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A Brief History of Golfing

One of the most elegant and prolific games of this century, golf has a fascinating trail of history running behind. The word ”golf” is actually a modification of the Dutch word “kolf” which simply means a “bat,” “stick,” or “club”. If defined literally, the game is all about striking a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes while complying with the rules of the game. It is one of those rare games which do not require playing area; rather golf is played on golf “courses.” The competitions of golf are based on stroke play, where the individual or team posts with lowest score on the most individual for a full round, wins the game. Some other team games of golf such as fourball have been pioneered, and are played either using matchplay format or stroke. Several alternative styles of golf playing have been introduced like disc golf and miniature golf. However, it is still interesting to find out the History of golf.

Most scholars agree with the “fact” that the Scots were first to popularize the game of golf. However, there exists no common consensus in the history of golf about the inventors of the classy sport. The records suggest a golf-like game was played in a city called Loenen aan de Vecht, Netherlands, on 26 February 1297. The Dutchmen played this game with leather ball and a stick. Actually, the game required the players to hit the ball into a target situated several hundreds of meters away.

The emphasis on golf’s Scottish origin is contributed to the fact that the game was mentioned in two 15th-century Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Further, there are evidences that in A.D 1456, the first game of golf was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, as recorded in the archives of The Royal Burgess Golfing Society.

There are some reports which record evidences of golf from continental Europe. Different forms of sports similar to golf were played in 14th century in the countries of France, Belgium, and Holland, apart from Scotland. However, the game was introduced in England by a keen Scottish Baron, James VI, after succeeding on the English throne in 1603.

In the early years of golf, the players never thought of forming a club or society until in 1744 a group of Edinburgh golfers united into a club named Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. It was here that the first 13 rules of golf were drawn up for an annual contest. In 1766, Royal Blackheath Golf Club was formed in England – the first golf club formed outside Scotland.

Although traces of golf can be encountered in 18th century United States, however the game was still waiting to be popularized. The history of golf in North America began with its roots in Canada. In 1873, The Royal Montreal Club was formed, which was followed by the Quebec Golf Club in 1875 and the golf club in Toronto a year later. It was in 1888 that golf re-emerged in the United States. For the first time the “three-hole golf course” was built in Yonkers, New York by a Scotsman, John Reid on a 30-acre site. From a modest beginning, golf emerged as the new national pastime in the United States.

In the recent times golf has become a complete spectators’ game, involving professionals at different levels and amateur tours across various terrains of the world. Not only the game, but the golf players -Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Jack Nicklaus to name a few, have gained worldwide recognition as great sports personalities. Engrossingly huge sponsorships and new technologies being developed to assist golfers and dedication and raw talent from the emerging players all suggest a luminous new chapter in the “history of golf”.

Senior Golf- The Senior Open History

The very first Senior Golf Open was played in New York in June of 1980 at the Winged Foot Golf Club on the East Course. It was established because of the interest of senior golfers who wanted to compete on an amateur and professional level. The very first Senior Open had six hundred and thirty-one entries. At this time, the senior golfer had to be at least fifty-five years of age the day of the tournament. Some of the former champions competed in the first Senior Golf Open such as William Campbell, Tommy Bolt, Jack Fleck, Ed Furgol and Lew Worsham.

The winner of the first Senior Golf Open was Roberto De Vicenzo while William Campbell was in second place. The age limit was lowered to fifty just one year later to allow for more participants in the tournament. Arnold Palmer went onto win the second Senior Open at the age of fifty-one in Michigan. Miller Barber won the Senior Open in 1982, which was just one of his three wins for a Senior Open. The other two wins were for 1984 and 1985. As of 2002, there were a little over three thousand entries for the Senior Golf Open.

In 2006, Allen Doyle became the new oldest winner of the Senior Open at the age of fifty-seven, eleven months, seventeen days. The oldest winner before that was De Vicenzo at the age of fifty-seven years, two months and fifteen days. Don Pooley won his way into the Senior Golf Open by qualifying and went onto win the tournament in 2002.

Today, you will see only a three or four hole playoff if needed were in the past it used to be four playoffs of eighteen holes. There have only been a few times in the Senior Open history of a playoff occurring, once in 1981, 1983, 1988 and 1991 with the winners being Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Gary Player and Jack Nicholas respectfully.

