The Grand Hotel was a functioning hotel established in 1895 located in St. Andrews (Lamont-Brown 1995). St. Andrews is a small community on the east coast about eighty kilometres northeast of Edinburgh. It has a small harbour, the remains of an old fishing fleet, historical ruins, Scotland’s first university, and two excellent beaches making it a conventional tourist place (Butler 2005). Despite these tourist attractions, St. Andrews was very much a golf area, and it was golf that made it so popular. Golfers in this area had a variety of options for golf clubs such as; St.Rules, Union Club, Rusacks Maritime Hotel and the most famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Scotland (Butler 2005) (Grimmond 1992). 

It is known worldwide as “the home of golf” because it is acknowledged as the oldest site of recorded golf (Butler 2005). St. Andrews was one of three places to host the Open Golf Championship which inevitably brought about many tourists and attracted people to this quaint town. The war had great impacts on seaside resorts, however St. Andrews was not hit hard whatsoever. In-fact in July 1918 a citizen commented that it was “fuller than ever this season … the numerous hotels and lodgings are cram full” (Durie 1997). Thus, proving that St. Andrews was the place to be for golfers even in times of strife.