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History
Golf is a very old game although the origins of golf is rather unclear, the three nations who are thought to be the originators re China, Netherlands and Scotland. A game similar to golf was mentioned in an 11th century Chinese book called D?ngxu?n Records, it was also mentioned that on February 26th 1297, in a town called Loenen aan de Vacht, Holland, a game using sticks and a leather ball was played and who ever hit the target a few hundred meters away the most, won.
Modern golf which we see on television, though, is accepted by people around the world for being a Scottish game, as it was mentioned in two 15th century laws, prohibiting playing the game ‘gawf’. Although, many scholars believe that the game ‘gawf’ may actually be something else relating to the modern version of hurling or field hockey. A game of putting a small ball into a hole in the ground using clubs was played in 17th century Holland, and the word golf is derived from the Dutch word ‘kolf’ which translates to stick, bat or club. The oldest golf course in the world is The Musselburgh Old Links Golf Course where evidence shows that golf was played there in 1672, although it is believed that Mary, Queen of Scots played there in 1567.
Nowadays a golf course consists of eighteen holes but it was not always the case. In Scotland, The St Andrews Links take up a narrow strip of land along the sea, in the 15th century golfers at this course discovered a route along the terrain, playing to holes according to the topography. From that they discovered eleven holes laid out one end to another from the club house right to the end of the land. In 1764, some holes were thought to be too short making the game too easy, so some were combined together, leaving eleven to nine holes meaning a complete round of the links consist of eighteen holes.
Since the beginning of the game, due to technological advancements, the changes in equipment are inevitable. The notable being the mowers (especially for greens), better balls, the introduction of metal shafts instead of wood in 1930’s (same time period as wooden tees, though nowadays plastic tees are also available, depending on the player), the 70’s saw the use of steel then titanium replace wooden club heads and graphite shafts in the 80’s.
Many non-golfers and golfers themselves wonder about the dimples of golf balls, they are there to reduce aerodynamic drag so that your shot flies away further. A flag is also used in golf, on greens to show the position of the hole, when all members of the group are putting, the flag is removed either by a caddy or fellow golfer so that the ball can easily roll into the hole.