"Golf is a good walk spoiled" if you choose to believe American humorist Mark Twain. Or perhaps its popularity can be traced back to our basic instincts of loving to take long walks and hitting rocks with a stick. Whatever the reason, our fascination of hitting a little white ball into a small distant hole has endured the test of time for over five hundred years.
As you read this book you will discover a collection of golf memorabilia, bizarre incidences, little known tidbits plus an array of golf folklore. While this may not dramatically improve your ball striking abilities on the golf course, it is certain to give you a unique insight to the world of golf from its earliest known origins.
As you are browsing through the passages within this book you will be following in the footsteps of those who journeyed down the fairways ahead of you into the history of golf. During your sojourn you will be amazed at the answers to questions like these.
Which two U.S. President’s names are closely associated with the Walker Cup?
What does a penny pack of garden seeds and the Ryder Cup have in common?
Why did an indignant Scottish gentleman tell Sam Snead "My God Sir! That’s St. Andrews."?
How did golf balls evolve from round wooden balls to today’s modern high tech missiles?
Fore. Mulligan. Bogey. Caddie. 19th Hole. What is the origin of these commonly used golf terms?
What two famous celebrities were caught playing golf at an exclusive private country club in their undershorts?
My personal journey into the world of golf began at
the age of five at the Jerome Country Club in southeastern Idaho. It is here
that my father, a Greenskeeper, gave me hickory-shafted mashie (5 iron) which
was cut down to my size. From this early introduction golf has had a
significant influence on my life. From managing golf courses to teaching
students to be golf course superintendents and club professionals, I have had a
fifty-five year love affair with the sport.
My fascination with the heritage and traditions of
golf were piqued when I was a professor at College of the Desert, a two-year
community college in southern California. One of the courses I taught was
Country Club Management for students who were enrolled in the Golf Management
Program where they were preparing to become golf professionals.
It was while teaching this class that I realize most
golfers have very little knowledge of the history of the sport they love. As I
developed lectures on the history of golf, the germ of an idea for a series of
books was formulated. Myths, legends, facts, records, bizarre events, personal
memories and unusual trivia have been included in these books for your
enjoyment.
I selected a writing style that allows you to read a
single passage, a page or a chapter in whatever order appeals to you. I also
chose to write each passage so it stands by itself and the information
contained within completes a small piece of golf’s history.
Melvin J. Robey
Golf as an Outlawed Sport
In the seventeenth century there are numerous written records of avid golfers paying the price for playing golf on the Sabbath, especially when the clergy were giving their sermons. Usually the priests made the guilty parties sit in the public square confessing their sins for all to hear.
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Golf was still a very dangerous sport in 1491 under the reign of King James IV. If you were caught playing the game there was a stiff fine to pay, as well as being sent off to the dungeons for an unspecified amount of time. If you didn’t play the game but allowed others to use your land for the sport you were in serious trouble too. Not only were you fined and imprisoned but you also lost your land.
Royal Title Bestowed
When St. Andrews received the title of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1834 it became the symbol of golf wherever it was played. After this, all the new courses were designed with 18 holes to emulate St. Andrews. For many years if the course wasn’t a "links" style course it was considered inferior and a black mark on the game of golf.
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The first British Open in 1860, initially known as "A General Golf Tournament for Scotland," was won by Willie Park in a 36 hole competition. Played at Prestwick, Park shot two-44s and two-43s, for a total of 174. Second place went to his rival Old Tom Morris who shot a 176.
The Links
The term "fairway" is an old nautical term for a long waterway between rocks. The sailors walking from the ships to the nearby pubs adapted this term to the land where they played golf between the sand dunes. Until 1766 all the known golf courses (links) were found along the coastline of Scotland. Golf courses built inland in the eighteen century were called "greens," to distinguish them from a "links" style course located by the ocean. This gave rise to many of the common golf terms still in use today: greenskeeper, greens chairman, greens committee and greens fee.
Golf Ball Facts
The impact the golf ball has had on the game of golf can best be related by imaging that you are playing the first hole at St. Andrews with a feathery, a gutta percha and one of today’s golf balls. Only 370 yards long, this hole would be a par-5 with a feathery, requiring 3 shots to reach the green. Using a gutta percha you would be required to hit the second shot with a long iron to the green for a difficult par-4. Today most amateur golfers would need to hit a seven or eight iron to the green.
