The History of Golf
Don't know what to give your uncle for Christmas? Just get him some clever golf-related gift. He'll love it. Because PEOPLE LOVE GOLF. No running, no tackling, not even any cheering. Where did this slow-paced, no-impact sport come from?
The game of golf has come a long way since it was first played in around 1497. Around that time, people were whacking pebbles around a natural course of sand dunes, hills, and lawns. They used primitive sticks or clubs. It's modern name, golf, is believed to have survived from the Scots word for "to strike". The game itself has been called many names over time, gowlf, golve, even chole. Those first golf enthusiasts could never have imagined what their quaint little game would become.
Modern golf is a multi-million dollar professional sport that has spawned superstars like Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer and is also enjoyed by millions of Country Club members all over America.
Golf has been popular since its inception. In 1457, the Scots were so preoccupied with playing golf that King James II had to actually outlaw the sport in order to get people focused on military training, in order to defend Scotland from an English invasion. "Wha? The outlanders are comin'? Ach, there's time for another round." The ban was finally officially lifted by the Treaty of Glasgow, when King James IV started playing the game himself in 1502. Since then, the game has always been associated with the rich and powerful.
The "traditional" golf we know today first caught on in 1744 with the establishment of The Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, the first actual club that held games for prizes and established many of the rules we play by today. Some of these first rules of golf, written by a man named Duncan Forbes, may look familiar, even if they are worded in old-fashioned English.
You may be wondering, "What about St. Andrew's?" St. Andrew's is perhaps the most famous golf course in the world. The St. Andrews Society of Golfers was formed in order to compete against the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith. The first 18-hole course was established at St. Andrews in 1764, which has become the standard course today.
But when did golf catch on? See the following Golf in the United States.