If we go back far enough, we can trace golfs history almost to the ancient Romans. More recent, and directly related would be the games played in Europe around the time of the middle ages, beginning in the fifteenth century. We are talking specifically about Scotland, where many feel the game of golf originated as 'gowf'. American golf has its history of about eighty years, but the Scottish ancestry is much older, so we are interested then - what is the worlds oldest golf course and what is its history?
Let me take you to Old Course at St Andrews. The Course exists in Scotland on common land in Fife and is held as a national treasure by The St Andrews Links Trust under an Act of Parliament. The course was established all the way back in 1552! It is just over seven thousand three hundred yards long, has 18 holes, and a 72 par. It goes without saying then, that this course has a strong heritage and stake in the history of modern golf.
The Scots have been playing on The Old Course since the 1400's, so many consider it to be the home of golf. The game was so ludicrously popular that in 1457, the Scottish king of the time, James II placed a ban on playing on Sundays; the idea of this being that men needed to spend more time on their Archery practice. A subsequent descendent of James II, King James IV, removed this ban in the turn of the sixteenth century because he was himself, an avid golfer.
Being around for so long doesn't come without dangers though; in the late 18th century St. Andrews was threatened as a golf course when rabbit farmers were permitted to breed on the grounds. The idea behind this was to encourage a competition of popularity between rabbit breeding and golfing. Luckily the score was settled after about twenty years when a man and avid golfer by the name of James Cheape took possession of the land and dedicated it only to golfing.
The oldest governing body for golf is now known as the Royal and Ancient. This club was established at St. Andrews, and was originally known as the Society of St. Andrews Golfers. This body governs golf everywhere around the world outside of the Americas, and was established by 22 nobles, landmen and professors.
The grounds have not been changed much over the last five-hundred years. The most notable change would have to be the amount of holes on the course. Originally golf was played on 22 holes, but many members and players decided that the first and last two holes were too short. These holes were combined by 'Old Tom Morris' in the late 1800's to make a total of 18 holes. Another significant change was completed in 1850 by course architect Daw Anderson. Other then these two changes nothing much has been modified for nearly half a millennium.
So now you know a bit about the oldest golf course on Earth - The Old Course on the East coast of Scotland. American golf has a short history compared to Scotland, but Europe is where both of the games get their ancestry.
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