All About Golf

 The Birth of Golf:

Golf as we know it today comes from a game played on the east coast of Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife during the 15th century. Players would hit a pebble around a natural course of sand dunes, rabbit runs and tracks using a stick or primitive club.

Some historians believe that Kolv from Holland and Cholet from Belgium influenced the game. The latter was introduced in Scotland in the 1421st But while these games and countless others are stick and ball games, they are missing that crucial ingredient that is unique to golf - the hole. Whatever the argument, there can be no doubt that Scotland gave birth to the game we know as golf today.

In the mid-15th century, Scotland was preparing to defend itself against an English invasion. Population enthusiastic pursuit of golf and soccer to the neglect of military training (archery primarily) caused the Scottish parliament of King James II to ban both sports in the 1457th The ban was reaffirmed in 1470 and 1491, although people largely ignored it. Only in 1502 with the Treaty of Glasgow was the ban lifted with King James IV (James 1 of England) himself taking up the sport.

Golf's status and popularity quickly spread throughout the 16th century following the royal approval. King Charles I popular game in England and Mary Queen of Scots, who was French, introduced the game to France while she studied there. Actually the term "Caddy comes from the name of her servants, who were the French Military, known in French as cadets.

Premier golf course at the time was Leith near Edinburgh. Indeed King Charles I was on the way when given the news of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Leith was also the scene of the first international golf match in 1682, when the Duke of York and George Patterson playing for Scotland beat two English noblemen.

Golf Goes International:

The British Empire was at the top of the 19th century. Indeed, the phrase "the sun never sets on the empire" was coined to reflect Britain's worldwide influence. Most of the early golf clubs outside the British Isles and America were formed throughout the Commonwealth.

The first golf club formed outside Scotland was Royal Blackheath (near London) in 1766. But golf is believed to have been played here since the 1608th The first golf club outside Britain was the Bangalore, India (1820). Others were the Royal Calcutta (1829), Royal Bombay (1842), Royal Curragh, Ireland (1856), in Pau, France (1856), in Adelaide (1870), Royal Montreal (1873), Cape Town (1885), St Andrew's New York (1888) and Royal Hong Kong (1889). Some say that South Carolina Golf Club, Charlestown of 1786 prior to all these.

Victorian Industrial Revolution led to many social and economic change. The growth of the railways gave birth to mass tourism. For the first time, ordinary people could explore the country as day-trippers or weekend visitors. Golf clubs popped up throughout the country and people could enjoy the challenge of a new play every weekend.

Hitherto golf equipment was handcrafted and therefore expensive. Golf was therefore reserved for the rich. Once metal club heads and shafts and gutta percha balls (1848) began rolling off the production lines, the average person was able to afford to play golf. Both of these factors directly contributed to the phenomenal growth in golf.

Golf becomes a Professional Sport:

The Prestwick Golf Club was formed in 1851. The precursor to the British Open, the first major national championship, which was played for the first time in 1860 with Willie Park as the winner. The Legend of Old Tom Morris was born when he won the race in 1862, 1864 and the 1867th But his son, Young Tom Morris, was the first great champion winning if a record four times in succession from the 1869th Other famous winners were JH Taylor in 1894 and Harry Vardon in 1896. Together with James Braid, these three men became known as The Great Triumvirate.

Besides the few sponsored events such as the British Open, most golf professionals living from competitions by betting against their opponent. Professionals also earned a living from teaching, ball and club making and caddying.

The growth of golf as an organized competitive sport in the United Kingdom was paralleled abroad in India and USA. Gate receipts were used as prizes for the first time in 1892 in Cambridge, England. The first international golf tournament was Amateur Golf Championship of India and the Middle East in 1893.

In 1894, U.S. Golf Association (USGA) was established to regulate the game in the U.S. and Mexico. In addition to the rules it administers the disability system and research into the grass. U.S. Open U.S. Ladies Amateur Open were inaugurated in 1895.

In 1900 there were more than 1000 golf clubs in the United States. Chicago was the first to have 18 holes. Significantly American golf courses were usually specifically landscaped parklands unlike those in the United Kingdom, which was typically links courses.

The game attracted attention from media and business sponsorship which raised the profile enormously. In 1897 the first monthly magazine, Golf, was published in the United States. United States became the center of the professional game because of the proliferation of commercially sponsored competitions. But the prestigious events were still those hosted in the United Kingdom. Interestingly, it was amateurs instead of professionals who were raised by the public.

Golf was confirmed as a global sport when it was made an Olympic sport in 1900.