A £3,000 target has been set to provide lasting memorials to British Open champions at Musselburgh.

As reported in the Musselburgh Courier, Stevie Hill, captain of Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club, wants to see game legends David ‘Deacon’ Brown, Bob Ferguson and Jack White remembered in the town’s graveyard at Inveresk.

He noticed there were grave markers for Mr Ferguson, a three-time Open champion, and Mr White, but no headstones. He also wants to properly recognise Mr Brown, who is buried there, too.

He has now launched a crowdfunding page to raise funds for headstones with details of their victories to be installed, as a reminder of their sporting prowess on the links and their connections with Musselburgh.

Mr White was born at Pefferside, near Whitekirk, in 1873 and died in Musselburgh in 1949, aged 75. He is best remembered as the winner of the 1904 Open Championship at Royal St George’s.

Mr Ferguson, who was born in Musselburgh in 1846 and died in the town in 1915, won a hat-trick of consecutive titles at the Open Championship in 1880 (at Musselburgh), 1881 and 1882. He became Custodian of the Links at Musselburgh and taught the boys of Loretto School how to play golf.

Mr Brown, who born in Musselburgh in 1861 and died, aged 75, at Inveresk in 1936, won the 1886 Open Championship and finished second in the 1903 US Open.

In total, he had 12 top-10 finishes in major championship tournaments.

The cemetery is also the resting place of famous Open Champions Willie Park Snr, the first to lift the coveted title in 1860 at Prestwick, going on to become a four-time Open champion, and his son Willie Park Jnr, both from Wallyford.

In 1974, Musselburgh Town Council, with the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club, erected a stone to mark Willie Park Snr’s grave. This, and Willie Jnr’s wall-mounted stone, were cleaned and re-lettered with help from the Old Musselburgh Club in 2007.

The only Open champion whose grave is as yet undiscovered is that of their relative Mungo Park, who won in 1874, coming from a career as a seaman to have his name inscribed on the Claret Jug. No burial marker has yet been found for him.

To donate to the fundraiser, go to www.gofundme.com/f/7rwbp-open-champions