Clubhouse at St. Andrews
Founded in 1754 the R & A is the oldest golf club in the world. It plays host to the British Open every summer and is the top golf destination in the world. Now thanks to Scotland native Alastair Johnston it will be home to the greatest collection of golf books.
Alastair Johnston and his golf books
Currently the library stands at 28,000 books with hundreds of new additions planned to be added every year. Aside from his collecting, Johnston co-wrote with his father, The Chronicles of Golf , considered by many to be one of the seminal works on the history of golf.
Says Johnston:
“I am honored that the R&A has accepted so gracefully the donation of my golf library,” Johnston said. “The commitment it is making to locate it in St Andrews, in the epicenter of the historical roots of the game of golf, and provide future guardianship of so much that has been printed about it over the last 400 years or so is very much appreciated.”
Johnston publishes a monumental bibliography of the collection that he expands on every year. The bibliographies are privately printed in a very small number for private distribution.
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