Welcome to Course Notes, a new series on the courses worth remembering and the stories that made them that way. Think of these as the notes you’d jot in the margins of your yardage book.

Photos by Omar Rawlings

In 1887, Scottish surgeon Laidlaw Purves discovered a stretch of rugged land in Sandwich and set out to build a course worthy of rivaling St. Andrews.

Seven years later, his vision was realized when the club hosted the first Open Championship held outside Scotland, a milestone followed by the granting of royal status in 1902.