Birth of Golf
There is much debate about the birth of golf. Games similar to golf were played in the medieval Europe. The aims of all these games were to drive a ball from a specific place to another in minimum number of blows by means of a club. There is historical record that a club and ball game was played in the Netherlands in the thirteenth century. However, the historians have traced back the origin of the modern golf to the fifteenth century Scotland. The most accepted theory of golf’s origin is that, the game evolved on the eastern coast of Scotland during the reign of Fife. It is recorded that, people used to play a game, where a pebble was driven around sand dunes into the rabbit holes. The game was known as “gowf” in Scotland.
The Netherlands and England are also considered to be possible origin land of the game. The games played in the Netherlands and England were known as “kolf” and “goff” respectively. Some historians have also referred China as the possible origin of the game. According to some historians, the ancient golf was greatly influenced by the “kolven” played in the Netherlands and “chole” played in Belgium. Some historians have also considered the roman game, “paganica” to be the father of golf. However, after all the debates about the origin of golf, it has been accepted that the modern golf developed in Scotland.
Golf became immensely popular among the Scottish people. The game along with soccer was so trendy that people started neglecting archery, a primary military exercise. For this reason, King James II banned the practice of golf in 1457. The ban was reestablished in 1470 and 1491. However, with the royal patronage, the game gained huge popularity in the sixteenth century, after the ban was lifted by King James IV in 1502.
