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A Brief History of Golf by Knetgolf

 

Milestones in the History of Golf

1421-1592 - A Scottish regiment helping the French against the English at the Siege of Bauge was introduced to a game called chole arguably the probable antecedent of golf.

In 1421 there were three major players in the game Robert Stewart, Hugh Kennedy and John Smale who introduced the game in Scotland.
 

In 1457 Golf and Football is outlawed by the Scottish Parliament because it has conflicted with military training for the wars against the English.  After 43 years and with the signing of the Treaty of Glasgow between England and Scotland, the ban on golf was lifted. In 1502 James IV makes the first purchase of golf equipment, a set of clubs from a bow-maker in Perth, Scotland.

The first commoner as a golfer is Sir Robert Maule, described as playing on Barry Links in 1527. In 1553, the Archbishop of St. Andrews issues a decree giving the local populace the right to play golf on the links at St. Andrews.

1618-1788 - Invention of the feathery ball. King James VI confirms the right of the people to play golf on Sundays.

In 1659, Golf is banned in Albany, New York, which is the first known reference to golf in America.

In 1724 "A solemn match of golf" between Alexander Elphinstone and Captain John Porteous becomes the first match of golf ever reported in a newspaper.

In 1744, the first golf club is started playing at Leith links. Bailie William Landale is the first champion. In 1767 St. Andrews is the first 18-hole golf course. The score of 94 returned by James Durham at St. Andrews in the Silver Cup competition sets a record unbroken for 86 years.

In 1786, the South Carolina Golf Club is formed in Charleston, the first golf club outside of the United Kingdom. In 1788 the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers decides to require members of their exclusive golf club to wear club uniform when playing on the links.

It the years between 1750 an 1850 many of today's great golf clubs were developed, and many top golfers began to gain fame. Golf equipment improved, with many of the top golf ball and club makers being in high demand.

In 1836 the longest drive ever recorded with a feathery ball, 361 yards accomplished by Samuel Messieux at Elysian Fields the same year.

The Ladies' Golf Club at St. Andrews is founded, the first golf club for women in 1867. The Oxford and Cambridge University Golf Clubs are founded in 1875, and the first University Match is played at Wimbledon, won by Oxford in 1878.

In 1888, the St. Andrews Golf Club is founded in Yonkers, N.Y., the oldest surviving golf club in America. The Open is played on an English course for the first time and is won for the first time by an Englishman, J.H. Taylor in 1894.

Many early professional golfers in the US were transplanted Scots, many of whom later became teachers and mentors who helped transform the game to a further level of sophistication. Further developments came in the way of the steel shafted club and the rubber-cored ball. America became obsessed with perfecting the golf swing, with many courses dedicating a section of the grounds for practice.

The Chicago Golf Club opens the United States' first 18-hole golf course in 1895 and the pool cue is banned as a putter by the USGA.

In 1889, the Western Open is first played at Glenview G.C., the first tournament in what would evolve into the PGA TOUR.

The R & A limits the size and weight of the ball in 1921. The inaugural Ryder Cup Matches are played between Britain and the United States in 1927, and creeping bent grass is developed for putting greens by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The first Masters is played in 1934 and Horton Smith is the first champion. In this inaugural event, the present-day back and front nines were reversed.

1940-1950 - In 1940 the British Open and Amateur are discontinued for the duration of the Second World War. The U.S. Open is discontinued for the duration of the war in 1942, and a world-wide shortage of rubber, a vital military supply, creates a shortage and huge price increase in golf balls. Sam Snead manages to complete an entire four-day tournament playing one ball, but the professional circuit is severely curtailed. The U.S. government halts the manufacture of golf equipment for the duration of the war. The PGA Championship is cancelled for the year, and the Masters is discontinued for the duration of the war in 1943.

Mildred "Babe" Zaharias becomes the first American to win the British Women's Open, at Gullane in 1947. Golf is televised for the first time, in a local St. Louis telecast of the U.S. Open, also in 1947, and Golf World magazine is founded. The LPGA is founded in 1950, replacing the ailing Women's Professional Golf Association, and Ben Hogan, only weeks after returning to the PGA TOUR following a near-fatal auto accident, wins the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills.

