John Gourlay

Gourlay was famed as a feather ball maker, and was not only the greatest authority on the rules of golf, but had a perfect style as a player and as a man was held in the highest respect. For years he managed the course at Musselburgh, saw to the green being kept and the holes renewed when they grew rugged and uneven. His house in Millhill Street was the haunt of many choice amateurs where they made up their matches, recorded their wagers and kept their clubs.

The Gourlay family acquired great fame as ball makers. They operated at the Bruntsfield Links before going to the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club. The Gourlay name was known throughout the British Isles by the middle of the eighteenth century and a ‘gourlay’ became an accepted synonym for the best set of balls – to the extent of using the name in poetry and song.

The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club has six highly prized specimens and one was donated by William Currie the then captain of the club, to the U.S.G.A. Museum and Library. It bears the name ‘Dougla’ on one side and ‘Gourlay’ on the other side.