In 2007, the Senior Open was played at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wisconsin where senior golf player Brad Bryant won the Championship. He had winnings of four hundred and seventy thousand dollars to take home with him. He did share his revenue with his caddies Tony Smith. The golf course designed Pete Dye was designed to attract PGA tournaments in the future. It proved to be a tricky course that is considered rugged terrain that does not have golf cart abilities.

If you want a chance to watch the U.S. Senior Open when it comes to your town, you can buy advance tickets, walk around with your favorite players, and see how they fair in the tournament. Some of the courses they play are set up according to the guidelines established for the tours. This is just another way to see how the pros do it and how they apply different stances and what clubs they use to get distance and win the game. It is always a spectacular event for any city and golf course when the Senior Open comes to town.

But don’t just watch Senior Golf.

The Augusta National Golf Club: A Brief History

The Augusta National Golf Club was fonded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. It opened in 1932 and has been has been home to the prestigious Masters Tournament since 1934. Situated in Augusta Georgia, the course is one of the most well known courses in the world, not to mention one of the most stunning too. The course is located on land that, once upon a time, used to be a fruit tree nursery.

A Beautiful Sight to Behold

Sixty one large magnolia trees line the road from the entrance gate to the clubhouse. This is Magnolia Lane – it’s 330 yards long and it dates back to the late 1850s. The Augusta national golf club is full of beautiful trees, flowers and shrubs. Every hole on this stunning course has been given the name of a tree or a shrub that can be found on that particular hole. In the its early days it stood out from other golf courses due to the small number of bunkers it contained.

Changes to the Course

Course architects have made various design changes to Augusta over the years. More bunkers have been built on the course and the number of contours on the greens was reduced when the type of grass on the greens was changed in 1981 from Bermuda grass to Bent grass which provided a faster playing surface. More trees have been placed on the course and also more rough areas have been created. The greens at the Augusta course had a long tradition of being made from Bermuda grass.

Fans of Augusta are probably familiar with the big oak tree that is located on the course side of the Augusta clubhouse and is thought to be between 145 and 150 years of age. The Eisenhower tree is a Loblolly Pine which is situated on the 17th hole of the Augusta national golf club course.

Historians of the course claim that the tree was hit with a golf ball so many times by President Eisenhower that he recommend that they remove the tree form the course completely. The chairman of the golf course at the time did not want to have to dismiss the recommendation of President Eisenhower but he also didn’t want to get rid of the tree and so he decided the best thing to do would be to adjourn the meeting.

Ike’s Pond was also named after Eisenhower who at the time was a general. He had taken a walk in the woods on the eastern portion of the Augusta national Golf Club grounds and informed the chairman of the club that he had located a great place to build a dam if he ever wanted to create a fishpond. The pond was built based on his recommendation and takes up three acres. The Augusta national golf club course is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world.

A History of Golf Clubs

The origins of golf clubs can be traced back to 1826 where club maker Robert Forgan of Scotland used American hickory wood to manufacturer shafts. Hickory was soon adopted as the wood of choice despite cheaper alternatives available.

1848 saw the conception of the Guttie golf balls which saw traditional long nose golf clubs become obsolete. A new generation of golf club was required to cope with the increased stress associated with this new type of golf ball. These clubs best resemble the modern set of woods in today?s game of golf.

In the early nineteenth century, golfers associated Scotland with quality golf equipment in the same way that we associate fine chocolate being produced in Belgium and Switzerland ? at this time golf equipment production in Scotland was considered to be an extremely profitable and worthy business.

At the start of twentieth century, America had started to manufacturer and export golf clubs in large volumes, whilst replacing outdated materials such as hickory, with hard woods such as beech ? the new choice for golf club heads. A growing demand for hand-forged metal club heads had also arrived at this time ? in 1902, the first groove-faced irons appeared and offered an increased amount of backspin, compared to wooden heads.

Despite an initially slow take-up, steel shafts had been experimented with since the late nineteenth century. Steel shafts became legalised in 1929, after the Prince of Wales was spotted using a set of steel shafted golf clubs at St. Andrews. As popularity grew for the steel shafted golf club ? the US Open was the first major tournament to feature this new type of golf club.

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