A Brief History Of Golf

The immensely popular game of golf generates enormous sums of money each year from television rights for the top competitions, incredible sponsorship deal, golf tourism and many other sources. Golfing tourism has always been a big money spinner with new golf courses being planned by the likes of Donald Trump costing a fortune. Out of all the lovely places he had to choose from he looked to the east of Scotland, the home of golf, for his latest and greatest venture.

Of all the other countries that lay claim to being the home of golf only France and Holland offer anything of any substance. The French have two possible games, jeu de mail and chole, and the Dutch have just one, kolven. Unfortunately there is insufficient evidence to prove that any were the actual forerunner of modern golf.

Paganica was a game played by the ancient Romans across Europe. What makes this game stand out from the others is that the ball used in the game was made from a small pouch made from leather and stuffed tightly with feathers. The early golf balls were made in a similar fashion and were commonly referred to as featheries. Unfortunately, for the games mentioned, it is only in the game of golf that you need to sink the ball into a hole in the ground using a club.

The clear, and obvious, winner of the completion for being the forerunner of golf is the Scottish game of gowf. Played since the 12th century gowf is essentially the same game as golf. Played on areas of ground called links, found on the east coast of Scotland, gowf was one of the most popular games of it's day.

All along the east coast of Scotland are stretches of, rather hilly, links, which link the sandy beaches to the fertile arable ground found further inland. Due to the fact that this land was virtually useless for growing crops it was treated as common ground for use for recreation and grazing animals. The constant grazing of sheep cattle and rabbits, plus the effects of man and beast trampling the ground, led to the area being covered in a species of grass that was very fine and always kept short. Furthermore, the fact that this ground was also rather springy, meant that this naturally occurring type of land was perfect for the game of golf.

We know for a fact that, by 1457, golf had become a very popular pastime. It was so popular that the king of Scotland, James II, attempted to ban the sport by act of parliament. He was convinced that the men of Scotland would be far better off devoting their time in practicing for war and wished that they would take up archery and the likes instead. A fact that could be said to be supported by the Scottish defeats of later years.

More documented evidence of golf playing in Scotland is found in 1552 when a charter was granted which allowed the folk of St Andrews to use the links as a recreation ground. Golf is specifically listed in the games which were to be allowed. The popularity of golf annoyed the church which kindly supplies us with more evidence. Apparently there are many church records which show a mixture of punishments against sinners who had committed the crime of playing golf on Sunday (or Sabbath).

One of the oldest golf clubs is the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. In 1744, when it was known as the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, they asked Edinburgh City Council to supply a prize of a silver golf club for a competition. The competition was to be held annually on Leith Links and the winner would keep the silver club until it was passed to the next years winner.

After hundreds of years of Scottish golf it wasn't until 1897 that an official set of rules was produced. Created by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews the rules haven't really changed much at all. However, in 1951, the R & A, together with the United States Golf Association, settled upon a set of rules which could be used to ensure that everywhere in the world had the same set of official rules and modern golf had been created.

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If you are looking for golf hotels or just want to visit St Andrews you should visit Virtual Scotland's accommodation listings of St Andrews Hotels.

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