St AndrewsIn 1764, the golfers at St Andrews decided to combine the first four short holes into two, to produce a round of 18 holes, though it was still 10 holes of which 8 were played twice. Thus was born the 18-hole round, though it would be hundred years before there were eighteen holes and other courses followed suit.
Downers Grove Golf Club (Original Chicago Golf Club) In 1892, the in Downers Grove, Illinois was selected by Charles Blair MacDonald. MacDonald built a nine-hole course that expanded to 18 holes in 1893, making the Downers Grove Golf Club the site of the first 18-hole golf course in America.
It was not until 1754 however that the St Andrews Society of Golfers was formed to compete in its own annual competition using Leith's rules. The first ever 18-hole course was constructed at St Andrews in 1764, establishing the now recognised standard for the game.
Foxburg Country Club, established in 1887, is the oldest golf course in continuous use in the United States. It is located in Foxburg, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, United States of America, approximately 55 miles (89 km) north of Pittsburgh on a hill rising about 300 feet above the Allegheny River.
The Van Cortlandt Golf Course opened on July 6, 1895, as the first public municipal golf course in the United States.
The Old Course at St Andrews Links in Fife, Scotland, UK, is the oldest golf course in the world. Archbishop Hamilton's Charter in 1552 is the earliest documentary evidence that allowed the people of St Andrews to play golf on the Links.
Weequahic Golf CourseWeequahic Golf Course (pronounced we-QWAY-ik) is an 18-hole public course located in the Weequahic section of Newark, New Jersey. Designed in 1913 by George Low, it is the oldest public golf course in New Jersey.
the Town & Country Club of Saint PaulThe first round of golf in Minnesota was played at the Town & Country Club of Saint Paul in 1893.
The 5 Oldest Golf Courses in the United StatesNos. 1 and 2: Oakhurst Golf Club Versus the Foxburg Club.No. 3: The Quogue Field Club.No. 4: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.No. 5: The Chicago Golf Club.Honorable Mention: The Royal Montreal Golf Club.Honorable Mention No. 2: St Andrew's Golf Club.
More golf courses than anywhere in the world!
Golf is a popular past time played by many Americans in many different cities in the United States. Of course, some cities are home to more golf courses than others. In 2020, Aurora, CO had the greatest density with 2.7 golf courses per 10,000 residents.
The modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland. The 18-hole round was created at the Old Course at St Andrews in 1764.
Montague hosted its first competition in 1888 in Scottish match play tradition. Their annual competition became the first golf tournament known to be played in the United States, and the medal given to the winner was known as the oldest golf prize in America.
The Beginning. Back in 1884, golf was not really heard of in the United States. Anyone who witnessed it or knew of it in other countries considered it a strange sport. When Russell Montague of West Virginia learned of the sport that was so popular in Scotland and where he studied in Great Britain, he was intrigued.
For example, if you were to think of classic links in the United States, you probably imagine Amen Corner in Augusta, or perhaps Pinehurst in North Carolina. These are established iconic American golf courses, to be sure, but they are not the oldest.
His colonial-style house, which was built four years prior to the golf course, served as the clubhouse, and the simple course boasted nine holes. Montague and his friends enjoyed playing on the course, known as Oakhurst Links, for many years.
Building the course back to its original state took two years, but Keller was extremely pleased with the end result. Keller owned and operated the course for many years until he recently sold it to Greenbrier Resort, which is located just a few miles up the road.
It seems appropriate when visiting the first golf course in the United States. If you are interested in more details of Oakhurst, you can read about the links in Paula DiPerna’s and Vikki Keller’s book Oakhurst: The Birth and Rebirth of America’s First Golf Course available on Amazon.com.
The thirty acres stayed in the Montague family for many decades and was sold to Lewis Keller in 1959. Keller knew the land’s history and, being a golf fan, was very interested when his friend and golfer Sam Snead told him about the property being for sale.
The 18-hole round was a default found for a golf match from 1933, but it was not laid down as a 'stipulated round' in the Rules of Golf until as late as 1950. In 1919, when the Royal and Ancient took over sole control of running the Open, half of all the golf courses in Britain were still built as 9-hole courses.
