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Plus Four Podcast on Hickory GolfAn online forum for hickory golf Author: Robert Birman
An online forum for hickory golf...the game as it existed prior to 1935 Language: en-us Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Mungo Park IV: Musselburgh
Episode 28
Sunday, 1 February, 2026
Between 1832 and 1892, Musselburgh stood at the heart of the golfing world. Five major golf clubs operated there, supported by skilled club and ball makers and caddies. While the game's early elements were rooted in Musselburgh, the codified version emerged in Leith in 1744, later refined when The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers relocated to Musselburgh. The town's fresh-air charm mixed with the gritty realities of coal mining and industrial growth to forge a uniquely Scottish version of golf—both refined and resilient. From this dynamic mix, the modern international game began to take shape. In his new book, Musselburgh: The Cradle of Golf, Mungo Park IV investigates the most significant period of Musselburgh’s golf history in the second half of the 19th century, when the town was arguably the most active center of golf in the world. Mungo trained at Edinburgh University, and set up practice in London with two partners in 1984. Since then he has worked at Hoylake, Gullane, Temple, Sunningdale, Muirfield, Royal Wimbledon and other prestigious locations. U.S. buyers can purchase the book here, via Auld Grey Toun books. He has written on the evolution of the golf clubhouse as a generic building type for the British Golf Collectors Society, of which he is a member. He has contributed articles on golf history and the history of early club makers, including his own family, to various periodicals. His great grandfather Willie Park Sr. won the first Open in 1860 and three others in 1863, 1866 and 1875. His great-great-uncle Mungo won it in 1874, and his great-uncle Willie Park Jr. in 1887 and 1889. He is married to Julia, also an architect, and they have two children, Anna and Jack. Ran Morrissett, co-founder and President of Golf Club Atlas, has a wide-ranging interview with Mr. Park on his brilliant website c. 2017. Elements of Mr. Park's bio above are excerpted from his work.
