Description

1911. Single storey, 3-bay, roughly rectangular-plan golf course starter's box pavilion to W of golf course, with distinctive veranda and gambrel roof. Deep, chamfered brick base; timber framing and rendered above. Overhanging eaves supported by slender, stop-chamfered square timber columns and elliptical beams to form continuous veranda, timber boarding to soffit. Advanced corner section to N. Panelled timber door, with 3-pane rectangular fanlight, to each elevation; that to SW elevation with window to right. Continuous timber bench.

Predominantly 2-pane below 3-panes in timber windows; 2-pane in timber sash and case windows to advanced corner section. Slate, gambrel roof.

INTERIOR: (seen 2012) tongue and groove timber boarding to dado in toilets.

Statement of Interest

Monfieth Golf Starters box is a relatively intact and rare example of a small-scale golfing building with good architectural details such as the timber columned veranda and advanced corner. The building was constructed to provide facilities for the golf links and consists of an office and toilets. The starter's box is situated at hole 1 of the Medal Course of Monfieth Golf Links.

The earliest reference to golf at Monfieth is in the mid 16th century when the Earl of Panmure played an early version of the game. The present links course was laid out in 1845 by Allan Robertson and Alexander Pirie as a 9 hole course, when Lord Panmure, an original member and patron of Panmure Golf Club, gave the club the rights to play golf on the links. In 1879 the course was extended to 18 holes. By the end of the 19th century there were 6 clubs playing on the links, and the consequent overcrowding lead the Panmure club to move to Barry, near Carnoustie in 1899. Four clubs currently share the course: Grange Golf Club, Broughty Golf Club, Monfieth Golf Club and Ladies Panmure Golf Club.

Scotland is intrinsically linked with the sport of golf and it was the birthplace of the modern game played over 18 holes. So popular was golf in medieval Scotland that it was a dangerous distraction from maintaining military skills in archery and James II prohibited the playing of 'gowf' and football in 1457.

The 'Articles and Laws in Playing Golf', a set of rules whose principles still underpin the game's current regulations, were penned in 1744 by the Company of Gentlemen Golfers (now The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers). Improved transport links and increased leisure time as well as a rise in the middle classes from the mid 19th century onwards increased the popularity of the sport with another peak taking place in the early 1900s.

At the time of writing (2013), the governing body for amateur golf in Scotland, the Scottish Golf Union (SGU), reported around 550 golf courses in Scotland, representing a total membership of approximately 236,000 golf club members.

List description updated as part of the sporting buildings thematic study (2012-13).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56644045

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings