Chapter Summaries
The Gentry Links Trilogy traces the emergence and development of the modern game of golf through three interconnected volumes.
These chapter summaries offer an introduction to the personalities, places, events and historical evidence explored in each book. Together, they reveal how the game developed from its Scottish origins into an increasingly organised and international sport.
Volume I — Gentry Links: The Great Men of The Golfers
Charles Lees’ celebrated painting is much more than a depiction of a golf match at St Andrews. It is a carefully constructed portrait of Scottish society, indeed a 'Grand Match'', bringing together leading figures from the aristocracy, professions, military and golfing world.
Lees used the selection and arrangement of these individuals, together with visual symbolism, to present golf as a royal and ancient game deeply rooted in Scotland’s history and social traditions.
Understanding the artist, his intentions and the relationships between the people portrayed reveals a rich tapestry of historical connections. The painting becomes a window into nineteenth-century Scottish society and the role played by its leading families in the development of golf.
This approach — using an iconic painting as a starting point for historical investigation — provides the foundation for The Gentry Links Trilogy.
Volume II — North Berwick and its Gentry Links
The second volume of The Gentry Links Trilogy explores the origins of North Berwick Golf Club in 1832 through Sir Francis Grant’s remarkable painting, The First Meeting of North Berwick Golf Club.
The painting provides validation of theories developed by Lees in The Golfers and a starting point for investigating the influential families, friendships and social connections behind the Club’s foundation.
Central to the story is Sir David Baird, whose extensive family relationships linked the Scottish landed gentry, the legal profession, maritime commerce and the military.
These connections extended well beyond North Berwick, linking golfers in East Lothian with St Andrews, Edinburgh and, ultimately, Prestwick Golf Club through two of that Club's first Captains.
The research reveals the important contribution made by North Berwick’s early members to the establishment of The Open Championship in 1860 and the subsequent development of the game at a time that the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers was somewhat incapacitated.
The story also follows the North Berwick professionals who carried their golfing expertise overseas, particularly to America, where they helped establish the traditions of Scottish golf.
The volume concludes by examining the possible relationship between Grant’s painting of 1832 and Charles Lees’ The Golfers of 1847, raising intriguing questions about the influence of one painting upon the other.
Together, these investigations demonstrate how the relationships between a relatively small group of Scottish families contributed significantly to the emergence of the modern game.
With the relatively recent publication to The Golfers, that had been privately held since 1847, the opportunity was taken to review emerging evidence that challenged the original, and long accepted description of the 1847 painting.
Volume III — Medal Day 1894: the coming of age of the Modern Game
The third volume of The Gentry Links Trilogy explores the transformation of golf during the second half of the nineteenth century, as a game associated principally with Scotland's landed gentry developed into an increasingly international sport.
The starting point is Alexander Wardlow's remarkable painting Medal Day 1894, depicting 191 individuals gathered at St Andrews. Through the identification of these figures and an examination of their family, professional and social relationships, the painting reveals a much wider story of the emergence of the modern game.
By 1894, golf was undergoing profound change. The influence of the Scottish aristocracy was being joined by that of industrialists, financiers, professionals and an emerging generation of competitive golfers.
The development of The Open and Amateur Championships, together with the growing prominence of professional players, reflected this transformation.
The research traces the international connections through which Scottish golf spread across the Atlantic. These included the winter golfing communities of Pau and Biarritz, Scottish investment and emigration to North America, and the pioneering golfers and course designers who established the game in the United States and Canada.
The volume also examines the influential Scottish families whose relationships had sustained golf over generations, and the evolution of the Rules of Golf, culminating in the establishment of the Rules of Golf Committee at St Andrews in 1897.
Together, these investigations demonstrate how the game evolved from its Scottish heritage towards international maturity, providing the culmination of the historical narrative developed across the three volumes.
The Gentry Links Trilogy — A New Perspective on Golf History
Through three iconic paintings, The Gentry Links Trilogy explores the people, families and institutions responsible for the emergence and development of the modern game.
By combining visual evidence with genealogical and historical research, the Trilogy offers a distinctive interpretation of how golf evolved from the traditions of Scotland's landed gentry into an international sport.
The three volumes, published as a boxed set by Grant Books Ltd in 2023, are available through Grant Books Ltd's online shop.