualifying took place on 1st & 2nd June with 18 holes at Panmure and 18 holes at Carnoustie. The top 100 competitors qualified & competed for the trophy 3rd to 5th June at Carnoustie. This was the first time the Open was played at Carnoustie. It was won by Tommy Armour.
1937
Braid’s Influence
James Braid made the most significant changes to the Barry layout. Many of the original holes remain in play.
1953
Hogan
Ben Hogan spent two weeks at Panmure with his caddie Cecil Timms, preparing for the only Open Championship he would enter, and win. He chose the club for its privacy.
2022
One Club
Ladies and Gentlemen’s Golf clubs of Panmure merge to form a single club, the amalgamation completed on 31st December 2022.
2026
The World’s 100 Greatest
Panmure enters Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Courses at No. 99, and stands at No. 22 in Scotland.