A History of Golf

: Image via Wikipedia

What country invented golf? Many countries did. If there were sticks and objects that could be hurtled along, then there was golf. No one knows for certain who started golf. But everybody knows who plays it now everyone does.

The origin of the name golf is believed to be the Dutch word of 'colf,' which means 'club.' In the medieval ages, golf was also known as spel metten colve, which literally meant 'game with clubs.'

Nearly every area around the world has some claim to the origination of golf. Scotland, of course, has its claim. But so does China, Rome, England, France, Holland, Belgium, even Laos. Every country has a game consisting of sticks and balls, and every country is correct in its assumption that it invented the game. But there is no one country where golf actually began.

Still, Scotland is widely considered to be birthplace of golf. And it began haphazardly, a way of hitting a pebble or other roundish object into a hole by means of a stick or club.

Edinburgh, Scotland, claimed the first golfing society. The Gentlemen Golfers later known as the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and today in residence at Muirfield claims their club was already under way in 1744.

The first inter-Scotland club matches were played in 1857. The world would wait until 1860 for the first British Open to be played.

The British Open was being played 35 years before the U.S. Open. It has been called The World Open. Players from around the globe participate, as they have for a century or more. The British Open is all-inclusive. The U.S. Open has been moving in that direction for the last decade. But the British Open has been accepting a cast from around the world since the turn of the century.

It is not known for certain when golf came to America only that when it got a toehold in the 20th century, America became the world leader in great players. By 1900, the explosion of the game in America was complete. Proof was that, at the turn of the century, there were more golf clubs in the United States than there were in Britain.

Tiger Woods came upon the scene in 1996. He won eight times in 1999, nine times in 2000, and won the four major championships in succession in 2000-2001, starting with the U.S. Open in 2000. Should his career be as successful in his 30s and 40s as it has been in his 20s, he will assume the mantle of best player ever.

Women have played a very large part in the history of golf, even before the last half of the 20th century when they finally achieved equality with men. Records of ladies playing golf exist all the way back to the time of Mary Queen of Scots.

	The 100 Greatest Ever Golfers (Hardcover)
	Price: $15.45

	More Info
Walter Hagen to Tiger Woods, a fascinating and knowledgeable history of golf through the most talented men and women to have ever played the game Covering the early amateur masters of the game, starting with Old Tom Morris, to the maestros of the Open era, this collection features biographies and career statistics of players from all over the world, including the U.S., UK, South Africa, Europe, and Australia. From Ben Hogan and legendary figures such as Jack Nicklaus, to contemporary greats including Phil Mickelson, this historyrecounts the lives and achievements of the sport`s leading lights through fascinating anecdotes and insights into the development of the game across the decades. Arranged alphabetically and with additional sections on the greatest ever drivers, bunker players, and putters,this is the ideal pick-up-and-dip-in book for all golfing aficionados, whatever their handicap.
	Pebble Beach Golf Links (Hardcover)
	Price: $29.72

	More Info
Pebble Beach is the most storied golf venue in the world. Nearly every legendary golfer of the past 100 years has played there. Great champions have been crowned?and have lost?there; hollywood movies have been filmed there; U.S. presidents and royalty from around the world have visited and played on its legendary fairways. And yet from the beginning, it has been a golf paradise open for everyone to enjoy. Award-winning writer/historian Neal Hotelling brings to life countless tales of past championships as well as the underlying history of the truly spectacular meeting of land and sea.
	Euclid Golf Neighborhood
	Price: $15.89

	More Info
Euclid Golf Neighborhood reveals in vintage images the excellent planning and history of one of the finest neighborhoods in the country. Euclid Golf was built on land owned by John D. Rockefeller, who lent it to the Euclid Club for its golf course. Developer Barton R. Deming employed Garden City principles and deed restrictions to entice the elite of Cleveland, while architects Howell and Thomas, Charles Schneider, and others designed splendid houses in the revival styles that defined gracious living. As prominent Clevelanders made their homes in Euclid Golf, Fairmount Boulevard became known as "The Euclid Avenue of the Heights."
	Golf in Denver (Paperback)
	Price: $16.98

	More Info
Golf in Denver looks at the people, places, and events involved in the grand game in the Denver area for more than a century. The photographs in this volume chronicle the sport in Denver beginning in 1896, when it was played nearly exclusively by a handful of socially prominent, wealthy Denverites, to today`s popular sport played on dozens of courses dotting the metro area. Casual and avid golfers as well as history buffs will appreciate the stories behind the game, including an in-depth look at how local courses were established, tales of well-known people, and accounts of women and minorities involved in local golf.
	Tour De Fore! by Glenn Morgan (Paperback)
	Price: $17.69

	More Info
Ever want to take a golf trip? How about a really long one, say to all 50 states? The author and his wife did just that in 2008, traveling over 17,000 miles in a small RV on an amazing golf odyssey. They played and rated top courses in one small town per state and explored America's past along the way. This personal memoir chronicles their travels in a light and whimsical style, starting on an Apache Reservation in Arizona and ending in Hawaii with numerous thrills and misadventures in between.
	The Big Miss (Hardcover)
	Price: $15.62

