James Lindsay Memorial Trophy
One of the clubs highlights of the year for our lowest handicapped members is the participation in oldest inter club match in the world. This match is now known as the Lindsay Shield and is played annually in April. .
The Lindsay Shield is an interclub match between the three artisan golf clubs, The Carnoustie Golf Club, Leven Thistle Golf Club and The St Andrews Golf Club. The roots of the competiton can be traced back over 150 years as The St Andrews Golf Club played its first match in 1873 against Carnoustie.
Leven Thistle Golf Club was instituted with the view of encouraging a love for the game among artisans. Team golf has always been held in high regard amongst the three artisan clubs. The three clubs contest the Lindsay Shield each year on a triangular basis with matches being played on two dates for each club both home and away. It is testament to the golfing ability in the clubs that the matches are played as a fifty a side format and only low handicap golfers feature in the teams. The clubs 50 members play the same day, split between both venues with 25 taking part on each course.
The St Andrews Golf Club at their AGM in 1953 procured a trophy for the inter-club matches. The trophy was presented to the club by the family of the late James Lindsay. In 1953 St Andrews defeated Carnoustie, as a result the Club became the first holders of the James Lindsay Memorial Trophy. Mr Lindsay had been a golf professional from St Andrews and was the father of Mr J.L. Lindsay who had captained the University Golf Club.