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The ‘royal’ title was first bestowed upon a golf course in 1833.
And unless King Charles III breaks with precedent, the monarch’s reign will likely coincide with multiple clubs being granted permission to use ‘royal’ appellation.
More than 70 different clubs around the world have been awarded the status by King Charles’ predecessors, ten of whom during the reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The most recent of those was Bad Homburg vor der Höhe in Germany, which became Royal Homburger in 2013.
The most recent British club to get royal designation was this year’s Open host venue Troon back in 1978.
It’s worth noting, King Charles isn’t the only monarch who has the power to grant royal status. Indeed, the Spanish royal family has given the status to 24 clubs, whilst other countries to have done likewise, including Belgium, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, Swaziland and Nepal.
Here’s a full list of royal golf clubs to have been granted the prestigious status and the monarch who awarded it to them…
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William IV
The Royal Perth Golfing Society & County & City Club, Scotland (1833)
Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Scotland (1834)
Victoria
Royal Montrose Mercantile, Scotland (1845)
Royal Blackheath, England (1845)
Royal North Devon, England (1867)
Royal Liverpool, England (1871)
Royal Musselburgh, Scotland (1876)
Royal Jersey, Jersey (1879)
Royal Wimbledon, England (1882)
Royal Isle of Wight, England (1883)
Royal Montreal, Canada (1884)
Royal Belfast, Northern Ireland (1885)
Royal Ascot, England (1887)
Royal Eastbourne, England (1887)
Royal Malta, Malta (1888)
Royal Cromer, England (1888)
Royal Epping Forest, England (1888)
Royal Guernsey, Guernsey (1891)
Royal Dublin, Ireland (1891)
Royal Cornwall, England (1891)
Royal West Norfolk, England (1892)
Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland (1892)
Royal Ashdown Forest, England (1893)
Royal Norwich, England (1893)
Royal Eastbourne Ladies’, England (1893)
Royal Worlington and Newmarket, England (1895)
Royal Melbourne, Australia (1895)
Royal Sydney, England (1897)
Royal Hong Kong, China (1897-1996)
Edward VII
Royal Household, England (1901)
Royal St George’s, England (1902)
Royal Aberdeen, Scotland (1903)
Royal Dornoch, Scotland (1906)
Royal County Down, Northern Ireland (1908)
Royal St David’s, Wales (1908)
Royal Porthcawl, Wales (1909)
Royal Craggan, Scotland (1909)
Royal Cinque Ports, England (1910)
Royal Curragh, Ireland (1910)
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George V
Royal Cape, South Africa (1910)
Royal Calcutta, India (1910)
Royal Ottawa, Canada (1912)
Royal Winchester, England (1913)
Royal Queensland, Australia (1921)
Royal Adelaide, Australia (1923)
Royal Port Alfred, South Africa (1924)
Duff House Royal, Scotland (1925)
Royal Hobart, Australia (1926)
Royal Lytham & St Annes, England (1926)
Royal Mid-Syrrey, England (1926)
Royal Tarlair, Scotland (1926)
Royal Colombo, Sri Lanka (1928)
Royal Burgess, Scotland (1929)
Royal Harare, Zimbabwe (1929)
Royal Fremantle, Australia (1930)
Royal Colwood, Canada (1931)
Royal Johannesburg & Kensington, South Africa (1931)
Royal Durban, South Africa (1932)
Royal Ashdown Forest Ladies, England (1932)
Royal Canberra, Australia (1933)
Royal Quebec, Canada (1934)
Royal Nairobi, Kenya (1935)
George VI
Royal Perth, Australia (1937)
Royal Singapore, Singapore (1938)
Royal Birkdale, England (1951)
Elizabeth II
Royal Island, Singapore (1952)
Royal Selangor, Malaysia (1953)
Royal Troon, Scotland (1978)
Royal Regina, Canada (1999)
Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic (2003)
Royal Wellington, New Zealand (2004)
Royal Mayfair, Canada (2005)
Royal Auckland, New Zealand (2010)
Royal Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (2012)
Royal Homburger, Germany (2013)
Unknown
Royal Bombay Gymkhana, India (N/A)
Royal Western India, India (N/A)
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