1951-1960 - Francis Ouimet becomes the first American Captain of the R & A. The USGA and the R & A, in a conference, complete a newly revised Rules of Golf. Although the R & A and the USGA continue to differ over the size of the golf ball, all other conflicts are resolved in this momentous conference of 1951. The center-shafted putter is also legalized world-wide in 1951, the out-of-bounds penalty is standardized at stroke-and-distance, the stymie is finally and forever abolished and Al Brosch shoots 60 in the Texas Open to set an 18-hole PGA TOUR record.

Tommy Armour's 'How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time' is published and becomes the first golf book ever to hit the best-seller lists in 1953. Ben Hogan wins the first three legs of the modern "Grand Slam" (The Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open), but fails to win the final leg, the PGA Championship. The Tam O'Shanter World Championship becomes the first tournament to be nationally televised. Lew Worsham holes a 104-yard wedge shot on the final hole for eagle and victory in one of the most dramatic finishes ever.

1953 was the year that the Canada Cup was instituted, the first event that brings together teams from all over the world. After 1966 the tournament became known as the World Cup. In 1954, Peter Thomson becomes the first Australian to win a major tournament with a victory in the British Open, and Architect Robert Trent Jones, upon receiving complaints that he has made the par-3 fourth hole at Baltusrol too hard for the upcoming U.S. Open, plays the hole to see for himself and records a hole-in-one.

In 1958, Arnold Palmer is allowed a controversial free drop to save par in the final round of the Masters, and he goes on to defeat Ken Venturi. Bill Wright, in winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links, becomes the first African-American to win a national championship in 1959. It was also 1959 that Golf Magazine is founded, with Charles Price as the first editor.

1961-1970 - Gary Player becomes the first foreign player to win the Masters in 1961, the Caucasians-only clause stricken from the PGA constitution, and at the Greater Greensboro Open Charlie Sifford becomes the first black golfer to play in a PGA co-sponsored tournament in the South.

In 1962, Dr. Joseph Boydstone records 11 aces in one calendar year. Three were recorded in one round, at Bakersfield C.C., Calif. Jack Nicklaus wins his first professional tournament, the U.S. Open, the last player to win the U.S. Open as his first pro victory. Painted lines are first utilized to mark water hazards at the U.S. Open. In 1963, Arnold Palmer becomes the first professional to earn over $100,000 in official prize money in one calendar year, and the casting method for irons is first employed.

In 1964, the PGA National opens, in Palm Beach, Fla. Norman Manley, an amateur from Long Beach, Calif., scores holes-in-one on two successive par-4s at Del Valley CC, Calif. It is the first and only time this feat has been accomplished. In 1965, Sam Snead wins the Greater Greensboro Open, his 81st TOUR victory, a record. His victory is the eighth in the Greensboro event, also a record. Finally, he wins a PGA TOUR record at the age of 52. Jack Nicklaus also sets a tournament record of 271 in winning the Masters. Mrs. William Jenkins Sr. of Baltimore, Md., double-eagles the par-five 12th hole at Longview GC, the longest ever recorded by a woman.

In 1968, Arnold Palmer passes the $1 million mark in career PGA earnings, Tommy Moore, age 6 years 1 month, 1 week, becomes the youngest player to score a hole-in-one. Moore also becomes, in 1975, the youngest player ever to score a double-eagle. In 1970, Bill Burke, with a 57 at Normandie C.C., sets the all-time official record for low 18-hole score, and Thad Doker of Durham, N.C., records a record two-under par 70 in the World One Club Championship at Lochmere CC.

1971-1980 - In 1973, Ben Crenshaw wins the NCAA title for a record 3rd consecutive time. Later in the year, after earning his PGA TOUR card, he wins the first event he plays as a PGA TOUR member, the San Antonio Open. The graphite shaft is also invented. In 1974, the World Golf Hall of Fame is opened in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and Tom Weiskopf strikes a 420-yard drive in the greenside bunker on the 10th hole at Augusta National-the longest drive in Masters history.

Lee Elder becomes the first black golfer to play in the Masters in 1975. Lee Trevino, Jerry Heard and Bobby Nichols are struck by lightning during the Western Open. The incident prompts new safety standards in weather preparedness at PGA events, but four spectators are killed when struck by lightning during the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine National.

