Golf as we know it was played in Scotland throughout the 1400s, but it was not until 1764 that the first 18-hole course was created on the St Andrews Links. There are many ancient variations of club and ball games, from Song Dynasty China (960–1279) to 13th-century Holland.
This Curation looks from early 17th-century Dutch colf to a 2004 statue of distinguished Scottish professional golfer Ben Sayers. Lavery's sunny golf course at North Berwick, Mancini's young golfer in a kilt and Ian Greig's sympathetic 1946 portrait of Toby Johnson, the last caddy master of North Berwick Golf Club, are among my own favourites.
Whether your game is played mainly off the fairway or out of the rough, if you love golf, this Curation is for you.
A Winter Landscape 1623
Esaias van de Velde I (1587–1630)
Oil on oak
H 25.9 x W 30.4 cm
The National Gallery, London
Golfers on the Ice near Haarlem 1668
Adriaen van de Velde (1636–1672)
Oil on oak
H 30.3 x W 36.4 cm
The National Gallery, London
The Little Golf Players c.1660
Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684)
Oil on panel
H 63.5 x W 46.5 cm
National Trust, Polesden Lacey
William Inglis (c.1712–1792), Surgeon and Captain of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers 1787
David Allan (1744–1796)
Oil on canvas
H 129.5 x W 105.1 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
Lemuel Francis Abbott (1760–1803) (after)
Oil on panel
H 40.6 x W 29.2 cm
National Trust for Scotland, Hill of Tarvit Mansionhouse & Garden
The Golfers 1847
Charles Lees (1800–1880)
Oil on canvas
H 131 x W 214 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
Going North: King's Cross Station, London 1893
George Earl (1824–1908)
Oil on canvas
H 77.2 x W 115.2 cm
National Railway Museum
Golf Links, Ganton Sands Quarry, Yorkshire 1909
Robert Clarkson (c.1853–1924)
Oil on canvas
H 35.5 x W 96.5 cm
Atkinson Art Gallery Collection
Golf Caddie on the North Inch, Perth
Charles Andrew Sellar (1855–1926)
Oil on board
H 54 x W 36.8 cm
Perth & Kinross Council
Portrait of Dr Frank Clowes 1906
Briton Riviere (1840–1920)
Oil on canvas
H 127 x W 101.6 cm
Nottingham City Museums & Galleries
Lady Golfer 1920s
Joseph Syddall (1864–1942)
Wood
H 40 x W 8 x D 10 cm
Chesterfield Museum & Art Gallery
Joyce Newton Wethered (1901–1997), Lady Heathcoat Amory 1920–1961
William Reid Dick (1878–1961)
Bronze
H 40 cm
National Trust, Knightshayes Court
Forest Row, Sussex, the Golf Course
Edmund Walter Wimperis (1865–1946)
Oil on paper
H 25.5 x W 35 cm
Towner
Antonio Mancini (1852–1930)
Oil on canvas
H 213.3 x W 152.2 cm
Leeds Museums and Galleries
Archie Compston, the Golfer c.1935–1940
John Archibald Alexander Berrie (1887–1962)
Oil on canvas
H 127 x W 101.6 cm
North Yorkshire Council
Golfer Resting 1940–1950
Kyffin Williams (1918–2006)
Oil on board
H 20.3 x W 26.7 cm
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
Right Honourable Lord Brabazon of Tara (1884–1964), President of St Andrews Golf Glub 1958
Alfred Egerton Cooper (1883–1974)
Oil on canvas
H 116.8 x W 91.5 cm
Royal Air Force Museum
Study of a Golfer c.1985
Harold Riley (1934–2023)
Oil on canvas
H 101 x W 76 cm
University of Salford
Out of the Green 1990
Terry Duffy (b.1948)
Oil on paper
H 147 x W 108 cm
Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection
Explore artists in this Curation
View all 24-
Robert Clarkson (c.1853–1924) -
Sidney Pike (1846–1907) -
Edmund Walter Wimperis (1865–1946) -
Ed Robinson -
Charles Andrew Sellar (1855–1926) -
William Bradley (1801–1857) -
Charles Lees (1800–1880) -
David Allan (1744–1796) -
Ian Greig -
Alfred Egerton Cooper (1883–1974) - View all 24