CliveW
Tour Winner
More significant is the record of the first ‘international’ golf match in 1681, between Scotland and England on Leith Links. The Duke of York, who was the brother of the King Charles II and who would succeed him as James VII of Scotland / II of England, was then in residence as the King’s Commissioner at Holyroodhouse. Two English nobleman of his circle claimed that golf was an English game. The Duke disagreed and challenged them to a golf match to settle the matter, choosing John Patersone as his playing partner. Patersone was a ‘champion’ golfer, but a common ‘cordiner’ (cobbler). Not surprisingly, the Duke and his champion won for Scotland and it is said that Patersone bought a house at 77 Cannongate with the lion’s share of the winning purse that the Duke generously split with him. The house was called ‘Golfers Land’, shown below, and the Duke had an escutcheon affixed to the outside with a heraldic design and the golfers’ motto ‘Far and Sure’ inscribed on it. When John Patersone died, he also owned a house in Leith, from which he supplied golf equipment to the gentry
