King James VI Golf Club

King James VI Golf Club, located in Perth, Scotland, is a private golf course also open to visitors. The River Tay setting is notable as it is the country's only self-contained course on a river island. The Island course is only accessible by foot by a side-walk on the side of a train bridge crossing the River Tay. This is believed to be the only Golf Club in the world that members cannot drive to.

Founded in 1858 nearby at Perth's South Inch, then relocated to Moncrieffe Island in 1897, and a purpose-built course designed by 'Old' Tom Morris, the legendary winner of multiple British Open Championships.

The club is currently captained by Roger Gordon, with Allan Knox the resident professional.

The origins of golf in Perth are obscure, as they are for the rest of Scotland, but it is likely they date to the fifteenth century. National bans on golf and football, designed to promote the practise of archery, were made in 1458, 1471 and 1491. In 1502, the first recorded purchase of golf equipment, a set of golf clubs costing thirteen shillings, was made by king James IV from a bow-maker in Perth.

The club takes its name from the tradition that King James VI of Scotland (1566–1625), who was later crowned King James I of England and Ireland, had as a boy learned to play golf on Perth's Inches (inch from the Gaelic innse meaning island).

Golf was played on both Inches to begin with, but players began to favour the North Inch, and by about 1850 no-one played golf on the South Inch.

The King James VI Golf Club was established in 1858. In 1860, what is believed to be the first inter-club golf match ever played took place when "King Jimmy" took on the Elie and Earlsferry Golf Club, which had also been founded in 1858. In 1884 a team from King James VI took part in the first inter-club golf match played in Ireland, against the Royal Belfast Club. King James members later set up some holes on a barren stretch of coastline near the village of Portrush, and were the first to play on what is now a world-famous links course.

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