Tag: Silverknowes Golf Club

Teeing Off Through Time: New golf exhibition debuts as legendary Dispatch Trophy returns

A captivating new golf exhibition, ‘Teeing Off Through Time,‘ has been unveiled at Braid Hills Golf Course, coinciding with preparations for the milestone 125th Edinburgh Evening News Dispatch Trophy.

The exhibition celebrates Edinburgh’s rich golfing heritage just as the city’s most prestigious amateur team golf championship returns to Braid Hills.

The historic Dispatch Trophy, dating back to 1890, will commence on May 17th with the final scheduled for May 24th. This beloved tournament features a unique double foursome’s format with four-player teams and has been a cornerstone of Edinburgh’s golfing tradition for over 130 years, interrupted only by the two World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Teeing Off Through Time’ is the third exhibition in Edinburgh Leisure’s series celebrating Edinburgh 900 and is free to visitors in the foyer of Edinburgh Leisure’s Braid Hills golf course.

The exhibition chronicles Edinburgh’s pivotal role in golf’s origins, showcases Edinburgh Leisure’s six golf courses and their vibrant communities, explores the evolution of golf clubs, highlights the storied histories of the Dispatch Trophy and Gibson Cup, and provides information on joining Edinburgh Leisure’s golf club.

“With the Dispatch Trophy being played at the Braids, and the Scottish Open taking place at the Renaissance Club in July, we’re hoping there will be lots of golfers interested in paying the exhibition a visit,” said Kerry Teakle, PR Officer at Edinburgh Leisure, who has led the project.

“The timing couldn’t be better to celebrate our city’s tremendous golfing heritage.”

The exhibition will remain at Braid Hills until Thursday, May 29th, before moving to Silverknowes golf course. Golf enthusiasts will have another opportunity to view the exhibition from July 9-15 as part of the broader Edinburgh 900 Exhibition at St James Quarter, where it will be displayed in a unit on Leith Street, next to Mhor Bakery.

Edinburgh Leisure was selected to represent the “City of Leisure” theme at the St James Quarter exhibition. Their previous Edinburgh 900 exhibitions, ‘Great Lengths’ and ‘Your Health is for Life,’ which showcase the organisation’s 27-year commitment to promoting active lifestyles and the history of swimming pools in Edinburgh, will also be on display.

“Having the opportunity to again display our other Edinburgh 900 exhibitions alongside the newer golf exhibition at St James in July is the perfect opportunity to showcase all the great facilities we have,” Kerry added. “It also highlights Edinburgh Leisure’s Active Communities programmes which supported 14,782 people in 2024-2025 who face significant barriers to physical activity, including those affected by health conditions, disabilities, inequalities, and poverty – empowering participants to improve their health, wellbeing and quality of life.”

Edinburgh Leisure received funding for the exhibition as part of the prestigious Edinburgh 900 celebrations, a landmark initiative commemorating the city’s rich history spanning almost a millennium.

The full Edinburgh 900 programme examines the city’s evolution through commerce, conflict, faith, and finance, while celebrating Edinburgh’s present and envisioning its future aspirations.

Teeing up history at Silverknowes

Edinburgh Leisure scores Heritage Grant

Edinburgh Leisure has secured a £500 grant from the Sporting Heritage Grants Programme, made possible by the players of the National Lottery and Heritage Fund to celebrate the city’s remarkable golfing legacy. 

Working alongside their golf team, this exciting project will shine a spotlight on the rich history of Edinburgh’s six golf courses, tracing the sport’s roots from its 15th-century origins at Leith Links through to the prestigious Dispatch Trophy, which celebrates the 125th anniversary of being played. 

Silverknowes Golf Course will host an exhibition bringing together a fascinating collection of golfing treasures.

Visitors can expect to discover historical artifacts from local clubs, pore over archival photographs and documents, and dive into the personal stories of club members that have shaped the golfing community over the generations.

