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Information about The Royal And Ancient Golf Club Of St Andrews

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The clubhouse of the R&A.


The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is the one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, the oldest being the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield. It is based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, regarded as the worldwide "Home of Golf".[1] Formerly it was also one of the governing authorities of the game, but in 2004 this role was handed over to a newly formed group of companies collectively known as The R&A.

History

The organization was founded in 1754 as the Society of St Andrews Golfers, a local golf club playing at St Andrews Links but quickly grew in importance. In 1834 King William IV became its patron and the club became known under its present name. In 1897 the Society codified the rules of golf, and was gradually over the next 30 years invited to take control of the running of golf tournaments at other courses.

The R&A

The R&A is the ruling authority of golf everywhere except the United States and Mexico where this responsibility rests with the United States Golf Association (USGA). It works in collaboration with national amateur and professional golf organisations in more than one hundred and ten countries. It also attempts to spread the game to new countries.

The R&A cooperates with the USGA in producing and regularly revising the "Rules of Golf", and the two bodies have issued the rules jointly since 1952. They also collaborate on the corresponding exegetic work, the "Decisions on the Rules of Golf". The R&A is also involved in formulating technical specifications for golfing equipment.

The R&A founded what are now the Official World Golf Rankings for male professionals in 1986 and the World Amateur Golf Rankings for male amateurs in 2007.

Championships

The R&A organises 11 championships and international matches:
  • The Open Championship: one of the four major championships in men's golf.
  • The Amateur Championship: which was one of the four major championships before the professional game became dominant and is still one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the world.
  • Boys Amateur Championship: for boys under the age of 18 at 00.00 hours on 1 January of the relevant year.
  • Boys Home Internationals: a team competition for boys from England, Scotland, Wales and All-Ireland.
  • Seniors Open Amateur Championship: for male amateurs aged 55 or over on the first day of competition.
  • British Mid-Amateur Championship: for amateurs aged 25 and over. This tournament was introduced to provide an elite competition for golfers who never turn professional as the main Amateur Championship is dominated by future professionals in their late teens and early twenties.
  • Senior British Open Championship: for men aged 50 and above. A major championship on the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour.
  • Walker Cup: a biennial men's amateur team competition contested by Great Britain & Ireland and the United States (co-organised with the United States Golf Association).
  • Junior Open Championships: for boys and girls under the age of 16 at 00.00 hours on 1 January of the relevant year.
  • St Andrews Trophy: a men's amateur team competition contested by Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe.
  • Jacques Leglise Trophy: a boys' amateur team competition contested by Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe.
Apart from the Junior Open Championships all of these events are for men and boys. The Ladies Golf Union organises a similar range of events for women and girls, most notably the Women's British Open. The R&A is also involved in the organisation of the two World Amateur Team Championships - the Eisenhower Trophy for men and the Espirito Santo Trophy for women - through its role in the International Golf Federation.

The present golf club

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews itself is now simply a golf club. It has 2,400 members from all over the world. Although the clubhouse is situated just behind the first tee of the Old Course, the R&A do not own any of the St Andrews courses despite the common misconception and must share the tee times with members of other local clubs, residents and visitors alike. Responsibility for the Management of the courses is undertaken by the St Andrews Links Trust, a charitable organisation that owns and runs all the St Andrews Links golf courses at St Andrews.

See also

External links

References

Golf is a sport in which individual players or teams of players strike a ball into a hole using several types of clubs. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed, standardised playing field or area; defined in the Rules of Golf as
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Muirfield is a golf course in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, which is one of the courses used in rotation for The Open Championship.

Muirfield has hosted The Open Championship fifteen times, most recently in 2002 when Ernie Els lifted the trophy.
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St. Andrews
Gaelic - Cill Rìmhinn (modern);
Cell Rígmonaid,
Ceann Righmonaidh (obsolete)
Scots - Sanct Androis


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Motto
Nemo me impune lacessit   (Latin)
"No one provokes me with impunity"
"Cha togar m'fhearg gun dioladh"   
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17th century - 18th century - 19th century
1720s  1730s  1740s  - 1750s -  1760s  1770s  1780s
1751 1752 1753 - 1754 - 1755 1756 1757

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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A country club is a private club which offers a variety of recreational sports facilities to its members. Two of the most common types of facilities are tennis and golf clubs, although others sports such as polo exist as well.
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St Andrews Links in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, is regarded as the "home of golf". It is the oldest course in the world, where the game has been played since the 15th century.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1800s  1810s  1820s  - 1830s -  1840s  1850s  1860s
1831 1832 1833 - 1834 - 1835 1836 1837

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death.
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Sport governing bodies comes in various forms, but the key factor is having some regulatory function. This may be disciplinary action for rule infractions, deciding on rule changes etc.

Governing bodies have different scopes.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano


Capital
(and largest city) Mexico City

Official languages Spanish (
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The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf.
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Exegesis (from the Greek ἐξηγεῖσθαι 'to lead out') involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a holy scripture, such as of the Old and New
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The Official World Golf Rankings is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers. They were introduced in 1986 and are endorsed by the four Major Championships and the six professional tours which make up the International Federation of PGA Tours, namely
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The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by the R&A, the governing body of amateur golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of 450 amateur tournaments and is updated weekly.
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The Open Championship

Tournament information
Location  United Kingdom
Established 1860
Course(s) Royal Birkdale Golf Club 2008
Par 71 in 2007
Yardage 7,412 in 2007
Tour(s) PGA Tour
European Tour

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Major Championships, often referred to simply as "the majors", are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf. The "majors" originally consisted of the Open Championship, the British Amateur or The Amateur Championship, the U.S. Open and the US Amateur.
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The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held in the United Kingdom. In the rest of the world, it is often known as the "British Amateur" or the "British Amateur Championship".
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The Senior British Open Championship is a professional golf tournament for men aged 50 and over. It is run by the R&A. Prize money won in the event is official money on both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. In 2007 the prize fund was £1 million.
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Not a Champions Tour event Jim Thorpe Stewart Ginn
2001 Tom Watson (1/5) Bruce Fleisher Doug Tewell (2/2) Allen Doyle (2/4)
2000 Doug Tewell (1/2) Hale Irwin (6/7) Tom Kite Ray Floyd (4/4)
1999 Allen Doyle (1/4) Dave Eichelberger Graham Marsh (2/2) Hale Irwin (5/7)
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The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.
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The European Seniors Tour is a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over run by the PGA European Tour.

The Tour was founded in 1992. In 2005 it had a total prize fund of €6,950,056 (£4,694,746). [1] , so it is much further behind the U.S.
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The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland (in political terms the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland).
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The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf.
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The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and Continental Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland, which is colloquially known as the "Home of Golf".
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Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas.
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The Jacques Leglise Trophy is an annual boys' team golf competition between Great Britain & Ireland (in political terms the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) and the Continent of Europe. It was inaugurated in 1958 and is organised by the R&A.
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Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas.
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The Ladies' Golf Union (LGU) is the governing body for women's and girls' amateur golf in Great Britain and Ireland (in political terms, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland).
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