History of Golf- How it all Started
By admin | July 14, 2008
Since before the time Mary Queen of Scots was disciplined for playing golf two Sundays after the murder of her husband Lord Dernley in 1567. Golf is known to have been played at St. Andrews before the founding of the university in 1411. It is a safe bet to say that golf was played in some form or another as much as a century before this.
Golf is the only game whose objective it is to hit a ball across a course of some kind that had sand traps, bunkers, and other obstacles to prevent you from accomplishing this. The ball is balanced in mid-air and hit to another spot below the ground.
It was the Scots who introduced the golf hole into the game. It was a national pastime more than four hundred years before Prince Charles fled Culloden in defeat at the hands of the English in 1513 at the Battle of Flodden Field.
At Flodden the Scots were no match for the English in the first assault and were defeated 50 years earlier. King James II banned the game of Golf because he believed it was interfering with archery practice and he did this with a Scottish Act of Parliament. The first documented record makes references to modern golf. James III also banned the game in 1471.
The origin of Golf is a mystery however there is a few theories out there.
The first theory says that fisherman on their way back from their boats would pick up a piece of driftwood and whack a pebble to see how far it would go. They would do this repeatedly until they reached the river.
Golf is thought to have been played in Kirk Session (Church Court). The only evidence of it is found in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Golf is still a very popular game today. A time line is presented below that will provide you with a general idea of the evolution of Golf into the game we know today.
16th century - Gold became established on the east coast of Scotland and began to spread. Golf was played by James the VI before he acceded the throne as James the 1st did in 1603.
1501 - James the IV had his treasurer pay 14 Shillings to a bow-maker in Perth to supply them with clubs. Golf became associated with royalty, The Church, and education (i.e. St. Andrews)
17th century Golf was pursued from the south east to as far north as the Orkney Islands.
1754 - The beginning of construction of new courses.
1880 - The arrival of the gutter perch ball was a major influence on the popularity of golf. Little has changed in the past 250 years.
1925 - In Texas the Bark Hollow Golf Club becomes the first club with a complete fairway irrigation system. The British Open is played for the last time at Prestwick Golf Club. The Royal Canadian Golf Association makes a ruling that the use of steel-shafted clubs is legal. They joined the United States Golf Association.
1973 - Johnny Mailer shoots 63 at Oakmont Country Club to win the U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer wins the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, his fifth win in the event and his 62nd win in the PGA Tour.
1985 - Europeans win the Ryder’s Cup for the first time in twenty-eight years.
1995 - Ben Crenshaw won his second Master’s. Tiger Woods wins second straight U.S. Amateur. The Golf Channel makes its debut in television.
1997 - Tiger Woods in his first year Championship had a 12 stroke win at the Masters. Jack Nicklaus tees off at the US Open for his 150th consecutive major championship appearance.
1999 - Aree Wongluekert (now known as Aree Song) wins the Girls Junior Amateur. At 13 she is the youngest winner of the USGA Championship.
2001 - The term “Tiger Slam” was coined after Tiger Woods wins the Master’s making him the first person to hold all four of Golf’s major professional titles at the same time. Annika Sorenstam shoots 59 in the LPGA Tour. The attacks of 9/11 caused the Ryder’s Cup to be delayed for a year.
2003 - Mike Weir wins the Masters becomes the second left-handed person to win a major championship. Michelle Wie won women’s amateur Public Links. She is the youngest winner of an adult USGA Championship. Michelle Wie played in every men’s event on the Canadian and the nationwide tour. She didn’t make either cut.
2004 Michelle Wie is given an exemption into the PGA Tour Sony Open. She shoots 72-68 missing the cut by one stroke! Arnold Palmer plays The Masters for the fiftieth and very last time.
Golf has given us centuries of physical activity, excitement, and it has been and is exciting to watch a game in progress. Within the last 250 years Golf hasn’t changed all that much. For those who play the game, there are all kinds of resources available to improve their game.
