doctors and the
history of golf
In the last of this three-part series, Iain Macintyre describes two doctors with Scottish connections who played important roles in the development of golf
"He entered and won a golf course design competition, discovering a talent that was to provide a new career and make him the most sought-after designer of golf courses in the world"
William Laidlaw Purves (1842–1917)
William Laidlaw Purves was born in 5 Hill Place, Edinburgh, on 16 April 1842, the son of William Brown Purves, who had qualified as a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1835, and subsequently practised as a doctor in Edinburgh.
Today 5 Hill Place is the site of the administration offices of the College. After education at the High School of Edinburgh, Laidlaw Purves was apprenticed to William Forbes Skene WS, but was not attracted by a career in law and matriculated at the University of Edinburgh Medical School.
In 1864 he qualified LRCSEd, LRCPE and graduated MD from Edinburgh University later that year. After a period of practice in Australia he returned to Europe, taking a particular interest in aural surgery, with further studies in Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and Utrecht. In 1874, he was appointed lecturer and aural surgeon to Guy’s Hospital, London, and began a private practice in aural and ophthalmic surgery.
Before leaving Edinburgh he had been a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. In London he joined the London Scottish and Wimbledon Golf Club, moving with the Wimbledon (later Royal Wimbledon) when it split away. Purves wished to find a site for a new links course in the style of those with which he was familiar in the east of Scotland. While searching for a suitable links with a fellow golfer Henry Lamb, he climbed the tower of St Clement’s Church, Sandwich, and from there saw an ideal site for what became the Royal St George’s Golf course.
Purves chose the name to mirror St Andrews in Scotland, and was largely responsible for the design of the course. It was modified in 1925 by another doctor, Alister Mackenzie (1870–1934) the renowned golf course architect, whose life and work is described below. Purves became the first captain of the Club and first winner of its silver club. William Laidlaw Purves made two other major contributions to the game – he was author of the handicapping system which came to be adopted universally, and he championed the cause of women golfers.
The earliest thoughts on handicapping are attributed to Thomas Kincaid, (described in the first article in this series – Surgeons’ News, January 2009, page 66) who wrote a paragraph about ‘whither it is better in giveing advantage in gameing to make the game equall …’.
In the nineteenth century, some clubs began to devise their own handicapping systems, but it was not until the end of the nineteenth century that an agreed system of handicapping was adopted. C.B. Clapcott concluded that two people were responsible for the modern system, Mr Henry Lamb and Dr Laidlaw Purves, describing the latter as ‘the most active spirit of legislative propaganda in the golfing world’. In a pamphlet entitled The Handicapping Problem, Laidlaw Purves set out the handicapping rules that had evolved at Royal Wimbledon and that, according to Clapcott, ‘may be regarded as the basis upon which the British Golf Union’s Joint Advisory Council have built up their system of uniform handicapping.’
Purves had been supportive of the formation of the Royal Wimbledon Ladies Club. When one of its members, the formidable Issette Pearson (1861–1941), organised a meeting that led to the formation of the Ladies’ Golf Union (LGU) in 1893, the support of Purves in its formation was crucial and he went on to become its Vice-President. He remained associated with the Royal Wimbledon Club, becoming Captain in 1897–1898, and was a strong supporter of the Wimbledon Ladies Club.
Purves maintained his links with Edinburgh, sending his four sons to school at Fettes College. Two of these, Alec and Donald, played rugby for Scotland, Alec, on 10 occasions between 1906–08 and Donald on seven occasions in 1912–13. William Laidlaw Purves died at Wimbledon in 1917.
Alister Mackenzie (1870–1934)
After qualifying LRCS Edinburgh in 1865, William MacKenzie from Lochinver moved to a medical practice near Leeds, and here his son Alexander was born. As was common practice with Highland families, he used the Gaelic form of the name ‘Alister’ throughout life. The family holidayed at Lochinver each year and Alister regarded it as his spiritual home. He qualified MRCS, LRCP in 1895 and MB, BChir Cantab two years later, but his medical career was to be a short one. After service as a civilian doctor in the Boer War, he was consulting surgeon to a small cottage hospital in Yorkshire.
A keen golfer, he entered and won a golf course design competition, discovering a talent that was to provide a new career and make him the most sought-after designer of golf courses in the world.
He was to design around 115 golf courses around the world. These include in England Moortown, Hazel Grove and the redesign of Royal St Georges; in Scotland Hazlehead (Aberdeen) and St Andrews Eden; in Australia the major courses in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide; and in the USA Cypress Point and Augusta National, the latter with Bobby Jones. The greatest demand for his skills was in the USA, to where he moved in 1928, and he died there in 1934. It was his wish that his ashes be scattered in Lochinver but this was not to be.
His legacy can be seen throughout the world from Britain to California, from Argentina to New Zealand – superbly planned golf courses which have over the years given pleasure to tens of thousands of golfers of all standards.
This series has highlighted some of the doctors associated with the game of golf over four centuries, all of whom have had a remarkable influence on the development of the game.
Modified from an article first published in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.