The history of golf
The origin of the game of golf is lost in the dark recesses of medieval history. Book illustrations show the Dutch, the French and the Belgians playing a game resembling golf by striking a feather-stuffed ball with club-shaped branches. However it has been established that the modern game was first organised by the Scots at the beginning of the 15th century.
In fact it is recorded that the game became so popular in Scotland that soldiers were spending too much time playing Golf and football instead of practising archery. Because of that the Scottish parliament in 1457 passed a law prohibiting both games. However the Scottish people ignored this by playing the game on seaside courses called links, and early in the 16th century James IV of Scotland reinstated the game of golf as legal. Golf became firmly established in Great Britain by the 17th century when James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, was attracted to the sport.
Scotland is the home of the world's most famous golf course “The Old Course”, which is located in St. Andrews and was used as early as the 16th century. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, the governing body of golf, was founded in 1754.
Three significant events occurred in St Andrews that were to turn the game from a sport played by a few people into a global sport.
The first of these was the discovery during the 1800s of the gutta-percha ball, or "gutty," which replaced the feather-filled ball that had been used for centuries.
The second was the railway with a first line going to St Andrews in 1852 which brought a mass of people.
The third of these events revolved around the activities of father and son both named Tom Morris (known as old and young), who between them won many open championships and the former who laid out many courses which are still played today.
The Morris's established an incredible record, with Old Tom winning the Open in 1861, '62, '64 and '67, while Young Tom won in 1868, '69, '70 and 72. Nowadays Old Tom Morris is still the oldest winner of the Open, while Young Tom Morris is still the youngest winner of the Open.
In 1860 the first British Open was played at Prestwick, Scotland. The competition was opened to both professionals and amateurs the following year.
During the 19th century Golf started to spread all around the word. The first golf club formed outside Scotland was Royal Blackheath (near London) in 1766.
The first golf club outside Britain was the Bangalore, India (1820). Others were the Royal Calcutta (1829), Royal Bombay (1842), Royal Curragh, Ireland (1856), the Pau Golf club in France (1856), the Adelaide (1870), Royal Montreal (1873), Cape Town (1885), St Andrew's of New-York(1888) and Royal Hong Kong (1889).
Nowadays golf has become one of the biggest sport on the planet with over 60 million golfers for over 32 000 golf courses.
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