THE oldest golf scorecard in the world, from a game played at Musselburgh, goes under the hammer at Edinburgh auctioneers Bonhams next week.

Estimated at £2,500-3,500, the card, which has been framed and mounted, dates from December 2, 1820.

It shows that a Mr Cundell played the five holes within the Musselburgh race track twice, a total of 10 holes in 84 strokes. Charmingly, the golfer provided his own commentary in a handwritten note at the bottom of the card: “Dreadful storm of wind and rain – atmosphere quite yellow – just like the lurid regions of Pandemonium.”

Mr Cundell is almost certainly James Cundell, who was closely involved with the Thistle Golf Club since its founding in 1815 and who published one of the first ever rule books of golf in 1824.

Kevin McGimpsey, Bonhams’ golfing memorabilia consultant, said: “This original scorecard is in remarkable condition considering its age and the atrocious weather conditions at the time Mr Cundell played his round.

“It has an excellent provenance, having once belonged to the well-known golfer Sir Henry Cotton, who kept it in his renowned Black Tin Box with other rare examples of historical golfing memorabilia.

“The scorecard predates the oldest cards owned by the international golf museums.”

The scorecard will be auctioned at Bonhams’ next sporting sale at its 22 Queen Street saleroom on Wednesday, which will present Part II of The Pierre Horwitz Collection of golfing memorabilia. This covers the period from the early part of the 19th century to the 1920s and concentrates especially on the manufacture of clubs and balls and rare patented designs of both.

Other highlights include: a white painted feather golf ball, handmade in about 1840 by Allan Robertson, one of the most gifted of the early professional golfers; and a long nosed scared neck putter from about 1856-63 made by Robert Forgan. The Pierre Horwitz collection Part I made a total of £117,000 last October.

Documentary evidence proves that golf was played on Musselburgh Links as early as 1672 although Mary, Queen of Scots reputedly played there in 1567.