Origins; The Beginning Of Golf
Like most sports, the game of golf is one that is rich in history, lore and even a little mystery. While today's game of golf is one that is marked with the latest high tech inventions to clubs and ball design, the game as it was played thousands of years ago looked much different.
Experts and historians have long debated on when exactly the sport came into fruition. While no exact date has ever been agreed upon, experts do come to a consensus on where the game began. During the Middle Ages (about 900 AD to 1286).
The first ever match that bears the closest resemblance to the game of golf took place in the year of 1297 during the month of February. During this match, it was noted that participants all came together in one large field. Once they were there, they were supplied small leather balls and large pliable sticks. The contestants then had to each take turns hitting the balls and get to the hole at the end of the field in the least amount of strokes.
While this is quite the rudimentary form of the game that is played today, the basic concepts are still there. You have a group of sportsman who, supplied with clubs must compete against each other to make the best par.
Some scholars say certain cultures in the Netherlands predated this match but unlike the February 1297 date, these accounts are limited to inferences through other texts, with no conclusive evidence.
Still, others say that the origins of the game go even further back than that, some 500 years before that. Historians at Lanzhou University uncovered some pretty interesting information through tapestries and murals (the earliest forms of recorded histories) from China. In these murals and tapestries, people where seen to be playing some sort of game on a court with balls and what appeared to be clubs. Upon cross-referencing and checking with other historians, the clubs where noted to be quite expensive. The game, called chuiwan in Chinese, was played with clubs constructed through Jade, gold and other expensive gems and metals. Historians who prescribe to this line of history say the game originated in oriental countries than made its way over to Europe during times of exploration and travel.
However, the version played with 18 holes, the traditional set of clubs and balls has clearly come into its own in the country of Scotland. The name of the game, "golf" is said to be taken from the Dutch word, "colf", which roughly translates over to, "stick" or "club".
Since that all important game back in 1297, the game has undergone countless facelifts and alterations in order for it to look like that game that is played today. These rules and regulations are evolved forms of the instructions that were found in Thomas Kincaid's diary in 1687. In his journal he described the game in quite a bit of detail. With attention to form, swing and posture, Kincaid appeared to be quite the golfer in his day.
For those looking to get an even deeper sense of the world of golf, consider checking out the British Golf Museum in the city of St. Andrews, Scotland. Within those walls you will find more information about the game of golf than you can shake a stick, or a club at.
Experts and historians have long debated on when exactly the sport came into fruition. While no exact date has ever been agreed upon, experts do come to a consensus on where the game began. During the Middle Ages (about 900 AD to 1286).
The first ever match that bears the closest resemblance to the game of golf took place in the year of 1297 during the month of February. During this match, it was noted that participants all came together in one large field. Once they were there, they were supplied small leather balls and large pliable sticks. The contestants then had to each take turns hitting the balls and get to the hole at the end of the field in the least amount of strokes.
While this is quite the rudimentary form of the game that is played today, the basic concepts are still there. You have a group of sportsman who, supplied with clubs must compete against each other to make the best par.
Some scholars say certain cultures in the Netherlands predated this match but unlike the February 1297 date, these accounts are limited to inferences through other texts, with no conclusive evidence.
Still, others say that the origins of the game go even further back than that, some 500 years before that. Historians at Lanzhou University uncovered some pretty interesting information through tapestries and murals (the earliest forms of recorded histories) from China. In these murals and tapestries, people where seen to be playing some sort of game on a court with balls and what appeared to be clubs. Upon cross-referencing and checking with other historians, the clubs where noted to be quite expensive. The game, called chuiwan in Chinese, was played with clubs constructed through Jade, gold and other expensive gems and metals. Historians who prescribe to this line of history say the game originated in oriental countries than made its way over to Europe during times of exploration and travel.
However, the version played with 18 holes, the traditional set of clubs and balls has clearly come into its own in the country of Scotland. The name of the game, "golf" is said to be taken from the Dutch word, "colf", which roughly translates over to, "stick" or "club".
Since that all important game back in 1297, the game has undergone countless facelifts and alterations in order for it to look like that game that is played today. These rules and regulations are evolved forms of the instructions that were found in Thomas Kincaid's diary in 1687. In his journal he described the game in quite a bit of detail. With attention to form, swing and posture, Kincaid appeared to be quite the golfer in his day.
For those looking to get an even deeper sense of the world of golf, consider checking out the British Golf Museum in the city of St. Andrews, Scotland. Within those walls you will find more information about the game of golf than you can shake a stick, or a club at.