Although various forms of golf were said to have been played as early as the 1300s in Holland, Belgium and France as well as Scotland, it was James VI who brought the game to England when he succeeded the English throne in 1603. For decades, golf was played on rough ground with no greens - just holes cut into the ground!
Gradually golf started to become a very popular sport. By the early 18thCentury it started to become more organised and clubs and organisations began to form, the oldest being the Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh, formed in 1735. This was one of the first organisations to set rules and regulations for the game we know and love today.
In 1764, it was agreed that the game of golf would consist of a maximum of 18 holes, having been played up to this point with as little as five, and as many as 22 holes. By 1750 the game started to spread to other areas and countries such as England and France, and then the US in 1888 where the St Andrews club in New York helped to bring the game popularity throughout America. In 1894 the US Golf Association was formed.
Allan Robertson is widely known as the first great of the game, his family having had golf in their blood (with a ball manufacturing business overlooking the 18thhole on St Andrews golf course. After his death in 1859, the search for the next great of the sport began, hence the British Open was born.
Tournaments similar to the British Open were soon being held all over the world to determine who the greatest player was. Willie Park won the British Open with a score of 174 after playing over 3 days on a 12-hole course. In 1895, the United States held its first Open in Newport, Rhode Island. The winner was Horace Rawlins. Tournaments of all kinds have developed since then and are played all over the world.
