North Carolina: The first miniature golf course in the USA was built in 1916 on the estate of steamship magnate James Barber in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Nearly 100 years later, Pinehurst Resort has built its own 18-hole putting course, named after the original – Thistle Dhu.
The history of miniature golf may in fact date back to the 1860s when a Ladies Putting Club was built in St. Andrews, Scotland. In the USA, the sensation began sweeping the nation in the late-1920s, and by August 1930, ...
Alabama: It’s a pirate’s life at Pirate’s Island Adventure Golf in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Board the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” Blackbeard the Pirate’s flagship, and then search for pirate booty in the two caves you’ll explore while putting through the mini golf course.
Delaware: Play a round alongside the Christina River in Wilmington, Delaware, at Riverwalk Mini Golf. The challenging 18-hole course was designed by some of American’s premier mini golf course architects, and features 9 birdhouses by nationally-renowned designer Tom Burke.
Kentucky: Family-owned and operated since 1989, Maggie’s Jungle Golf in Gilbertsville, Kentucky delivers with a jungle-themed 18-hole mini golf course. Keep an eye out as you putt and you may spot any one of the 35 peacocks who like to wander the course to show off their plumes.
Minnesota: The 18-hole, artist-designed mini golf course at Can Can Wonderland in St. Paul, Minnesota is filled with attractions and amusements, created by and with artists. The Minneapolis Star Tribune was called Can Can a “grown-up mini golf playground.”. There’s even a secret bar.
Oregon: Portland, Oregon’s pop-up The 19th Hole miniature golf course is on par through the summer at the Hotel deluxe. As would be expected in Portland, more than 75 craft beers, Oregon wines and Pacific Northwest ciders will be available in cans to sip throughout the game – whether playing or watching.
Add to Plan. Often called the St Andrews of the South, Royal North Devon is the oldest golf course in England. Near the small town of Northam, between Barnstaple Bay and the river Torridge, the 18-hole course was founded in 1864 and inaugurated by Queen Victoria three years later.
The game was invented in Scotland, so you won’t be surprised to discover that most of them are found there. We’ve picked several of the oldest that are still the best. The origins of golf are unclear, but an early version of the game was discovered in Scotland in the 15th century. The earliest version of the game involved players – young Scottish ...
Golf ’s popularity, however, continued to grow, until the ban was finally lifted in 1502 by King James IV, who took an interest in the sport and made it available to the public. Since then, golf has become one of the premier sports in the world and its historic golf courses continue to attract hundreds of visitors every year.
The course is situated in East Lothian, a historic county less than a 30-minute drive from Edinburgh. The council land is one of 32 areas that were established in the Middle Ages and is surrounded by rolling countryside and a 40mi (64km) coastline.
Founded in 1887, this traditional golf course is located in Kinghorn, a seaside resort in Fife, Scotland. The former royal burgh is where Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286 when he was accidentally thrown off a cliff while riding his horse. Today, the town attracts visitors who come to play at Kinghorn golf course and lounge on the small sandy beach, surrounded by white and brown stone houses.The 18-hole, 4,724yd (4,320m) course provides stunning views of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth, an estuary of several Scottish rivers. Though the golf course only had a nine-hole layout when it was first established, additional holes were added in 1947. A new clubhouse was opened in 2009 by Scottish Open champion Paul Lawrie.
Established in 1552 , it is situated in St Andrews, a seaside city – just two hours’ drive from Edinburgh – dating back to the sixth century and home to the oldest university in Scotland.
Whispering Pines Miniature Golf. North edge of town, next to the Parkside Diner, on the southwest corner of Emily St. and Culver Rd.
Unique destinations in the U.S. and Canada are our special obsession. Use our attraction recommendation and maps to plan your next road trip.
The Chicago Golf Club was founded in 1892 and its first golf course was built that same year in nearby Downers Grove by Charles Blair MacDonald, who is widely considered the founding father of golf in America.Over the next few years golf grew in popularity in America and so did the Chicago Golf Club.
In 1897, Saint Andrews Golf Club moved to its current location, a 160-acre plot of land in Mount Hope . The new course is designed by club members Harry Tallmadge and William H Tucker.
Several of these early golf clubs also decided to organize America golf and founded the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 1894.
The club’s founder was Joseph Mickle Fox, a descendant of the land and oil rich Fox family from Philadelphia.
Oakhurst Links was designed and built in 1984 by a man named Russell Montegue and his friends.
The Royal Calcutta Golf Club (1829), the Mauritius Gymkhana Club (1844) and the club at Pau (1856) in south western France are notable reminders of these excursions and are the oldest golf clubs outside of the British Isles. The Pau Golf Club is the oldest in continental Europe.
The history of golf is preserved and represented at several golf museums around the world, notably the British Golf Museum in the town of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland , which is the home of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, and the United States Golf Association Museum, located alongside the United States Golf Association headquarters in Far Hills, New Jersey .
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.
A golf-like game is, apocryphally, recorded as taking place on February 26, 1297, in Loenen aan de Vecht, where the Dutch played a game with a stick and leather ball. The winner was whoever hit the ball with the fewest strokes into a target several hundred yards away. Some scholars argue that this game of putting a small ball in a hole in ...
There is also a story that Mary, Queen of Scots played there in 1567.
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 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 Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews clubhouse sits adjacent ...
The course evolved without the help of any one architect for many years, though notable contributions to its design were made by Daw Anderson in the 1850s and Old Tom Morris (1865–1908), who designed the 1st and 18th holes. Originally, it was played over the same set of fairways out and back to the same holes.
The Old Course at St Andrews is considered by many to be the "home of golf" because the sport was first played on the Links at St Andrews in the early 15th century. Golf was becoming increasingly popular in Sco tland until James II of Scotland banned the game in 1457 because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead ...
The Old Course is home of The Open Championship, the oldest of golf's major championships. The Old Course has hosted this major 29 times since 1873, most recently in 2015. The 29 Open Championships that the Old Course has hosted is more than any other course, and The Open is currently played there every five years.
William St Clair of Roslin as the captain of The Captain and Gentlemen Golfers authorized changes to St Andrews on 4 October 1764. He decided that the first four and last four holes on the course were too short and should be combined into four total holes (two in and two out). St Andrews then had 18 holes and that was how the standard of 18 holes was created. Around 1863, Old Tom Morris had the 1st green separated from the 17th green, producing the current 18-hole layout with 7 double greens and 4 single greens. The Old Course is home of The Open Championship, the oldest of golf's major championships . The Old Course has hosted this major 29 times since 1873, most recently in 2015. The 29 Open Championships that the Old Course has hosted is more than any other course, and The Open is currently played there every five years.
In 1552, Archbishop John Hamilton gave the townspeople of St Andrews the right to play on the links. In 1754, 22 noblemen, professors, and landowners founded the Society of St Andrews Golfers. This society would eventually become the precursor to The R&A which is the governing body for golf everywhere outside of the United States and Mexico. St Andrews Links had a scare when they went bankrupt in 1797. The Town Council of St Andrews decided to allow rabbit farming on the golf course to challenge golf for popularity. Twenty years of legal battling between the golfers and rabbit farmers ended in 1821 when a local landowner and golfer named James Cheape of Strathtyrum bought the land and is credited with saving the links for golf. The course evolved without the help of any one architect for many years, though notable contributions to its design were made by Daw Anderson in the 1850s and Old Tom Morris (1865–1908), who designed the 1st and 18th holes. Originally, it was played over the same set of fairways out and back to the same holes. As interest in the game increased, groups of golfers would often be playing the same hole, but going in different directions.