Golf goes WAY back. How far back. From what evidence shows, the game of golf was invented around the 11th century in the Netherlands. There are other theories it could have been Dutch or Chinese, but most counts point to the Scottish in the late 1500’s.
Some say that back in the late 1200’s in the Netherlands, there was a game played with a stick and ball made of leather. The goal was to hit the ball into a target several football fields in length away the most times won the competition.
When we think of the more modern game of golf, it was the Scottish. This might be a little misleading, as this mentioned game was called gowf. The game we know of putting a smallish ball in the ground using clubs was back in the 17th century in the Netherlands.
The word golf is derived from the Dutch word kolf which means stick, club or bat.
The oldest golf course in the world is The Old Links at Musselburgh Racecourse. There is evidence that golf was played on this course back in 1672, although people sayMary, teh Queen of Scots played there in 1567.
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