Royal Belfast Golf Club

In the Summer of 1881, Thomas Sinclair spent a holiday in Scotland, which included a visit to St. Andrews to play golf. He was immediately smitten and his return home he sought out George L Baillie, a local teacher and an experienced golfer, originally from Musselburgh in Scotland. Together they approached Captain John Harrison, the Laird of Holywood, who generously gave permission for a golf course to be laid out free of rent on his land at Kinnegar, Holywood. These frontiersmen of golf wasted no time and the first 18-hole competition took place over the new 6-hole course on Boxing Day 1881.