James' grandson, James IV, also tried to stop the Scots playing golf but was converted to the game. In 1502 treasury records show him paying 14 shillings for clubs and subsequent entries show bills for balls and even 14 shillings lost in a golfing wager with the Earl of Bothwell. This royal influence helped the game spread all over Scotland, even to the remote Orkney Islands. By the end of the sixteenth century the people of St Andrews enjoyed the right to play over what is now the Old Course, then common ground granted to the community by the Bishop of St Andrews. The Club's Championship Committee is responsible for the organisation of the Open Championship, the Amateur Championship and also the Boys and Youths Championships.
Membership is by invitation and includes many who have given great service to golf.
The Open was first held in St Andrews in 1873, and 1995 saw the Championship return for the twenty fifth time. St Andrews has produced many golfing giants, including Old and Young Tom Morris who dominated the Open during its early years. Each of them won the Championship four times between 1861 and 1872. Young Tom won the Championship Belt outright when he took the Championship for the third consecutive time in 1870. Other famous players who came from St Andrews include Jamie Anderson, winner of three consecutive Opens from 1877 to 1879, and Willie Auchterlonie who won the title at 21 with a set of clubs he had made himself.