Birdies Among the Vines

'Birdies Among the Vines' is primarily a history of golf in the grape-growing areas of South Australia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, it describes how golf was played on privately-owned courses that were co-located with vineyards and wineries. Typically, the owners and developers of those properties (and their associated golf courses) were first or second-generation migrants from Scotland. However, in the Barossa Valley - where the earliest settlers were predominately of German heritage - that was not always the case. The book begins with brief worldwide histories of golf and wine, followed by a chapter about the beginnings of both golf and wine in the Colony of New South Wales. This is where the relationship between Australian golf and wine began - together, as the enterprises of Scottish immigrants. The book goes on to describe the origins of golf in numerous South Australian localities, including the winegrowing regions of Oakbank, McLaren Vale, Willunga, Magill, Mitcham, Beaumont, Gawler, Clare, Angaston, Kapunda, Eden Valley, Greenock and Tanunda. Because of its importance to the game's growth in all of those regions, the origins of the South Australian Golf Association are also explored.