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GOLF HISTORY
The origin of the game of golf has never been clearly established.
The Romans during the reign of Caesar played a game resembling golf by striking a feather-stuffed ball with club-shaped branches.
Book illustrations show the Dutch playing a similar game on their frozen canals about the 15th century.
Cross-country variations were popular in France and Belgium.
In 1457 golf was banned in Scotland because it interfered with the practice of archery, which was vital to the defense effort. Nevertheless the Scots continued to brave the opposition of both Parliament and church by playing the game on seaside courses called links.
Scotland is the home of the world's oldest golf course, St. Andrews, which was used as early as the 16th century.
Golf became firmly established in Great Britain by the 17th century when James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, was attracted to the sport.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, the cradle of golf, was founded in 1754.
During the 1800s the gutta-percha ball, or "gutty," replaced the feather-filled ball that had been used for centuries.
In 1860 the first British Open was played at Prestwick, Scotland. The golf competition was opened to both professionals and amateurs the following year.
The first permanent golf club in North America, Canada's Royal Montreal Club, was founded in 1873.
St. Andrews, one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States, was established as a 3-hole layout in 1888 at Yonkers, N.Y. Its founders were known as the "Apple Tree Gang" because of the many apple trees on their course, which was extended to 6 holes on a cow pasture.
During the next few years numerous 6-, 8-, 9-, and 12-hole courses were opened in the East.
The first 18-hole course in the United States, the Chicago Golf Club, was founded near Wheaton, Ill., in 1893.
Individual coutries have argued for decades as to who invented the game of golf.
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