The second golfing ground known to have 18 holes was Montrose, which developed dozens of courses over four different playing areas over the centuries. By 1863 they had 25 holes and the Royal Montrose were playing their medals over 18 holes, though it would not be until 1888 that they had a defined course of 18 holes.
This became the third 18-hole golf course, though to play it today you need to play both Leven and Lundin as the course was divided in 1909. From 1872, the British Open golf championship was held annually in rotation at Prestwick, St Andrews and Musselburgh, where the three sponsor clubs were based.
Thus, in 1882, Prestwick expanded its course to 18 holes, the 18th course to do so, and in 1891 when the Honourable Company built Muirfield they created 18 holes in the first year. As they sponsored the Open, the championship moved with them from Musselburgh to Muirfield. With the three foremost clubs in the world using 18 holes, this set the norm for a golf round.
Even as late as 1851, when Prestwick was built with 12 holes, it did not look out of place. Although some clubs were playing 18 holes as medal round at this time, it was purely be accident, such as at Lanark from 1851-1853 where they had six holes that were played three times.
Many people have asked why golf courses have eighteen holes and this is now the universal format played today. The early golf courses all had different numbers of holes and were not always played in a defined order, as evidenced at Earlsferry.
In the Rules of 1842, the Royal & Ancient laid down an 18 hole round, though the course was not yet 18 holes. This was repeated in the 1858 and 1875 rules, but not in the 1888 rules.
DID YOU KNOW: How the term "birdie" came to be. In any event, if you love golf, 18 holes is great because it takes a long time to play that many. Of course, if you love someone who loves golf, it’s not as great. But again, it took a long time for this to become standard. Even longer than it takes to play 18 holes at a public course today.
Those are the broad strokes of how a typical golf course came to have 18 holes. Sadly, as Snopes confirmed, the number has nothing to do with how many shots are in a bottle of Scotch—though that makes for a much more fun story.
It would have been a baker’s dozen of Opens to start, but there was no tournament in 1871 because Young Tom Morris was allowed to just keep the title belt (yes, an actual belt) that year because he had won the three previous years.
Anyway, when the Open returned in 1872 at Prestwick, it remained a 36-hole event and stayed that way when it moved to St. Andrews (two rounds of 18) in 1873 and Musselburgh (four rounds of 9!) in 1874. And you thought the current Open rota was tough to keep track of.
The modern game of golf is generally considered to be a Scottish invention. A spokesman for The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, one of the oldest Scottish golf organisations, said "Stick and ball games have been around for many centuries, but golf as we know it today, played over 18 holes, clearly originated in Scotland." The word golf, or in Scots gowf [gʌuf], is usually thought to be a Scots alteration of Dutch " colf " or " colve " meaning " stick, " club ", " bat ", itself related to the Proto-Germanic language *kulth- as found in Old Norse kolfr meaning " bell clapper", and the German Kolben meaning " mace or club". The Dutch term Kolven refers to a related sport where the lowest number of strokes needed to hit a ball with a mallet into a hole determines the winner; according to the "Le grand dictionnaire françois-flamen" printed 1643 is stated the Dutch term to Flemish: "Kolf, zest Kolve; Kolfdrager, Sergeant; Kolf, Kolp, Goulfe."
The first documented mention of golf in Scotland appears in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, an edict issued by King James II of Scotland prohibiting the playing of the games of gowf and futball as these were a distraction from archery practice for military purposes.
These standards were later followed by a USGA regulation stating that the initial velocity of any golf ball cannot exceed 250 feet per second.
The evolution of golf can be explained by the development of the equipment used to play the game. Some of the most notable advancements in the game of golf have come from the development of the golf ball. The golf ball took on many different forms before the 1930s when the United States Golf Association (USGA) set standards for weight and size. These standards were later followed by a USGA regulation stating that the initial velocity of any golf ball cannot exceed 250 feet per second. Since this time, the golf ball has continued to develop and impact the way the game is played.
The 1987 Resort Law that reduced protection on agricultural land and forest preserves created a further boom in course construction and by 2009 there were over 2,400 courses. The popularity of golf in Japan also caused many golf resorts to be created across the Pacific Rim.
A scene from the Golf Book, circa 1540, shows a game with similarities to modern day golf e.g. knocking a ball down a hole with a crooked headed club.
There is also a story that Mary, Queen of Scots played there in 1567.