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Needing golf balls to play his favorite sport, Francis Browne paid the ultimate price for stealing two balls from the local pro shop. In 1637 he was hung in Scotland. This may be the first case of someone "dying" to play golf.
Golf Invades the North America
The game of golf spread rapidly in the United States. There were eighty golf courses by 1896, four years later at the beginning of the Twentieth Century 982 courses existed...all forty-five states had at least one golf course. America entered the new Century with more golf courses than any country in the world. Some of the better known ones were: St. Andrews Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Course, Chicago Golf Course, Newport Golf Club and The Country Club.
Terms of the Game
"Fore!" is a common warning on the golf course. This term most likely originated from the British military artillery officers. To warn the foot soldiers when the cannons were about to be fired over their heads the officers yelled "fore." Most of these officers were golfers so the term naturally carried over onto the golf course when they needed to warn fellow golfers of an errant golf shot.
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In the 1890s the British golfers used the term "bogey" for the score a good golfer would be expected to make on each hole. The term "par" originated in America, where as the equipment improved the players’ ability to shoot lower scores increased.
The Masters
The first Masters was played in 1934 and the great Bobby Jones came out of retirement to play with a few of his friends. The winner was Horton Smith and Jones finished in 13th place. At the press conference after the tournament Jones told all his friends, "I hope everyone enjoyed himself and will come back next year." Everyone, who plays in the Masters today, wishes they would receive this invitation...regardless of their score.
Women Tee It Up
Back in the 1920s and 1930s the public generally felt it was very unladylike for women to win more than three tournaments in a single year. The tour players’ in the LPGA would be shocked at this attitude in today’s competitive golf atmosphere.
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Mildrid Zaharias was most famous for her ability to drive the golf ball as far as the men. She was literally worshipped by golfers for her ability to "Knock the Cover" off the golf ball, often hitting her drives 250 yards. A British fan asked her how she could hit it so far. Her answer provides an insight to the Babe’s personality. "I just loosen my girdle and let the ball have it," was her smiling response.
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Pam Barton, twice the British Ladies Champion, beat all competitors in 1936 to become the U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion. The only foreigner to win the title, she never got a chance to defend her title. She was killed in a World War II bombing raid on London.
Men: Legends of Golf
Harry Vardon only carried seven clubs in his bag, all hickory shafts. He used men’s irons and women’s woods. He could easily reach the long par-5s with a ladies driver and brassie (two wood). Two of his younger brothers, Tom and Fred, were also golf professionals.
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In 1920 Walter Hagen discovered professionals were second-class citizens at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. The club secretary informed him professionals were not allowed in the clubhouse with members and their guests. An upset Hagen rebelled by parking his limousine at the entrance of the clubhouse each day of the tournament, using it as his private locker room.
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Riding a train in 1946 Sam Snead made one of his worst blunders as a golfer. Looking at the passing countryside he asked a fellow passenger, "What in the devil is that? It looks like an old abandoned golf course." Much to his chagrin an old Scotsman reprimanded Sam, telling him, "My God, sir. That’s the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, founded in 1754. It isn’t abandoned and never will be!"
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In 1950 a golfing father decide it was time to introduce his ten-year-old son to the game of golf. At the end of nine holes the youngster had almost broke fifty...shooting a 51. By the end of his first year of golf he was scoring in the mid-90s. At 11, Jack Nicklaus was breaking 90 and was beating most of the members at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
Celebrities and Other Zany Facts
W.C. Fields enjoyed celebrity golf tournaments. His sense of humor was always an important part of his game. Once he whiffed the ball on the tee in front of a huge gallery. Undaunted he pocketed the ball and strode 200 yards down the fairway. The crowd roared its appreciation when he had his caddie drop the ball in the middle of the fairway and then in true W.C. Fields style said, "Oh, here it is. Mighty fine drive!"
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George Burns and Harpo Marx were once reprimanded for not wearing their shirts at an exclusive country club. In order to continue playing they were required to put on their shirts. Later the two pranksters were seen playing with their pants off. The club rules stated shirts must be worn but said nothing about pants. The rules were amended the next day.
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"Golf and sex are about the only two things you can enjoy without being good at it."
Author unknown
