The Condensed History of Golf

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The incredibly popular game of Golf is said to have it's home in Scotland, more specifically it developed along the east coast on patches of ground known as 'links'. These links got their name because it was an area of hilly grassland linking the sand dunes and beach areas to the arable farm areas situated further inland. This ground is pretty useless for arable farming as the soil is very thin and just below the surface is sand. More stable than the dunes the links are covered in a fine grass which was kept short by the effects of grazing from rabbits, cattle and sheep. Altogether the ground was superbly springy and perfect for a game such as golf and other forms of recreation.

The exact roots of the game of golf are highly debated with both Holland and France also laying claim to it's creation. However, to understand the game's development all cases need to be examined closely and, simply put, the differences are just too great to give the claims any credence. Interestingly an ancient Roman game called paganica holds a curious resemblance in that it included the use of a ball made from a leather pouch crammed full of feathers. In the not too distant past the balls used in golf were also made using feathers and were known, for this reason, as featheries.

The Dutch game of kolven is still played today and is general discounted as the source of golf. and the French games of jeu de mail and chole are equally discounted. The thing is that only the ancient Scottish game of 'gowf' (played since, at least, in the twelfth century near St Andrews) sounds anywhere near golf and it is the only game that has the requirement of hitting the ball into a small hole in the ground using little more than a fancy stick.

The first documented evidence shows that in 1457 King James II of Scotland tried to ban the game of 'gowf' (through an act of parliament) because he believed that people played it far too much at the expense of more important things such as archery. Further evidence appears in 1552 when the people of St Andrews were granted the right to use the links for recreational purposes such as playing golf (by charter). Other documentary evidence can be found in church records which show many people receiving various punishments for playing golf on the Sabbath (Sunday).

As the popularity of the game increased the competition also increased and, in 1744, the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith (now known as the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers) petitioned Edinburgh City Council for a prize of a silver club to be awarded to the winner of the annual golf competition held on Leith Links. However it was not until 1897 that the Scottish game of golf acquired an official set of rules.

The job of drawing up the official rules fell upon the famous Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews who were also to have the final say in such matters. However it was not until 1951 that the global rules of golf were unified with the Royal & Ancient and the United States Golf Association settling many of the differences between the Scottish and American rules of the game. Today the rules are the same the world over but many golfers visit St Andrews to play a round or two on the many courses in the area, especially on the old course.