A club of their own
Mrs Robert Todd Boothby and Miss Ellen Boothby found the St Andrews Ladies' Golf Club on ground north of the Swilcan Burn. 22 women play the first competition on 6 October. Early prizes: gold lockets, brooches and opera glasses.
The HimalayasSt Andrews, ScotlandEst. 1867
Putting was always its own game.
In 1867 a club of women in St Andrews built a course where putting was the whole game, not the end of someone else's. Old Tom Morris laid it out and they've run it ever since. Puttr is built on the same idea, and this is our thank you.
World's oldest ladies' golf club159 years and still theirs27 holes, putters only
1867
The St Andrews Ladies' Golf Club is founded. The world's oldest ladies' golf club, and the birthplace of putting as its own game.
22
women played the first competition on 6 October 1867: 45 holes, three rounds, a winning score of 139.
27
holes on the green today, played with nothing but a putter, by a club of around 150 women who still run it.
The St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club
How putting became the game.
In the 1860s the women of St Andrews putted on the links and the caddies complained they were taking over their ground. So the women got their own. What they built has outlasted almost everything else in golf.
Scroll the timeline
Old Tom, still on the green
Twenty-five years in, Old Tom Morris is still the green-keeper. He laid out the original miniature links on rough, whin-covered ground, when a cleek and a putter were needed, and kept smoothing it until only a putter was. He retires in 1895 and is made an honorary member.
The Himalayas gets its name
New ground to the north brings the peaks and troughs that give the course its nickname. A fishermen's path called Jordan still crosses it. Zodiac-design monthly medals arrive in 1895.
The first shelter
A corrugated-iron shelter goes up beside the green, the club's first clubhouse. It stands until 1968. The current building dates from 1999.
The busiest green in golf
Membership reaches 400 lady members plus 200 gentleman associates. By 1904 the club has 670 members: 240 unmarried women, 230 married women and 200 associates.
The R&A comes to play
The annual match between the R&A captains and the Himalayas captains begins. It is still played. One R&A captain admitted the men were “apprehensive at the idea of getting another beating.”
Still theirs
Around 150 members. Competitions April to September: Wednesday afternoons and Thursday-morning shotgun starts of up to 60 players. Hole positions change every week, and 27 holes are open to anyone with £4 and a putter. Tom Watson played it after his final Open in 2015. It remains independent, and it remains a ladies' club.
The same idea, 159 years apart
They built something for putting alone. So did we.
The Himalayas isn't a practice green attached to a course. It's the course. Puttr isn't a putting mat, it’s a community and platform for friendly competition and game improvement.
What we believe
The best putter in the world can be anyone.
Putting is hard, and its the most important and under practiced part of golf. It rewards pace, line, nerve and repetition. Whoever does the work rolls it best, and the data says exactly who that is. The women of the Himalayas knew it in 1867, and Puttr is carrying it forward.
The Himalayas offer
For women in golf, from Puttr.
Three things, in honour of the club that started it.
Membership
1 year free
Puttr Club, on us
A full year of Puttr Club for women players. Everything a member gets, for the first 12 months, at no cost.
- Online tournaments and online play
- Coaching insights on your tendencies
- Every game, every stat, every challenge
- A $199.99 value
Giving
10% of every sale
To charity
10% of every Puttr sold through this page goes to charity. You get better at putting, and the game gets a little bigger.
- Applies to every Puttr ordered with code HIMALAYAS
- Tracked and reported each quarter
- No extra cost to you
Competition
Monthly tournament
The Himalayas Tournament
A monthly online tournament named for the green that started it all, with prizes for women players every single month.
- Open to every Puttr Club member
- Women's prizes every month
- New setup every month, like the Himalayas
Claim your free year
Three steps in the Puttr app.
Download the app, open Profile → Membership, and tap Apply for the Himalayas membership. Most applications are verified within a day.
Step 1
Get a Puttr, or sign in
Order a Puttr from this page, or sign in if you already putt on one at home, at your coach's, or at a venue.
Step 2
Apply and verify
Open Profile → Membership and apply. Tell us a little about how you play. That's it.
Step 3
Putt free for a year
Full Puttr Club unlocked for 12 months, and a spot in the first Himalayas Tournament of the season.
The club on the Himalayas, Old Tom Morris watching · September 1894
Go play the original
The Himalayas is open to everyone.
It sits between the Old Course and West Sands, a ten-minute walk from the centre of St Andrews. You don't need to be a member. You don't even need to bring a putter. You do need to be ready to three-putt from 12 feet and love it.
Open daily April to October, plus weekends in March
£4 a round for adults, £2 for seniors and under-16s. Putters and balls available, but bring your own if you can
Right of the Old Course's 1st green. During The Open, spectators walk across it and the buggies park on it
Book and learn more at standrewsputtingclub.com
Puttr is not affiliated with the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club. This page is a tribute. Go and see them.
Himalayas questions, answered
The details.
Who qualifies for the free year of Puttr Club?
Women players of any age and any handicap. Apply in the app under Profile → Membership. Verification is quick and the membership runs for 12 months from the day it's approved.
Do I need to buy a Puttr to get the free year?
You need access to a Puttr to use Puttr Club: your own, your coach's, or one at a venue. If you're buying one, order it from this page so 10% of the sale goes to charity. If you already putt on one, just apply in the app.
What's in Puttr Club?
Online tournaments, online play against anyone, and coaching insights that find your tendencies across hundreds of putts. Normally $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year. See the full comparison on the Puttr Club page.
Is the Himalayas Tournament women-only?
No. It's open to every Puttr Club member, and the overall leaderboard is one field. The prizes each month go to the top women players. Everyone else plays for the leaderboard and the bragging rights.
Where does the 10% go?
10% of every Puttr sold through this page is donated to charity. We publish the total each quarter so you can see exactly what your order contributed.
Is Puttr connected to the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club?
No. The club is independent and has been since 1867. This page celebrates what they built and the idea behind it. If you're ever in St Andrews, £4 gets you a round on the original.
The Himalayas
They made putting the game. Now go win it.
A free year of Puttr Club for women players, a tournament with your name on it, and 10% of every sale to charity.
Claim your free yearPhotography: hero and closing image, “Himalayas Putting Course” by Bill Boaden, geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. “The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews” by Walter Baxter, geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0. Archival photographs of the Himalayas, Old Tom Morris (1892) and the Ladies' Putting Club: reproductions by Sean Arble, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; the 1894 photograph is in the public domain. Club history from the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club.