In 1980, Tom Watson is the first golfer to earn $500,000 in prize money in a single season. The PGA Senior TOUR is born, with four official events, and Jack Nicklaus sets a record of 272 in the U.S. Open at Baltusrol. His mark is equaled in the 1993 U.S. Open by Lee Janzen, also at Baltusrol. The same year, Gary Wright completes 18 holes in a record 28 minutes 9 seconds at Twantin Noosa GC, Australia (6,039 yards).

1981-1993 - In 1985, Nancy Lopez sets the LPGA 72-hole record with 268 in the Henredon Classic. The USGA introduces the Slope System to allow golfers to adjust their handicaps to allow for the relative difficulty of a golf course compared to players of their own ability.

In 1988, square-grooved clubs such as the PING Eye2 irons are banned by the USGA, which claims that tests show the clubs give an unfair competitive advantage to PING customers. The PGA TOUR also bans the clubs in 1989. Karsten Manufacturing, maker of the clubs, fights a costly two-year battle with both the USGA and the PGA TOUR to have the ban rescinded after winning a temporary injunction. Eventually both organizations drop the ban, while Karsten acknowledges the right of the organizations to regulate equipment and pledges to make modifications to future designs. Curtis Strange wins the season-ending Nabisco Championships at Pebble Beach, and his $360,000 paycheck lifts his official 1988 TOUR earnings to $1,147,644, and thus he becomes the first player to win over $1,000,000 in a single season. Nick Faldo sinks a 100-foot birdie putt on the second hole at Augusta National in the Masters, the longest putt holed to date in a major tournament. Faldo goes on to win the Masters.

Hall Thompson of Shoal Creek GC, on the eve of the PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, defends his club's policy of not admitting black members. Amidst a public outcry, Shoal Creek 1990 is forced to change its policy and the PGA TOUR and the USGA insist that in future all clubs submit to a standard set of guidelines on membership policies. Cypress Point Club and Aronimink, among others, decide they are unable to comply and withdraw from the professional tournament arena. Also in 1990, Bill Blue resigns after a short reign as LPGA Commissioner. Charles Mecham is selected as his successor.

The same year, construction begins on Shadow Creek Golf Club, the most expensive golf course ever built, with cost estimates ranging from $35 to $60 million as Tom Fazio creates an oasis in the Las Vegas desert . The club in 1994 vaults into eighth place on the Golf Digest top-100 course rankings, sparking controversy. The R & A, after 38 years, adopts the 1.68 inch diameter ball, and for the first time since 1910. The Rules of Golf are standardized throughout the world.

1990 was the year the initial Solheim Cup is played at Lake Nona G.C., Orlando, commencing a biennial USA vs. Europe competition for women, a recognition of the growing strength of women's golf on both sides of the Atlantic. The Ben Hogan Tour is launched as a minor league for the PGA TOUR, following the increased success of mini-tours such as the U.S. Golf Tour in 1989.

In 1991, the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., the first course to be awarded the Ryder Cup Matches before the course has been completed, is the scene of the United States' first victory in the event since 1983. The competition comes down to a twisting seven-footer on the 18th hole missed by Bernhard Langer in the final match (against Hale Irwin). John Daly wins the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick when, as ninth alternate, a slot in the tournament opens up for him on the night before the Championship began. The golfer who withdrew and gave Daly his place, Nick Price, wins the PGA Championship in 1992 at Bellerive. Phil Mickelson, an amateur, wins the PGA Tour's Northern Telecom Open.

In 1991, oversized metal woods are introduced, with Callaway Golf's Big Bertha quickly establishing itself as the dominant brand, the Big Bertha driver becomes one of the biggest-selling clubs of all time. Harvey Penick's Little Red Book becomes the all-time best selling golf book.

In 1992, Simon Clough and Boris Janic complete 18-hole rounds in five countries in one day, walking each course. They played rounds in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, and completed their journey in 16 hours, 35 minutes. Brittany Andres, age 6 years 19 days, scores an ace at the 85-yard second hole at the Jimmy Clay G.C. in Austin, Texas.

In 1993, an ownership group led by Joe Gibbs and Arnold Palmer announce plans for The Golf Channel, a 24-hour, 365-day cable service. The channel  launched in 1995.

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