A Quick History of Golf

While the definitive history of golf has yet to be uncovered, the game has existed in one form or another since at least medieval times, when games were played with balls and clubs.  The game itself grew out of a ball and club game on the fjord of the Firth of Forth in Scotland.

According to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the game of golf was invented in Scotland.  While ball and club games were played in other places, like the Netherlands and China, among others, the golf game we recognize today with 18 holes almost surely originated in Scotland.  In fact, there is 1457 documentation of the existence of golf in the form of an Act of Scottish Parliament wherein James II of Scotland banned the playing of “gowf” and football because they were distracting soldiers from practicing archery, which was needed for military tactics.

Golf was banned in Parliamentary Acts of 1471 and 1491 because golf was deemed unprofitable, and Mary Queen of Scots was frowned upon for playing golf right after the murder of her husband in 1567.  Golf was not considered a suitable pastime for women at that time, so it was … Read more at FryingPanSports