Rohan Craig, Golf Supervisor at Edinburgh Leisure said: “Our golf heritage exhibition will be looking to transcend traditional sporting narratives by uncovering overlooked community stories and creating inclusive pathways to engagement. By positioning golf as more than a sport – but a social and cultural touchstone – we’re hoping to attract non-traditional audiences.

“We’ll be reaching out to the various clubs that use our courses, in the hope that they can contribute physical memorabilia and archival materials, historical object and photographs and encourage anyone with interesting memorabilia to get in touch.”

This initiative, part of Sporting Heritage’s UK-wide programme celebrating local sporting history, promises to be a hole-in-one for golf enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

The exhibition will complement Edinburgh Leisure’s Edinburgh 900 exhibition, coming soon, which will be displayed at the Braids Golf Course for the 125th year of the Dispatch Trophy in May 2025.

Keep up with the project’s progress by following @sportinghistory.

Silverknowes Golf Club CLOSED

Silverknowes Golf Club issued the following statement last night:

We found out this morning that a member entered the clubhouse on Saturday morning for a very brief period of time, after having returned from Spain. He did not self isolate and we have been left with no other option but to close the club.

Myself and the staff have santised all of the clubhouse today but as a precautionary measure, we are closing the club for 72 hours. If you were in the clubhouse on Saturday and show signs of Covid please contact us as soon as possible so we may inform the track and trace team.

The club will be open for business on Thursday unless there are any repercussion from this.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter and I hope you appreciate that your safety and the staffs are paramount to us.

Regards

Carol

The Norhet Bar in Davidsons Mains has appealed to any customers who visited Silverknowes Golf Club on Saturday to stay away as a safety precaution.

Meanwhile, life in Aberdeen will begin to get back to something like normal this week ….

Following a SGORR meeting yesterday (Sunday 23 August) the First Minister has set out a timeline for the lifting of travel restrictions, limits on indoor meetings and the opening of hospitality.

A number of restrictions were lifted at midnight tonight so that today (Monday 24 August) Aberdeen will be broadly in line with the rest of Scotland. The five-mile travel limit, restrictions on gatherings and limitations on hospital and care home visits will be lifted.

Businesses due to open in line with the national route map can also reopen, with the exception of cafes, restaurants or any hospitality element within them.

These, along with restaurants, pubs, casinos and other hospitality premises, will be able to open from Wednesday 26 August, only once an environmental health check has been completed.

Hospitality business owners are being urged to get in touch with Aberdeen City Council if they have not already had an environmental health check.

The SGORR meeting included partners from Aberdeen City Council, NHS Grampian and Police Scotland, and heard the latest update from the Incident Management Team on the level of the virus and its transmission in Aberdeen.

The latest figures show a total of 427 cases have been identified in the Grampian Health Board area since 26 July. Of these 259 are associated with the same cluster linked to Aberdeen pubs, and 1,258 contacts have now been identified from those.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am grateful to people in Aberdeen – the local authority and health board, local businesses, and everyone who lives there – for complying so well with the rules that were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In particular I am grateful for the understanding of the businesses that were required to close in order to help beat the virus.

“It’s due to the commitment of people in the city, as well as world class contact tracing that means we are now able to lift some of these measures from Monday and then again from Wednesday, but it is vitally important that everyone follows the FACTS rules in order to prevent an outbreak of this scale occurring again.

“That way we can move forward and get our economy, our society and our lives generally back to as much normality as possible.”

Susan Webb, Director of Public Health for NHS Grampian said: “We must be cautious to ensure the progress we have made is maintained.

“Crucially, we must all be observing physical distancing from those not in our immediate household; whether at work, meeting socially, in a supermarket or out for exercise and recreation. It is also vitally important that anyone identified as a close contact of a detected case follows the guidance on isolating for 14 days.”

The Scottish Government has not ruled out extending restrictions if necessary to protect public health.

Remember FACTS for a safer Scotland:

F – Face coverings. These should be used in shops and on public transport (buses, trains and taxis)
A – Avoid crowded places.
C – Clean your hands frequently, using water and soap whenever possible.
T – Two metres – observe physical distancing.
S – Self-isolate and book a test if you are suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.