Golf eLife

1900

Harry Vardon wins the U.S. Open, the first golfer to win both the British and U.S. Opens.

Golf is placed on the Olympic calendar for the 2nd Games at Paris.

1901

Walter Travis becomes the first golfer, in the U.S. Amateur, to win a major title with the Haskell ball. When Sandy Herd wins the British Open and Laurie Auchterlonie the U.S. Open the next year with the Haskell, virtually all competitors switch to the new ball.

Sunningdale, a course built amidst a cleared forest, opens for play. It is the first course with grass grown completely from seed. Previously, golf courses were routed through meadows, which frequently created drainage problems as the meadows were typically atop clay soil.

The first course at the Carolina Hotel (later the Pinehurst Resort & CC) in Pinehurst, N.C., is completed by Donald Ross. Ross will go on to design 600 courses in his storied career as a golf course architect.

1902

England and Scotland inaugurate an Amateur Team competition, with Scotland winning at Hoylake.

The first grooved-faced irons are invented.

1903

Oakmont C.C. is founded in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, designed by Henry Fownes. It is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of penal-style golf architecture.

1904

Walter J. Travis becomes the first American to win the British Amateur.

1905

Women golfers from Great Britain and the United States play an international match, with the British winning 6 matches to 1.

The first dimple-pattern for golf balls is patented by William Taylor in England.

The Complete Golfer by Harry Vardon is published. It promotes and demonstrates the Vardon or overlapping grip.

1906

Goodrich introduces a golf ball with a rubber core filled with compressed air. The “Pneu-matic” proves quite lively, but also prone to explode in warm weather, often in a golfer’s pocket. The ball is eventually discontinued; at this time the Haskell ball achieves a dominance of the golf ball market.

1907

Arnaud Massey becomes the first golfer from the Continent to win the British Open.

1908

Mrs. Gordon Robertson, at Princes Ladies GC, becomes the first female professional.

The Mystery of Golf by Arnold Haultain is published.

1909

The USGA rules that caddies, caddymasters and greenkeepers over the age of sixteen are professional golfers. The ruling is later modified and eventually reversed in 1963.

1910

The R & A bans the center-shafted putter while the USGA keeps it legal — marking the beginning of a 42-year period with two official versions of The Rules of Golf.

Steel shafts are patented by Arthur F. Knight.

1911

J.J. McDermott becomes the first native-born American to win the U.S. Open. At 17 years of age, he is also the youngest winner to date.

1912

John Ball wins his eighth British Amateur championship, a record not yet equalled.

1913

Francis Ouimet, age 20, becomes the first amateur to win the U.S. Open, defeating favorites Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a play-off.

The first professional international match is played between France and the United States at La Boulie, France.

1914

Formation of The Tokyo Club at Komozawa kicks off the Japanese golf boom.

Harry Vardon wins his sixth British Open, a record to this day (Peter Thomson and Tom Watson have since won five Opens each).

1915

The British Open is discontinued for the duration of the First World War.

1916

The PGA of America is founded by 82 charter members and the PGA Championship is inaugurated. James Barnes is the first champion.

The first miniature golf course opens in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Francis Ouimet is banned from amateur play for his involvement with a sporting goods business. The ruling creates a stir of protest and is reversed in 1918.

1917

The PGA Championship and the U.S. Open are discontinued for the duration of the First World War.

1919

The R & A assumes control over the British Open and the British Amateur.

Pebble Beach Golf Links opens as the Del Monte G.L. in Pebble Beach, California.

1920

The USGA founds its famed Green Section to conduct research on turfgrass.

The first practice range is opened in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

The Professional Golfer of America is first published which, today known as PGA Magazine, is the oldest continually-published golf magazine in the United States.

1921

The R & A limits the size and weight of the ball.

1922

Walter Hagen becomes the first native American to win the British Open. He subsequently becomes the first professional golfer to open a golf equipment company under his own name.

The Walker Cup Matches are instituted. The grandson of Walker Cup founder George Herbert Walker is George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States.

The Prince of Wales is elected Captain of the R & A.

The Texas Open is inaugurated, the second-oldest surviving PGA TOUR event.

Pine Valley Golf Club opens.

1923

The West and East courses at Winged Foot Golf Club open for play, designed by A.W. Tillinghast.

1924

Joyce Wethered wins her record fifth consecutive English Ladies’ Championship.

The Olympic Club in San Francisco opens for play.

The USGA legalizes steel shafted golf clubs. The R & A does not follow suit until 1929, widening the breach in The Rules of Golf.

1925

The first fairway irrigation system is developed in Dallas, Texas.

Deep-grooved irons are banned by both the USGA and the R & A.

