ST ANDREWS may lay claim to being the ‘Home of Golf’, but East Lothian’s claim is as strong.

Our 19 courses include the oldest continuously played course in the world at Musselburgh, and the oldest established golf club at Muirfield.

Though spread all over the county, the courses cluster along the sandy coast, where a series of classic links courses are to be found, centred on North Berwick.

But what is less well known is that, beside Ben Sayers, many locals were instrumental in taking golf global by their own efforts. By becoming course designers and professionals, sons of fishermen and tradesmen parlayed their start as caddies for Victorian rich and famous summering at the ‘Biarritz of the North’ into rewarding and often glamorous careers.

Starting life as plasterers, the Thomson brothers emigrated to become golf instructors at Merion Cricket Club in Pennsylvania, where Robert stayed. James moved to the prestigious Apawamis country club, New York, becoming a founder member of America’s PGA Tour.

Born of a shopkeeping family (22 Forth Street was still a shop in the 1950s), James Gullane learned club-making from Ben Sayers across the street. Sayers’ connections found James work at Merion before being appointed professional at the Broadmoor Country Club in Colorado.

James Hutchison, son of the clubmaker on the West Links, emigrated to America, became head pro at the Philadelphia Golf Club, then organised Australia’s first Open and lay out the course for the Sydney Golf Club.

George Livingstone was a joiner when he emigrated to became professional at Belle Meade, Nashville, TN. David Grant, a ball maker on West Links, saw all four sons became professionals: at Le Touguet (France); Maloja (Switzerland); Cannes; and Bala (Philadelphia, PA).

The full list is a globetrotter’s itinerary: Robert Murray to Dresden; George Turnbull to Portland, OR; Alexander McLaren to Melbourne; Robert Millar to Kalamazoo, MI; Robert Johnstone to Seattle, WA; Maynard Goldsmith to Lucerne; John Keppel to Manila; John Johnstone to Port Elizabeth; the Grant brothers to Monte Carlo; Michael Burke to Corsica, Berlin, Florida... it just keeps on.

Nearly 50 people comprise the itinerary for a walking tour of North Berwick, not just familiar names like Ben Sayers and Catriona Matthew. All are celebrated in a golfing heritage trail, visiting the houses in which they grew up or lived. Compiled by local history buffs Douglas Seaton, John Fergie and Irene Stewart, the leaflet is available from local libraries.