About the Author
Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of products which includes
Golf Apparel. His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information.
Jack Nicklaus - Simply The Greatest Golfer Of All Time
By admin | May 13, 2008
Talk to any golfer, or any knowledgeable sports person for that matter, and ask them who the greatest golfer of all-time is and they will most likely answer Jack Nicklaus. This is no dis-respect to Tiger Woods, but Jack Nicklaus changed the world of golf for over 40 years. Jack’s 20 majors are five more than his closest challenger and is a tribute to his incredible desire to win. This will applies not only on the course, but off of it as well. His work ethic and dedication to golf are what others only dream about.
Born in Columbus, OH January 21, 1940, Jack Nicklaus burst onto the PGA Tour in 1962. Along with his friend Arnold Palmer, they forever changed the golf world as we know it. They brought golf to television, and there classic duals changed the way people thought of golf. It helped to make it a household word. Suddenly, golf became cool.
One of the things that separates Jack from other athletes is that he did it the right way. You never heard about Jack being arrested for doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. There were no scandals. There were no performance enhancing drugs. No alcohol issues, etc. Jack Nicklaus exemplified the meaning of the word class.
Jack is one of only two golfers who have won all four majors more than once. He is also the only player to have won all of golf’s majors in both the PGA and Senior Tours.
One of the most memorable of Jack Nicklaus’ performances came at the 1986 Masters. At the age of 46 few, if any people had given the Golden Bear any hope of playing well, let alone any chance at winning. But, for Jack, winning is what runs through his heart.
Trailing by 4 shots behind guys like Greg Norman, Tom Kite and Seve Ballesteros, things didn’t look real good after nine holes. But, what followed on those final 9 holes will be forever remembered by anyone who loves golf. He birdied 9 - 10 - 11 and 13. Next came an eagle on 15 and the crowd, along with the TV audience knew they were witnessing something special. Then Jack nearly hit a hole-in-one on 16, making an easy birdie. At 17, Jack made a 12 putt for another birdie that put him in the lead. The crowd had never roared as loud as they did that day.
The golfers playing behind Jack could not even set up and play their shots at times due to the noise. When Jack made par at 18 for a 30 on the back 9 at Augusta, all he could do was wait and see what the other golfers would do. Amazingly, Seve Ballesteros hit his ball in the water, took a double bogey on the 15th hole and took himself out of a chance at winning. Tom Kite missed a crucial putt on 18 that would have tied him with Jack. Next, Greg Norman, who was tied with Jack at the time, made a bogey on the finishing hole to give Nicklaus the win and the green jacket. It’s a tournament that will forever be remembered by golfers and fans alike.
The list of accomplishments in the career of Jack Nicklaus is immense. He finished with 73 PGA Tour wins and led the Tour in money earnings eight different years.
An interesting story at the end of Jack’s career came at the 2005 British Open. Jack had announced earlier in the year that he would retire in 2005 at the British Open on the Old Course at St Andrews, the birthplace of golf. Well, the Open was not scheduled to be played at St Andrews until 2006. So, the organizers of the Open decided to move the schedule up one year and play the Open at St Andrews in honor of Jack’s final tournament.
Today, Jack Nicklaus enjoys spending time with his family as well as his love of designing golf courses around the world. His design company, which he runs with his sons and other family members, is responsible for the design of nearly 1% of all the golf courses in the world. He also owns his own golf equipment company and runs the Memorial Golf Tournament, an annual stop on the PGA Tour.
It was only fitting that Jack finished his final hole of his last professional golf tournament with a birdie at St Andrews. Sinking a 15 foot curling putt, Jack raised his arms an extended his putter high in the air as he has done for so many years when he would sink a critical putt.
The golf world, and the world in general, has been blessed by having known Jack Nicklaus. Simply put, he is the greatest golfer of all-time.
You can find out much more about Jack Nicklaus as well as get valuable golf tips and information at our website http://www.Golf.InfoFromA-z.com.
Tags: golf, golf history, Jack Nicklaus