1926

Jesse Sweetser becomes the first native-born American to win the British Amateur.

Bobby Jones wins the British Open.

Gate money is instituted at the British Open.

Walter Hagen defeats Bobby Jones 12 and 11 in a privately sponsored 72-hole match in Florida.

The Los Angeles Open is inaugurated, the third-oldest surviving PGA TOUR event. The L.A. Open is also the first tournament to offer a $10,000 purse.

1927

The inaugural Ryder Cup Matches are played between Britain and the United States.

Creeping bentgrass is developed for putting greens by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

1928

Cypress Point Club opens, designed by Alister Mackenzie.

1929

Walter Hagen wins the British Open for the fourth time.

Seminole Golf Club opens in Palm Beach, Fla., from a design by Donald Ross.

Golfelife

1856

The Royal Curragh Golf Club is founded at Kildare, the first golf club in Ireland. Pau Golf Club is founded, the first on the Continent.

A rule change is enacted that, in match play, the ball must be played as it lies or the hole be conceded. It is the last recorded toughening of the rules structure.

1857

The Golfer’s Manual, by “A Keen Hand” (H.B. Farnie), is published. It is the first book on golf instruction.

The Prestwick Club institutes the first Championship Meeting, a foursomes competition at St. Andrews attended by eleven golf clubs. George Glennie and J.C. Stewart win for Blackheath.

1858

The format of the Championship Meeting is changed to individual match play and is won by Robert Chambers of Bruntsfield.

Allan Robertson becomes the first golfer to break 80 at the Old Course, recording a 79.

1859

The first Amateur Championship is won by George Condie of Perth.

Death of Allan Robertson, the first great professional golfer.

1860

The Prestwick Club institutes a Professional Championship played at Prestwick-the first Championship Belt is won by Willie Park.

1861

The Professionals Championship is opened to amateurs, and the British Open is born. The first competition is won by Old Tom Morris.

1864

The North Devon Golf Club is founded at Westward Ho!

1867

The Ladies’ Golf Club at St. Andrews is founded, the first golf club for women.

1869

The Liverpool Golf Club is founded at Hoylake, later Royal Liverpool.

Young Tom Morris, age 17, wins the first of four successive British Open championships. His streak would include an 11-stroke victory in 1869 and a 12-stroke victory in 1870 (in a 36-hole format). His 149 in the 1870 British Open over 36 holes is a stroke average that would not be equalled until the invention of the rubber-cored ball.

1870

Young Tom Morris wins his third consecutive British Open Championship, thus winning permanent possession of the Belt.

The Royal Adelaide Golf Club is founded, the first golf club in Australia.

1872

The British Open Championship is reinstituted when Prestwick, St. Andrews and the Honourable Company offer a new trophy, with the Open Championship to be hosted in rotation by the three clubs.

Young Tom Morris wins his fourth consecutive British Open Championship.

1873

The Royal Montreal Golf Club is formed, the first club in Canada.

The British Open is held for the first time at the Old Course.

1875

The Oxford and Cambridge University Golf Clubs are founded.

1878

The first University Match is played at Wimbledon, won by Oxford.

1880

Royal Belfast is founded.

The use of moulds is instituted to dimple the gutta-percha ball. Golfers had long noticed that the guttie worked in the air much better after it had been hit several times and scuffed up.

1883

Bob Ferguson of Musselburgh, losing the British Open in extra holes, comes one victory shy of equalling Young Tom Morris’ record of four consecutive titles. Ferguson ends up later in life penniless, working out of the Musselburgh caddy-shack.

1884

The Oakhurst Golf Club is founded at White Sulphur Springs. The first hole at The Homestead survives from this course and is the oldest surviving golf hole in America.

1885

The Royal Cape Golf Club is founded at Wynberg, South Africa, the first club in Africa.

1886

A.J. Balfour is appointed Chief Secretary (Cabinet Minister) for Ireland-his rise to political and social prominence has an incalculable effect on the popularity of golf, as he is an indefatigable player and catalyzes great interest in the game through his writing and public speaking.

1887

The Art of Golf by Sir Walter Simpson is published.

1888

The St. Andrews Golf Club is founded in Yonkers, N.Y., the oldest surviving golf club in America.

1890

John Ball, an English amateur, becomes the first non-Scotsman and first amateur to win the British Open.

Bogey is invented by Hugh Rotherham, as the score of the hypothetical golfer playing perfect golf at every hole. Rotherham calls this a “Ground Score,” but Dr. Thomas Brown, honorary Secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, christens this hypothetical man a “Bogey Man,” after a popular song of the day, and christens his score a “Bogey.” With the invention of the rubber-cored ball golfers are able to reach the greens in fewer strokes, and so bogey has come to represent one over the par score for the hole.

