How to Play Better Golf

If you have ever wanted to know how and from where golf originated, then this little potted history will give you some of the answers. How it progressed from the links of Scotland into an International sport and pastime enjoyed by people of all ages throughout the world.

Out of Boredom, Sprang a Sport
Although ball and stick games can be found in many civilizations and traced back though many thousands of years, there is little doubt that the game of Golf, played over 18 holes, originated in Scotland. Most historians of golf are of the opinion that the game began over a thousand years ago in Scotland when Scottish farmers and local shepherds would get bored and play a game of hitting small stones with sticks. Their goal was to get the stone to reach inside burrows that were made by rodents.

So popular was the sport in Scotland, that in 1452 King James ll banned the game because he felt that it was keeping his subjects from practicing archery.

During the 16th Century Mary Queen of Scots was known to be a regular golfer. In 1502 James IV made the first purchase of Golf Clubs to be documented and there is evidence of golf being played at Musselburgh Old Links in 1672, making it world?s oldest existing golf course.

The Arrival of Golf in the United States.
During the latter part of the 19th century, golf had made its way to the United States, brought over by many of the Scottish golf professionals who had immigrated to America. What started as a trickle of Scots golfers to the US, became commonplace by the turn of the century when anyone who could swing a club on a Scots links was able to find a lucrative niche as a professional in the US. The early US Open Champions were all Scots born players who, as teachers and mentors produced players that would come to further transform the game. One notable such player was Willie Anderson from North Berwick in Scotland, who won the US Open four times including a present day record of three in a row from 1903 to 1905.
Not only did the Scots teach and play golf, but they also designed many of the great courses in America. Donald Ross created 413 courses and Dr Alistair McKenzie included in his portfolio Augusta National, home to the Masters.

Popularity of Golf in America
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, three events led to golf becoming firmly entrenched in American sports. In 1888, the first permanent golf club was established. This was accompanied by the formation of the first governing body of golf in the United States. The biggest boost to the sport, however, came when Francis Ouimet, a young Bostonian, won the 1913 U.S. Open. Ouimet, who was an amateur golfer, defeated the great Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, both top professionals. Ouimet's feat gave America its first golf hero. The media'portrayal of the former caddy Ouimet, as a national icon, boosted the popularity of golf in the United States.
The dominant players of the 1920's and 30's were Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones and Byron Nelson.
The sport, however, was largely dominated by wealthy males, until the advent of televised golf, when huge audiences watched the rivalry amongst the great players of the day. The competitions involving Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player are generally recognized as having popularized golf worldwide. Such was their effect that in the United States alone, it is estimated that more than 30 million people today, are regular recreational golfers.