History Of Golf
Author: Kadence Buchanan

For generations, the favorite type of recreation in my family
has been golf. I remember being a small child and trailing my
great-grandfather, my grandfather and my own father around the
golf course near my mother's place of work. Come to think of
it, my only memory of my great grandfather is that of him with
a golf club in his hands. Actually, the same goes for my
grandfather as well. I remember that as a young boy, the first
time I ever received applause in the classroom was when I
talked about the history of golf. I guess everyone was
surprised to see an eight year old knowing so much about an
adult's game. Actually, I can still remember it vividly now.

The Chinese, French, Dutch and Scottish all have solid claims
to the origin of golf. As early as the year 1297, on February
26 of that year to be exact, golf was already mentioned in
Holland in a city known as Loenen aan de Vecht. In that place,
the Dutch played the game with a stick and a leather ball. The
person who hit the ball at a target several hundred meters away
the most number of times won the game.

Generally, golf is considered to be an invention of the Scots
and the game was also mentioned sometime in the 15th century,
particularly as part of a listing of laws that prohibited the
playing of the game, then known as "gowf." There is some belief
among historical scholars that gowf may actually refer to shinty
or hurling or even to modern field hockey. These scholars
believe a game that consisted of putting a small ball in a hole
in the ground using golf clubs had its origins in the
Netherlands in the 17th century. The term golf is believed to
have originated from the Germanic word for club.

Meanwhile, historians point out that the oldest playing golf
course in the history of the world is located at Musselburgh.
It was called the Old Links and evidence points to the fact
that golf was played on this course way back in 1672 although
some reporst say that Mary, Queen of Scots, actually played in
that gold course as early as 1567.


About The Author: Kadence Buchanan writes articles for
http://recreationsource.net/ - In addition, Kadence also writes
articles for http://tipsforgardening.net/ and
http://esportssource.net/