A Brief History of Golf
Golf is an honored and ancient sport — so ancient, in fact, that its true origins are unclear. There is evidence for tracing golf’s lineage to the Scots, the Dutch and even the Chinese. However, it is commonly accepted today to say that golf, as we know it, originated in Scotland sometime in the eleven-hundreds.
In the ‘old days’, so to speak, golf wasn’t nearly as genteel as it is now. There were no lawnmowers or dedicated groundskeepers to eke out beautiful courses.
Instead, the Scots of St.Andrews sought out their own greens among the hills, and golfed upon any reasonably navigable stretches they could find. In other words, the locations and distances between holes were dictated by the surrounding terrain.
Despite this ‘in the rough’ approach, the Scots did establish a general ‘green’ as well as a clubhouse in the area of Fife. Players began their game at the clubhouse and played each hole to the end of the course (usually eleven holes), then back-tracked to play each hole to the clubhouse for a grand total of 22 holes in an average game, rather than today’s standard of 18.
Additionally, the equipment used to play golf was primarily made of wood all the way up to the nineteenth century. Only in the advancement of modern material and manufacturing did we end up with irons, dimpled balls, tees and today’s lightweight graphite composite clubs.
As the game of golf grows in popularity, it also breaks down barriers. For much of its history, golf has been a game of English-speaking countries. However, the sport is now catching on across the globe with new courses opening up in Asia and Africa — many of them ‘firsts’ in their respective countries.
