Golf – History Of A Game In Constant Evolution

The true origins of the game now called golf have been hotly debated over the years, as throughout history almost every civilisation has played some form of game with a club and a ball. Various competing ideas have been put forward as to its initial derivation and over the years there have been many different ways to play. Probably the one constant that is universally accepted, is that the original essence of the modern game can trace its origins back to the pastime of “gowf”, as played on the links lands of the East of Scotland long before the 15th Century, which has over time grown into the great game of “golf” as we currently know it.

It was around the seaside towns of Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Leith on the outskirts of Edinburgh, with their expanses of rolling sandy grounds, or links, which lie between the sea and the town, that a game resembling today’s golf really took hold and formed the discernable start of an evolutionary process which still continues right up to this day.

Since this time, there have been many changes within the game with the rules changing numerous times over the years (http://www.ruleshistory.com/ ), ever since the earliest surviving written rules created by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith in March 1744. The balls have also been subject to developments, with the introduction at St Andrews, in 1848, of an inexpensive and more durable rubbery ball to replace the previously expensive and unpredictable feathery balls which would often not last even a one entire game.

Another significant milestone in golfing history was the creation in 1851 of the first purpose built golf course in Prestwick on the links of Monkton parish, followed soon after in 1860 by the first open championship on the same course. Since that time the game has spread right around the world from Europe to America and even through to China and Japan. The courses however still tend to imitate those earliest of Scottish creations, although American courses have leant towards longer fairways and softer greens. Competitions have also seen a massive growth in interest, following recent sponsorship deals and the introduction of televised coverage.

These days everyone seems to want to play. During the summer, courses become heavily used and parks throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK are filled with people knocking a ball about. There are purpose built golf courses all around the country, and there are specialist companies offering short golfing holidays (http://www.superbreak.com/search/golf-breaks.htm ) who are now tapping in to the desire to play on some of the world's finest courses which are to be found in Britain.

Today the game of golf has significantly evolved from the primitive, haphazard and casual game it started out as, with the very earliest players initially having to carve their own clubs and balls from wood. Now modern casting methods mean that clubs can be made much stronger and more affordably making the game open to all who want to play, while research into synthetic and composite materials has lead to top end performance clubs using titanium heads and graphite shafts for those who can afford them. While most designers have sought to improve performance through subtle developments such as materials changes, other ingenious entrepreneurs have tried making clubs which contain a built in gyroscope or created a single reusable shaft and a selection of changeable screw in club heads, in order to out wit the rules.

Changes in ball design, official rules, the introduction of more competitive equipment produced by skilled craftsmen such as forged metal heads for niblick clubs which were prone to breakage, increases in the number of courses, and promotion by the media, have made what was a simple pastime in Scotland into a multimillion pound worldwide phenomenon.

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A History of Golf

What country invented ‘golf?’ Many countries did. If there were sticks and objects that could be hurtled along, then there was ‘golf.’ No one knows for certain who started golf. But everybody knows who plays it now — everyone does.

The origin of the name ‘golf’ is believed to be the Dutch word of 'colf,' which means 'club.' In the medieval ages, golf was also known as “spel metten colve,’ which literally meant 'game with clubs.'

Nearly every area around the world has some claim to the origination of golf. Scotland, of course, has its claim. But so do China, Rome, England, France, Holland, Belgium, even Laos. Every country has a game consisting of sticks and balls, and every country is correct in its assumption that it invented the game. But there is no one country where ‘golf’ actually began.

Still, Scotland is widely considered to be birthplace of golf. And it began haphazardly, a way of hitting a pebble or other roundish object into a hole by means of a stick or club.

Edinburgh, Scotland, claimed the first golfing society. The Gentlemen Golfers – later known as the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and today in residence at Muirfield – claim their club was already under way in 1744.

The first inter-Scotland club matches were played in 1857. The world would wait until 1860 for the first British Open to be played.

The British Open was being played 35 years before the U.S. Open. It has been called “The World Open.” Players from around the globe participate, as they have for a century or more. The British Open is all-inclusive. The U.S. Open has been moving in that direction for the last decade. But the British Open has been accepting a cast from around the world since the turn of the century.

It is not known for certain when golf came to America — only that when it got a toehold in the 20th century, America became the world leader in great players. By 1900, the explosion of the game in America was complete. Proof was that, at the turn of the century, there were more golf clubs in the United States than there were in Britain.

Tiger Woods came upon the scene in 1996. He won eight times in 1999, nine times in 2000, and won the four major championships in succession in 2000-2001, starting with the U.S. Open in 2000. Should his career be as successful in his 30s and 40s as it has been in his 20s, he will assume the mantle of “best player ever.”

Women have played a very large part in the history of golf, even before the last half of the 20th century when they finally achieved equality with men. Records of ladies playing golf exist all the way back to the time of Mary Queen of Scots.

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