Golf as we know it was invented in Scotland, but its roots go back to Flanders. The first record of “Chole” is from 1353 and portrays something that could be described as a mix between hockey and golf played in Flanders (Belgium). The game was played preferably on ice, and players used curved-bottomed sticks to move balls from the starting point to the finishing point. Since Scottish and Dutch traders traveled extensively between the two regions and traded with each other, the game played in Flanders soon spread to Scotland, where it played out on Scottish grassy fields and soon ceased to be a winter game. It was the Scots who started digging holes in the ground instead of simply selecting an end point. Naturally, digging a hole in the Dutch ice had not been a good idea.
Although the game changed a lot after its introduction to Scotland, the balls were still often imported from Flanders. Patriotic Scots claim that golf evolved from different stick-and-ball games that we know were played throughout the British Isles as early as the Middle Ages. These games were inspired by a game of stick and ball introduced to the British Isles by the Romans.
The first record of the term golf dates from 1457, when King James II of Scotland banned golf and soccer, as the games were so popular that they caused the king’s archers to skip practice and play golf and golf instead. football. James III republished this law in 1471, and James IV followed in his footsteps with a new ban in 1491. However, golf continued to develop in Scotland despite the ban. Even during these early days, all the essential parts of golf had already been invented. The players used a stick to throw a ball into a hole in the ground. The player who managed to put the ball in the hole using the fewest strokes won.
The word gold is derived from the Old Scottish words “goff” or “glove”, and these words in turn derive from “kolf” or “kolve”, medieval Dutch words that simply meant club. When the words kolf and kolve were imported into Scotland, the old Scottish dialect changed the letter K to G, and the game was called Goff, Glove, Golve and Gowl. During the 16th century, the word Golf was established.
The golf ban was issued at a time when Scotland was preparing to defend itself against the English. In 1502, the Treaty of Glasgow made it possible for James I of England (King James IV) to lift the ban. He even started playing himself and became passionate about golf. The game became very popular and spread throughout the British Isles during the 16th century, thanks in part to King Charles I, who loved to play golf. Mary Queen of Scots had French roots and introduced the game to the French while she was attending school in France. The word “caddy” actually comes from a French word: cadet. French Army cadets helped Mary Queen of Scots when she was playing golf.
Two of the oldest golf courses in the world are Leith and Old Links. Leith is located near Edinburgh and Old Links is located in Musselburgh. When King Charles I received news of the Irish rebellion in 1641, he was actually standing in Leith. The Old Links was founded in 1672. The first international golf match took place in Leith in 1682. The Duke of York and George Patterson (playing for Scotland) managed to beat two English players. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until 1744 that the first known rules of golf were written and published in Edinburgh.