1891

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is founded.

1892

Gate money is charged for the first time, at a match between Douglas Rollard and Jack White at Cambridge. The practice of paying for matches through private betting, rather than gate receipts and sponsorships, survives well into the 20th Century as a “Calcutta,” but increasingly gate receipts are the source of legitimate prize-purses.

The Amateur Golf Championship of India and the East is instituted, the first international championship event.

1893

The [British] Ladies’ Golf Union is founded and the first Open Championship won by Lady Margaret Scott, at St. Anne’s.

1894

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.

The United States Golf Association is founded as the Amateur Golf Association of the United States. Charter members are the Chicago Golf Club, The Country Club, Newport Golf Club, St. Andrews Golf Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

Tacoma Golf Club is founded, the first golf club on the Pacific Coast.

1895

The United States Open is instituted. Willie Anderson is the first winner.

Chicago Golf Club opens the United States’ first 18-hole golf course.

The pool cue is banned as a putter by the USGA.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is instituted. Mrs. Charles S. Brown is the first winner.

1896

Harry Vardon wins his first British Open.

1897

The first NCAA championship is held. Louis Bayard Jr. is the champion.

Golf, America’s first golfing magazine, is published for the first time.

1898

Freddie Tait, betting he could reach the Royal Cinque Ports G.C. clubhouse from the clubhouse at Royal St. George’s — a three mile distance — in forty shots or less, puts his 32nd stroke through a window at the Cinque Ports club.

The Haskell ball is designed and patented by Coburn Haskell. It is the first rubber-cored ball.

The term “birdie” is coined at Atlantic C.C. from “a bird of a hole.”

1899

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

1806

The St. Andrews Club chooses to elect its captains rather than award captaincy to the winner of the Silver Cup. Thus begins the tradition of the Captain “playing himself into office,” by hitting a single shot before the start of the annual competition.

1810

Earliest recorded reference to a women’s competition at Musselburgh.

1820

The Bangalore Club is formed, the first club outside of the British Isles.

1824

The Perth Golfing Society is formed, later Royal Perth (the first club so honored).

1826

Hickory imported from America is used to make golf shafts.

1829

The Calcutta Golf Club (later Royal Calcutta) is formed.

1832

The North Berwick Club is founded, the first to include women in its activities, although they are not permitted to play in competitions.

1833

King William IV confers the distinction of “Royal” on the Perth Golfing Society; as Royal Perth it is the first Club to hold the distinction.

The St. Andrews Golfers ban the stymie, but rescind the ban one year later.

1834

William IV confers the title “Royal and Ancient” on the Golf Club at St. Andrews.

1836

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers abandons the deteriorating Leith Links, moving to Musselburgh.

The longest driver ever recorded with a feathery ball, 361 yards, is achieved by Samuel Messieux at Elysian Fields.

1842

The Bombay Golfing Society (later Royal Bombay) is founded.

1844

Blackheath follows Leith in expanding its course from five to seven holes. North Berwick also had seven holes at the time, although the trend toward a standard eighteen had begun.

1848

Invention of the “guttie,” the gutta-percha ball. It flies farther than the feathery and is much less expensive. It contributes greatly to the expansion of the game.

1851

The Prestwick Golf Club is founded.

GolfeLife

1721

Earliest reference to golf at Glasgow Green, the first course played in the west of Scotland.

1724

“A solemn match of golf” between Alexander Elphinstone and Captain John Porteous becomes the first match reported in a newspaper. Elphinstone fights and wins a duel on the same ground in 1729.

1743

Thomas Mathison’s epic The Goff is the first literary effort devoted to golf.

1744

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers is formed, playing at Leith links. It is the first golf club.

The City of Edinburgh pays for a Silver Cup to be awarded to the annual champion in an open competition played at Leith. John Rattray is the first champion.

1754

Golfers at St. Andrews purchase a Silver Cup for an open championship played on the Old Course. Bailie William Landale is the first champion.

The first codified Rules of Golf published by the St. Andrews Golfers (later the Royal &Ancient Golf Club).

1759

Earliest reference to stroke-play, at St. Andrews. Previously, all play was match.

1764

The competition for the Silver Club at Leith is restricted to members of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

The first four holes at St. Andrews are combined into two, reducing the round from twenty-two holes (11 out and in) to 18 (nine out and in). St. Andrews is the first 18-hole golf course, and sets the standard for future courses.

1766

The Blackheath Club becomes the first golf club formed outside of Scotland.

1767

The score of 94 returned by James Durham at St. Andrews in the Silver Cup competition sets a record unbroken for 86 years.

