The History of Golf From Ancient Origins to Modern Day

Golf has a rich, colorful history that spans over 6 centuries. Today, a wide swath of men, women and children play golf, one of the most challenging and entertaining sports on the globe. There are an estimated 66.6 million golfers worldwide. Golf likely started sometime before the 15^th century in Edinburgh, Scotland. The first mention of golf came in 1457 when King James II, who was the King of Scots, banned golf and soccer because men weren’t practicing their mandatory archery for the military. Historians believe there were originally 2 types of golf: one played in the streets and one in open fields. The differentiation led to one game called short golf and another called long golf.

The oldest rules for golf are from 1744 when the Honorable Company of Edinburgh golfers published “Articles and Laws in Playing Golf.” Let’s examine golf, starting from its earliest beginnings through modern golf.

The History of Golf through its Early Origins

What’s golf? It’s a game where golfers use different clubs to try to hit a small ball into a hole. There’s a flag in the hole to mark it. A golf course usually has either 9 or 18 holes. You must count the number of strokes it takes to get the ball in the hole and record that number as your score for each hole. The goal is to finish in the least number of strokes.

Early golf was much less sophisticated than it is today. There wasn’t a ball, a hole, or a flag.

Back then, golfers would attempt to hit a pebble over a sand dune using a crude stick.

Universal approval for golf came in 1502 when King James IV of Scotland became the first royal golfing monarch. His stamp of approval helped popularize the game.

One of the earliest known golf courses was at Leith, now a neighborhood in Edinburgh on the north side. It hosted one of the first known matches between the Duke of York and George Patterson, both from Scotland, against 2 English noblemen. The Scots won the match.

Modern golf began at St. Andrews, which is on Scotland’s northern coast. St. Andrew’s, which opened in 1552, had 12 holes at its inception. Golfers would play 22 holes for a full round, finishing 12 holes first and then playing 10 holes twice. The number 22 was used because the Society of St. Andrews was started by 22 noblemen, landowners, and professors. It dropped to 18 holes in 1858. The Royal and Ancient Club, the governing body for golf in Europe, wrote that “one round of the links, or 18 holes, is considered a match unless otherwise specified.” Some courses today are 9 holes, but most are 18. A full round of golf is considered 18 holes. On a 9-hole course, to get a full round in, you play the course 2 times.

Blackheath Golf Club, the first club outside of Scotland, originated near London sometime in the 1600s. Some golf historians have the date it opened as 1608 but there isn’t evidence to support that. The first Spring Medal, awarded to the best golfer for the spring competition, was given by Henry Foot in 1766 at Blackheath, still making it the oldest club in England. The Spring Medal is still awarded today. India, Canada, Ireland, Asia, and the United States followed, opening clubs in the 19^th century.

The History of Golf in the United States

The earliest record of golf in the United States was played in a field near Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1700s. In 1743, Charleston merchant David Deas received a shipment of 432 golf balls and 96 golf clubs from Scotland.

In 1895, Van Cortlandt Golf Course in New York opened as the first public course. Golf had become popular so several members of a private club in Riverdale, a neighborhood in the Bronx, petitioned the city for a course. After a poor start because of the awkward course layout, the city hired Scottish Golf Architect Thomas Bendelow in 1899 to redesign the course. He expanded the course to 18 holes. Play skyrocketed with 5,000 golfers playing per week by 1920. The Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois opened in 1895, was the first 18-hole golf course in the U.S.

The United States Golf Association, which started in 1894, was the first ruling body. There were 5 charter clubs in the USGA: The Chicago Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in South Hampton, New York, St. Andrews Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, Newport Rhode Island Golf Club, and the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Golf’s popularity skyrocketed after the USGA started. The USGA created the U.S. Amateur, a tournament that crowns the best amateur player in the world for men and women, and the United States Open, which is the U.S. National Championship for golf.

Golf has never been more popular than it is today in the U.S.

In 2023, 3.4 million golfers played for the first time. A record 531 million rounds played in 2023 and there were 16,000 golf courses in the U.S.

Golf Equipment Evolution

Golf equipment in the 16^th century wasn’t readily available because most of it was handcrafted. That made golf a sport for the elite. The game started to grow more when manufacturers were able to mass produce golf clubs and balls—the 2 critical equipment components a golfer needs to play a round. Below is a brief history of some of the golf equipment.

Featherie Golf Balls: A handcrafted golf ball that was introduced in the early 17^th century, the Featherie ball was made by sewing cow or horse leather together. It was stuffed with chicken or goose feathers and sewn together.
Gutta-Percha: The gutta-percha golf ball was introduced in 1848. Gutta-percha is milky latex found from a tree in Malaysia. It became soft when it was boiled in water. Balls were made by rolling them on a board. Gutta-percha replaced the Featherie Golf Balls.
Rubber Core Golf Balls: Coburn Haskell created rubber core golf balls in 1898. Haskell, who was working for BF Goodrich, discovered that a golf ball had more bounce when a rubber ball was inserted into its core. Haskell created a solid core that improved the quality and durability of the golf ball.
Early Golf Clubs: Early golf clubs were made entirely of wood. They had longnoses for driving, grassed drivers, spoons, niblicks, and a putting wedge. A longnose is equivalent to today’s driver. A driver is the club that you can hit the ball the farthest with. You typically tee off with a driver. A grassed driver is like a fairway wood. For long shots off the grass, you use a fairway wood. A spoon is like an iron. Irons have a flat face, and they’re used when you are a medium distance from the green. A niblick is equivalent to a wedge. It has a flat face, but it’s used when you are close to the green. A putting wedge is a putter. It’s used on the green.
Hickory Shafts: Wooden or hickory shafts were used in the very early days of golf until the 1920s. The shaft is a long tube that connects to the golf head. A shaft has a grip at the top, which is where you grab the club.
Iron Clubs: Clubs with iron heads were introduced in the 1870s. Before that, the club heads were made of wood. The addition of an iron head made the clubs sturdier. Iron clubs helped make the ball go farther.
Steel Shafts: Steel shafts were legalized by the USGA in 1925. They increased the distance golfers could hit the ball with each club.
Graphite Shafts: Graphite shafts, which are made of carbon fiber and epoxy, became popular in the 1990s. The new shafts were lighter than steel shafts, and they helped golfers hit the ball farther.

Golf’s rich history will continue to get richer. More juniors and women are expected to play in the future and the USGA has announced golf balls will be rolled back in 2028 for professionals and 2030 for amateurs. That means the distance the ball travels will be reduced because players are hitting it so far, making the courses too easy. The equipment is constantly improving, and new technology in agronomy has helped the golf courses become more environmentally sustainable.