Golf’s origins are a source of much speculation among historians and of great pride in Scotland, which lays claim to being the home of golf, if not its birthplace.
Golf's origins are a source of much speculation among historians and of great pride in Scotland, which lays claim to being the home of golf, if not its birthplace.
Golf’s most ancient relation appears to be the Roman game of “paganica”, which involved using a bent wooden stick to hit a stuffed leather ball.
The game of “kolf” – its name tantalisingly close to the modern one – has been traced back to 1297 by the Dutch historian Steven J. H. van Hengel.
Played in the town of Loenen aan de Vecht in The Netherlands, two teams of four used a stick to hit a wooden ball over a 2½-mile course towards a target, usually the door of a public building.
Each team tried to hit the target in the lowest number of strokes.
A remarkably similar French game is mentioned in 1353.
The object of ‘Chole’ – played with a wooden-shafted iron club and a wooden ball – was much the same as kolf.
Played mainly in winter, it involved striking the ball across fields towards a target, usually a flag attached to a post or tree.
Members of a Scottish regiment are thought to have been introduced to “chole” in 1421 when they aided the French against the English at the Battle of Bauge.
The first hard evidence of golf in Scotland comes in 1457.
In an attempt to preserve the skills of archery to defend the country from the persistent English threat, King James II banned football and golf (“futbawe and ye gowf”) on Sundays.
This suggests “gowf”, like “futbawe”, was already popular with young men.
In 1491 golf, along with other pastimes, was banned altogether.
Eleven years later the ban was lifted and golf began to thrive.
Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, noted its popularity in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey.
By 1567 even Mary, Queen of Scots, was seen having a round at Musselburgh – the oldest links course in the world.
As our fun Sun page suggests (above), it caused quite a scandal, coming only a few days after the murder of her husband.
The oldest course in England is Blackheath Golf Club in south-east London.
It is thought King James I (VI of Scotland) played on Blackheath, behind Greenwich Palace, in the early 17th Century.
During the 18th Century the first golf associations were established.
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, founded in 1744, produced the first 13 rules of golf for its inaugural competition.
The St Andrews Society of Golfers was set up in 1754 and ten years later reduced the number of holes on its course from 22 to 18, standardising it for all future courses. Organised golf was booming and equipment improving all the time.
More flexible hickory shafts were used by 1826.
The gutta-percha ball – a more durable, water-resistant and rounder replacement for the wooden ball – was introduced in 1848.
The first dimpled ball was used in 1880.
St Andrews continued to cement its lofty reputation when in 1834 King William IV became its patron.
Building started on the famous old clubhouse in 1854 and in 1873 it hosted its first Open Championship.
With Scots dominating its early years, golf had truly found its home in Scotland.
