Golf's First International Match Produces its First "Ringer" and More.
As players are set to compete in the 2024 Olympics in France, take a look back at the first recorded international golf match which produced who we would call a "ringer" today.
The golf world will focus its gaze for the next few weeks on Le Golf National, located just outside of Paris, France. Here men and women will represent their countries once again as they compete for the gold in the most famous international competition in sports, the Olympics.
International competition is commonplace in golf these days with various tours around the world, the Ryder Cup, President’s Cup and the aforementioned Olympics, where golf is once again part of the competition. Contests between nations is nothing new, and even in golf they go back over 300 years. The first international golf match is one of multiple firsts in golf, and also a little bit of myth and lore.
The first international match supposedly started as most do, with a friendly argument over drinks. It just so happened that this argument took place at Hollyrood Palace and involved Scottish and English nobility. 1681 is when this story begins… with what else, a bet. Today, betting in golf is commonplace, there are even clubs that require some sort of wager on the round played (Grove XXIII), but the first recorded golf bet took place at Leith Links outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.
As the story goes, two English noblemen declared that golf was an English game, not Scottish. The Englishmen challenged the Duke of York (future King James II of England/King James VII of Scotland) to a match between Scotland and England to decide who the game belonged to. The English noblemen were so confident in themselves, that they claimed they could beat the Duke of York and any Scotsman of his choosing.
This is where the story gets intriguing. The Duke of York was a golfer, but he knew in order to win he needed someone great at the game, he needed a “Ringer.” The Duke chose John Patersone as his playing partner. With this choice, one could say, the fix was in. You see, Patersone was no average golfer, he was in fact a golf ball maker and champion golfer in the Edinburgh area. With the Duke’s “ringer,” the Scots won and cemented their rightful claim that golf was a Scottish game.
Knowing Patersone’s worth, the Duke gave him most of the winnings from that day. With those winnings, Patersone bought a house in Edinburgh that became known as “Golfers Land.” The Duke even had a escutcheon put on the outside of the house with the motto “Far and Sure” inscribed on it. The house is long gone these days and a pub sits in its place, but the plaque remains to this day to remember “Golfers Land” and its place in the sport.
Besides the first known international match and “ringer” being used, another first came out of this match, the caddy. You didn’t expect a duke and future king to carry his own clubs did you?
Andrew Dickson, a young boy, was the first recorded caddy in the history of golf. Not much is known about Dickson’s caddy work that day or if he was even paid for his services. We do know that Dickson became a golf ball maker later in life, so this match must have had a profound effect on him.
As you watch the Olympics in August or the President’s Cup this fall, keep in mind how international competition in golf started, a wealthy guy brought in a ringer to secure a victory. In the process, this match produced many firsts and also helped stamp Scotland’s place as the home of golf.
