The History of Golf

Golf as we know it was invented in Scotland, but its roots stretches back into Flanders. The first record of “Chole” is from 1353 and portrays a something that could be described as a mix between hockey and golf played in Flanders (Belgium). The game was preferably played on ice and the players used sticks curved at the bottom to move balls from starting point to finish point. Since Scottish and Dutch merchants traveled a lot between the two regions and traded with each other, the game played in Flanders soon spread to Scotland where it developed on the grassy Scottish fields and soon ceased to be a winter game. It was the Scots that started to dig holes in the ground instead of simply selecting a finishing point. Digging a hole in the Dutch ice had naturally not been a good idea.
Even though the game changed a great deal after being introduced in Scotland, the balls where still often imported from Flanders. The more patriotic Scots claim that golf instead evolved from different stick-and-ball games that we know were played all over the British Isles as early as the Middle Ages. These games were inspired by a stick-and-ball game introduced to the British Isles by the Romans.
The first record of the term golf is from 1457 when King James II of Scotland outlawed golf as well as soccer, since the games were so popular that they made the king’s archers skip their practice and play golf and soccer instead. James III re-issued this law in 1471, and James IV followed in his footsteps with a new ban in 1491. Golf did however continue its development in Scotland despite the ban. Even during these early days, all the essential parts of golf had already been invented. The players used a club to swing a ball into a hole in the ground. The player that managed to get the ball into the hole using the least amount of strokes won.
The word gold is derived from the Old Scots words “goff” or “glove”, and these words in turn derive from “kolf” or “kolve”, medieval Dutch words that simply meant club. When the words kolf and kolve were imported to Scottland, the old Scottish dialect transformed the letter K into G, and the game was called Goff, Glove, Golve and Gowl. During the 16th century, the word Golf became established.
The ban on golf had been issued in a time when Scotland was preparing to defend itself from the English. In 1502, the Treaty of Glasgow made it possible for James I of England (King James IV) to lift the ban. He even began to play himself and turned into a keen golf enthusiast. The game became highly fashionable and its popularity spread over the British Isles during the 16th century, partly thanks to King Charles I who loved to play golf. Mary Queen of Scots had French roots and she introduced the game to the French while she attended school in France. The word “caddie” actually steams from a French word – cadet. The cadets of the French Military helped Mary Queen of Scots when she played golf.
Two of the oldest golf courses in the world are Leith and the Old Links. Leith is located close to Edinburgh and the Old Links is found at Musselburgh. When King Charles I received the news about the Irish rebellion in 1641 he was actually standing at Leith. The Old Links was founded in 1672. The first international golf match took place at Leith in 1682. The Duke of York and George Patterson (playing for Scotland) managed to beat two English players. Strangely enough, it wasn’t until 1744 that the first known golf rules were written down and published in Edinburgh.
The game of golf has of course changed a lot over the years that it has been played and more and more technology is involved in and surrounding the game. An example among many of such technologies that has affected the experience of golf is golf carts.
It was in Scotland, however that the game really developed.  Up and down the east coast, it apparently became so popular a pastime that in 1457 King James II, in an Act of Parliament, banned golf – and soccer too – because they were interfering with archery practice.  Skill with the bow and arrow was crucial to keeping the English out of Scotland.  The game remained uniquely – perhaps with its Dutch counterpart of kolf - until James VI of Scotland also became King of England and took the game south with him.  At Blackheath in South London, the Scottish noblemen laid out a seven-hole course so they could continue playing their beloved game.
The early courses in Scotland bore little resemblance to those of today.  The game was played over public land – as in places it still is – with natural hazards and obstacles to negotiate   Not only were walls and ditches part of the game, but players often had to thread their way through others out enjoying their various recreations – horse racing, cricket, picnicking and so on.
Caddies were hired by the golfers, not just to carry the clubs – golf bags were not invented until around 1870 – but to help make a way through the other activities on the links and presumably to watch out for the ball.
Courses were natural, manicured only by sheep and rabbits.  There were no formal tees as such; players simply teed up a few feet from the previous hole.
Rules, of course, developed over the years, and golf clubs were formed.  The oldest of these, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers – now based at Muirfield – was founded in 1744, while ten years later the Society of St. Andrews’ Golfers was created.
The rules of various clubs and courses were standardized, following St. Andrews’ lead in using 18 holes.  Before 1764, the course at St. Andrews consisted of 22 holes, others had as few as 6 and as many as 25.  But by 1858 it had been agreed.  the Society of St. Andrews Golfers, having become the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in 1834 now ruled that a round of golf should be 18 holes.  And so it has remained.
The game developed rapidly and began to be played professionally in the mid-1800′s.  Allan Robertson, the first great professional golfer, died in 1858.  Some say that his death prompted the first professional championship at Prestwick in 1860 to find a new national champion.  This competition was opened to amateurs in 1861 to become the first Open Championship.  In 1863 it attracted prize money for the winner of just 10 pounds.   And from there, the game of golf developed to the game we now know today.