The Locker Room :: Golf History

Golf, as we know it, originated in Scotland, in the kingdom of Fife in the 15th century (Fife is half way up the east coast of Scotland, or just above the back of the neck on the witch who is riding the pig. Which is how some of us were taught to draw the UK!). It is believed that these first golfers used a stick to hit a pebble around a natural course of sand dunes, rabbit runs and tracks.

There are many stick and ball games around now, cricket, croquet, hockey etc. The Dutch had a game called kolven and the Belgium’s brought a game called Chole over the water. These last two were believed to have influenced the game of golf, however, all these other stick and ball games that were to be normally played outside, all lacked something that was to become unique to golf – the hole, a peculiar device made up from nothing.

In the middle of the 15th century, the Scots became so enthralled with the game of golf, that together with soccer, they chose to practise these two pastimes rather than prepare for the imminent invasion from the English, this led the two sports to be banned in 1457. It is believed that these bans were largely ignored, but the ban was finally lifted when King James 1 of England took up golf around 1502.

Golf quickly spread in popularity in the 16th century, especially with the status that it gained from having a royal endorsement. King Charles 1 takes the credit for this in England and Mary Queen of Scots introduced the game to France when she studied there. In fact, her helpers at the time would have been French military cadets, this is where the term ‘caddie’ is derived.

In 1682, the Duke of York and George Paterson played for Scotland and beat two English noblemen in what was to be the first international golf match, this game was held in the premier golf course at the time, Leith, near Edinburgh. The Gentlemen’s Golfers of Leith was the first club to be formed (1744), this club was formed to promote an annual competition offering a silver golf club as the prize. A guy by the name of Duncan Forbes drafted the clubs rules.

The club was renamed the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and a clubhouse erected in 1768 though it is highly unlikely that the members never had a 19th hole for all these years.

St Andrews was first allowed public access by its clergy in 1753, a year later the St Andrews Society of golfers was formed and started to hold its own yearly competitions using Leith’s rules. Stroke play was introduced in 1759 and in1764, an 18 hole course was constructed, this has obviously since become the standard amount of holes for a golf course (and could explain why there was no evidence of a 19th hole before). The first womens golf club in the world was also formed here in 1895. In 1834, King William honoured the club with the title ‘Royal and Ancient’, this together with it outstanding course, publication of rules, royal patronage and the way in which they promoted the game as a proper sport all helped it to become the premier golf course that it is.

By this time, golfers were using proper clubs with heads made from beech or the wood from fruit trees, some clubs also used heads from hand forged iron. The shafts were usually made from ash or hazel. The balls were made from tightly compressed feathers wrapped in a stiched horse hide shpere, since then, the equipment has improved somewhat! Even though the equipment back then was expensive due to the craftsmanship required to produce it, this left the sport open, mainly to the upper classes. Today, though a lot of the equipment is still expensive, the more affordable equipment enables the sport to be played by everyone.