Caird Park Golf Club

For generations of Dundonians, Caird Park Golf Course has provided pleasure, camaraderie and health-enhancing activity. As new measures are in place to rejuvenate the course and attract more people to enjoy its leafy fairways, it is worth taking a look back at the history related to the course and the colourful characters associated with it. The purchase of a park for the people of Dundee was largely due to the energy and enthusiasm of one man, Mr James Kerr, a shoemaker in the Wellgate. In 1910 Kerr had the idea of creating a municipal park that would provide a healthy alternative to the industrial environment that most people of the town lived in. It took until the end of 1912 when the wealthy mill owner Sir James Caird agreed to ‘furnish the money as a gift to the city’ for the purchase of the estate surrounding Mains Castle. There was only one stipulation! Caird wanted the deal completed before the end of the year – which was only three days away. Mr Kerr immediately set off to Worcester to find the Den o’ Mains landlord, a Mr David Erskine and by the following Sunday, the 30th of December, Kerr was back in Dundee with a deal in place. Dr Caird immediately signed a cheque.