Golf

Golf is a game, commonly thought to have begun in Scotland at some time before the mid-fifteenth century, in which individuals compete to strike a small ball with a club in an attempt to drive the ball into series of holes on a course, divided into eighteen areas of different lengths and difficulty, with the fewest strokes possible. Although the origins of golf are cloudy, written records affirm that golf flourished in Scotland by the fifteenth century. It was not until the late nineteenth century that golf enjoyed a boom in England and the United States. The post–World War II years brought another increase in interest, with televised matches introducing the game to a wider audience and women joining the ranks of professionals. Almost half a century later, the success of Tiger Woods led to more television coverage and increased sponsorship. In the 2020s, there were an estimated 106 million golfers worldwide.

History

Some historians argue that the Dutch game kolf, played annually in the Netherlands as early as 1297, was the forerunner of golf. But history records that on March 6, 1497, James II banned golf in Scotland because playing interfered with archery practice, which was vital to national defense. James III and James IV reenacted the ban in 1471 and 1491 respectively, suggesting that the popularity of the sport persisted.

The eighteenth century was the era of golf club formation in the United Kingdom and the United States. The first documented golf club was formed in Edinburgh in 1744. The St. Andrews Society was formed in 1754, the progenitor of the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) formed a century later. In 1766, the Blackheath Club, near London, became the first golf club outside Scotland. Two decades later, the South Carolina Golf Club in Charleston became the first golf club in the United States.

The nineteenth century was a period of further expansion of the game. Between 1820 and 1881, golf clubs were organized throughout the British Empire. The United States Golf Association (USGA) was established in 1894, and golf was being played on more than a dozen courses from Maine to California. By the end of the century, golf clubs also existed in Belgium, Hong Kong, Thailand, Sweden, and Argentina.

Also during the nineteenth century, professional golf began to develop. The first British Open in 1860 featured only professional players; the following year, it was open to all players. Professional golf was still young, and some of the world’s top players could be found among amateurs well into the next century. It was an amateur from Atlanta, Georgia, who was heralded as the greatest golfer of all time in 1930 when he accomplished an unparalleled feat.

Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones, in 1930, became the only golfer to win the US Open, US Amateur, British Open, and British Amateur in the same year. The phrase Grand Slam was coined to describe this singular achievement. In 1932, Jones cofounded the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, the site of the Masters Tournament, also cofounded by Jones.

In 1996, when Tiger Woods joined the PGA tour, the popularity of the game exploded. He attracted younger and more diverse fans, and television coverage increased, as did sponsorships and endorsement deals for players. More television coverage meant increases in tournament purses. The Masters winner in 1996 received $450,000. In 2024, the winner's prize was $3.6 million.

The Masters Tournament held each April, along with the US Open in June, the (British) Open Championship in July, and the PGA Championship in August, form the modern grand slam. By 2024, no one had won the modern grand slam. Tiger Woods won all four tournaments consecutively but not in the same calendar year. In 2000, he won the US Open, British Open, and Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) Championship, and in 2001, he won the Masters. Golfers who have won all four major tournaments in their careers are acknowledged to have career grand slams. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have accomplished career slams three times each. Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Gene Sarazen also have career grand slams.

Twentieth-century golf began on an international note. In 1900, Englishman Henry Vardon, the first international golf star, won the US Open, and two Americans took gold in the golf competition at the Olympic Games in Paris. Scotland and England played the first international match in 1902, and in 1904, Walter Travis, a dominant player, golf journalist, and golf course architect, became the first American to win the British Amateur.

In the second half of the twentieth century, the popularity of golf grew steadily. The (US) Ladies Professional Golf Tour began in 1950, although women’s professional golf was not officially established in Great Britain until nearly three decades later. The US Open was televised nationally for the first time in 1954, and coverage of the Masters followed two years later. The connection between business and golf, rooted in the nineteenth century, strengthened. By the end of the century, by some estimates, American companies were spending billions on golf annually, and business schools were offering courses in “business golf.”

Ryder Cup

The first Ryder Cup match, pitting the best English professionals against the best Americans, took place in 1927. Samuel Ryder, a wealthy English seed merchant and avid golfer, was a member of the gallery at a 1926 match between Great Britain and the United States when a British team member proposed that Ryder provide a cup for an official, biennial competition between the two teams. Ryder agreed and commissioned the trophy, which bore his name and a likeness of Abe Mitchell, a member of the 1926 British team and Ryder’s personal golf tutor. The first Ryder Cup, a two-day match play event with each match worth one point, took place in June 1927 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The US team claimed a decisive win. They won again in 1931, 1935, and 1937.

Because of World War II, there were no Ryder Cup matches from 1938 to 1946. When play resumed in 1947, a period of American dominance began. With such golfing greats as Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Lee Trevino, the American team won seventeen of the nineteen Ryder Cups between 1947 and 1983. In an effort to make the event more competitive, beginning in 1979, the Great Britain and Ireland team became the European team. Between 1979 and 2024, Europe, with players such as England’s Nick Faldo, Spain’s Seve Ballesteros, and Germany’s Bernhard Langer, won twelve Ryder Cups, and the United States won nine, with the 1989 competition ending in a tie.

Overview

Professional golf in the US and Mexico is overseen by the USGA, while the R&A governed golf for the rest of the world. The two organizations work together to keep the rules of golf updated and to oversee the grand slam golf tournaments. Golf is played by hitting the golf ball from the teeing area at the start of each hole. Playing the ball from where it lands, it is then hit repeatedly until the ball reaches the green. Once on the green, the ball is putted into the hole. Each hit of the ball is a stroke, and the goal of the game is to end the round with the fewest strokes. Each hole is assigned a number of strokes expected to be required to reach the hole from the teeing area, called a par. Penalty strokes can be added if the ball is hit into an out-of-bounds area or a penalty area, such as a water hazard. Golf is played with a variety of clubs.

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