1768

The Golf House at Leith is erected. It is the first golf clubhouse.

1773

Competition at St. Andrews is restricted to members of the Leith and St. Andrews societies.

The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh is formed.

1774

Thomas McMillan offers a Silver Cup for competition at Musselburgh. He wins the first championship.

The first part-time golf course professional (at the time also the greenkeeper) is hired, by the Edinburgh Burgess Society.

1780

The Aberdeen Golf Club (later Royal Aberdeen) is formed.

1783

A Silver Club is offered for competition at Glasgow.

1786

The South Carolina Golf Club is formed in Charleston, the first golf club outside of the United Kingdom.

The Crail Golfing Society is formed.

1787

The Bruntsfield Club is formed.

1788

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers requires members to wear club uniform when playing on the links.

1797

The Burntisland Golf Club is formed.

The town of St. Andrews sells the land containing the Old Course (known then as Pilmor Links), to Thomas Erskine for 805 pounds. Erskine was required to preserve the course for golf.

Golfelife

1353

The first recorded reference to chole, the probable antecedent of golf. It is a derivative of hockey played in Flanders (Belgium).

1421

A Scottish regiment aiding the French against the English at the Siege of Bauge is introduced to the game of chole. Hugh Kennedy, Robert Stewart and John Smale, three of the identified players, are credited with introducing the game in Scotland.

1457

Golf, along with football, is banned by the Scots Parliament of James II because it has interfered with military training for the wars against the English.

1470

The ban on golf is reaffirmed by the Parliament of James III.

1491

The golf ban is affirmed again by Parliament, this time under King James IV.

1502

With the signing of the Treaty of Glasgow between England and Scotland, the ban on golf is lifted.

James IV makes the first recorded purchase of golf equipment, a set of clubs from a bow-maker in Perth, Scotland.

1513

Queen Catherine of England, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, refers to the growing popularity of golf in England.

1527

The first commoner recorded as a golfer is Sir Robert Maule, described as playing on Barry Links (near the modern-day Carnoustie).

1552

The first recorded evidence of golf at St. Andrews.

1553

The Archbishop of St. Andrews issues a decree giving the local populace the right to play golf on the links at St. Andrews.

1567

Mary, Queen of Scots, seen playing golf shortly after the death of her husband Lord Darnley, is the first known female golfer.

1589

Golf is banned in the Blackfriars Yard, Glasgow. This is the earliest reference to golf in the west of Scotland.

1592

The City of Edinburgh bans golfing at Leith on 1592 (continued)

Sunday “in tyme of sermonis.”

1618

Invention of the feathery ball.

1618

King James VI and I confirms the right of the populace to play golf on Sundays.

1621

First recorded reference to golf on the links of Dornoch (later Royal Dornoch), in the far north of Scotland.

1641

Charles II is playing golf at Leith when he learns of the Irish rebellion, marking the beginning of the English Civil War. He finishes his round.

1642

John Dickson receives a license as ball-maker for Aberdeen, Scotland.

1659

Golf is banned from the streets of Albany, New York-the first reference to golf in America.

1682

In the first recorded international golf match, the Duke of York and John Paterstone of Scotland defeat two English noblemen in a match played on the links of Leith.

Andrew Dickson, carrying clubs for the Duke of York, is the first recorded caddy.

1687

A book by Thomas Kincaid, “Thoughts on Golve,” contains the first references on how golf clubs are made.

GolfeLife

I have decided that I need to add Golf instruction to the site. I enjoy being taught the finer points of better ways to swing a golf club. This video is on ways to use your legs in your golf swing. The write states “Brady Riggs shows you how to properly setup and use the legs in the golf swing”. He does just that. I found this very informative and what the use of YouTube is all about. Enjoy GolfeLife

Did you know that Golf is the best sport? This video explains why golf is the best sport. Better that football, baseball, basketball and soccer. Joking of course. Your mind will be thinking very hard after you watch this video on why golf is the best sport. I think because were else can you wear those wild crazy looking pants on the golf course and still be instyle. Enjoy. GolfeLife

Here is a nice video on the history of the golf ball. I am wondering when they went from hitting acorns to wanting to create an actual object to hit around. This is very interesting on the how the golf ball has developed over the last several hundred of years. Enjoy

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Updated November 29, 2010

Golf became very popular in the 16th century due to it’s royal endorsement.  King Charles I,  popularized the game in England and golf quickly spread throughout other parts of Europe.  Mary Queen of Scots, who was Scottish, introduced the game of Golf to France while she studied there.

The term ‘CADDIE’ stems from the name given to her helpers during her golf games, the helpers were also in the French Military, were known in French as cadets.

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