	More Info
The Big Miss is Hank Haney`s candid and surprisingly insightful account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the supremely gifted golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history. Hank was one of the very few people allowed behind the curtain. He was with Tiger 110 days a year, spoke to him over 200 days a year, and stayed at his home up to 30 days a year, observing him in nearly every circumstance: at tournaments, on the practice range, over meals, with his wife, Elin, and relaxing with friends. The relationship between the two men began in March 2004 when Hank received a call from Tiger in which the golf champion asked him to be his coach. It was a call that would change both men`s lives. Tiger?only 28 at the time?was by then already an icon, judged by the sporting press as not only one of the best golfers ever, but possibly the best athlete ever. Already he was among the world`s highest paid celebrities. There was an air of mystery surrounding him, an aura of invincibility. Unique among athletes, Tiger seemed to be able to shrug off any level of pressure and find a way to win. But Tiger was always looking to improve, and he wanted Hank`s help. What Hank soon came to appreciate was that Tiger was one of the most complicated individuals he`d ever met, let alone coached. Although Hank had worked with hundreds of elite golfers and was not easily impressed, there were days watching Tiger on the range when Hank couldn`t believe what he was witnessing. On those days, it was impossible to imagine another human playing golf so perfectly. And yet Tiger is human?and Hank`s expert eye was adept at spotting where Tiger`s perfection ended and an opportunity for improvement existed. Always haunting Tiger was his fear of ?the big miss??the wildly inaccurate golf shot that can ruin an otherwise solid round?and it was because that type of blunder was some
	Miracle at Merion (Hardcover)
	Price: $16.31

	More Info
Legendary sportswriter Red Smith characterized Ben Hogan’scomeback from a near-fatal automobile crash in February1949 as “the most remarkable feat in the history of sports.” Nearlysixty years later, that statement still rings true. The crowningmoment of Hogan’s comeback was his dramatic victory in the1950 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia, wherehis battered legs could barely carry him on the 36-hole final day.Miracle at Merion tells the stirring story of Hogan’s triumph overadversity—the rarely-performed surgery that saved his life, themonths of rehabilitation when he couldn’t even hit a golf ball, hisstunning return to competition at the Los Angeles Open, and,finally, the U.S. Open triumph that returned him to the pinnacleof the game. While Hogan was severely injured in the accident, fracturing hispelvis, collarbone, rib, and ankle, his life wasn’t in danger until twoweeks later when blood clots developed in his leg, necessitatingemergency surgery. Hogan didn’t leave the hospital until April anddidn’t even touch a golf club until August. It wasn’t until November,more than nine months after the accident, that he was able togo to the range to hit balls. Hogan’s performance at the Los AngelesOpen in early January convinced Hollywood to make a movieout of his life and comeback (Follow the Sun, starring Glenn Ford).Five months later, Hogan completed his miraculous comeback bywinning the U.S. Open in a riveting 36-hole playoff against LloydMangrum and George Fazio, permanently cementing his legacy asone of the sport’s true legends.
	Golf- a Good Walk & Then Some (Hardcover)
	Price: $20.31

	More Info
This book is a thorough and concise history of golf, its championships, and it competitions. It is a book that will satisfy not only the fan who wants an overview of golf`s history but also the history buff who wants a thorough treatment. Legendary Gary Player, who penned the foreword, described this seminal work quite accurately when he wrote: "When you read this book, you will come away knowing that there is much more to the game than just playing it?it`s the game and then some."
	Brassies, Mashies, and Bootleg Scotch (Hardcover)
	Price: $12.95

	More Info
A hundred years or so ago, kids growing up in St. Andrews, Scotland, kids like Bill Kilpatrick’s father, took to golf as naturally as to breathing. Accordingly, the prevailing opinion was that any layabout could play golf, whereas a greenkeeper was someone to be reckoned with. And a greenkeeper (a term much preferred to “golf course superintendent”) was what Kilpatrick’s father became. Kilpatrick’s memoir of growing up on golf courses is at once a window on another time—when golf was played mainly with balata balls, hickory shafts, and handmade spoons, mashies, and cleeks—and a ground-level view of what maintaining a golf course meant when artisanship, instinct, and experience carried the day. A charming narrative of a boy’s relationship with his adored, occasionally impatient, and always forgiving father, Brassies, Mashies, and Bootleg Scotch takes us to some of the most notable golf clubs in America and introduces us to a delightful cast of characters, from giants of golf history to behind-the-scenes eccentrics to walk-on stars like New York Giants pitcher Hal Schumacher. Readers get a rare glimpse of a vanished world through Kilpatrick’s recollections of the daily routines of his father as a dedicated greenkeeper and of his own experiences as a caddy on the courses that were his family’s way of life.
	Are You Kidding Me? (Paperback)
	Price: $12.35

	More Info
Pro golfer Rocco Mediate tells his side of the story of the 2008 U.S. Open, when he matched a hobbled Tiger Woods shot for shot for five amazing days in one of the most memorable showdowns in PGA history. Mediate`s golf career prior to the 2008 Open was entirely unremarkable, but he emerged from obscurity to challenge the world`s greatest golfer, Tiger Woods, who later revealed that he was playing with a double stress fracture and torn ligaments in his left leg. On both Sunday and Monday, Mediate had a one-stroke lead after completing his round, only to watch Tiger make a pair of treacherous birdie putts on the 18th hole to force a play-off. Teaming with John Feinstein, who may be the Tiger Woods of golf writers, Mediate reveals the fascinating details of the most unforgettable tournament of his career.