Full Answer
How the Old Course became 18 holes In 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.
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.
The Chicago Golf Club opens the United States' first 18-hole golf course on the site of the present-day Downers Grove Golf Course. The Chicago Golf Club moved to its current location in 1895. Victoria Golf Club is formed and remains the oldest course west of the Mississippi on its original site.
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. Therefore the reason why golf courses are 18 holes is partly at least an accident of history. Other details of the development of the Old Course are given at 1574 St Andrews.
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.
St Andrews (Old Course) 12 holes by 1764, and probably much earlier. The holes were laid out in a line and 10 holes were played twice, once 'out' and once back 'in', making a 'round' of 22 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.
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 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.
The links at St. Andrews, Scotland are the oldest in the world. It's not called "The Home of Golf" for nothing. They were playing golf at St. Andrews as far back as the 1400s. But nobody built a golf course — it just developed naturally on the seaside linksland.
Eighteen holes did not become the standard for golf courses until the early 1900s , but from 1764 onward, more courses copied the St. Andrews 18-hole model. Then, in 1858, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews issued new rules.
Although there are also many 9-hole golf courses, 18 holes is considered the standard length of both a golf course and a round of golf. The standardization of 18 holes began in the mid-1700s at the links of St. Andrews in Scotland. Eighteen holes was firmly established as the standard length when the R&A, today one of the two governing bodies ...
Sometimes one golfer will try to tell another that the reason for 18 holes is that there are 18 shots in a bottle of Scotch whisky. And it's possible — perhaps it is even likely — that some golfers, somewhere, downed one shot of Scotch for every hole they played.
Brent Kelley is an award-winning sports journalist and golf expert with over 30 years in print and online journalism. The standard length of a golf course is 18 holes.
The Championship Links at Royal Aberdeen is an established tournament host that has been worked on over the years by golf design greats including James Braid and Donald Steel. This is raw links golf at its best. Nine holes take you away from the clubhouse before your journey home is completed over the back nine.
The Old Links at Musselburgh has been officially recognised by Guinness as the oldest golf course in the world; a fact that should immediately place Musselburgh atop any avid golfers wishlist.
Founded in 1864, Royal North Devon is officially the oldest golf course England and it’s still using its original fairways! Royal North Devon is a fast-running links so the natural undulations and the prevailing wind are the main considerations for the golfer looking for a solid score.
St Andrews Old Course needs little introduction and is widely regarded as the spiritual home of golf. The Old Course is the oldest golf course in the world. The first documented rounds of golf here date back to 1552 and since then the course has become the most famous golf course in the world and an absolute must for any golf fan.
Considered to be the 5th oldest course in the world, Montrose is also the 3rd oldest royal golf club in the world; making it more than welcome on this list.
Tenby is just one of many classic golf courses in the design portfolio of the great James Braid and like many of Braids courses it is an absolute classic. Measuring just 6,300 yards Tenby isn’t long by modern standards but it still remains as a truer test of links golf.
The resident golf geek at Your Golf Travel. Have been lucky enough to have travelled far and wide playing golf and if I’m not writing about it at work, you will probably find me hacking it around my local course. Owner of 2 holes in one and some of the most crooked drives you have ever seen! www.yourgolftravel.com/ygt-rory
Overview: For golf architects as for rock bands, the early work often remains the most original. To Tom Fazio ’s credit, three decades after his designs at Wild Dunes and Wade Hampton reestablished that the sport should be about fun, he was producing top-notch courses like Congaree and Gozzer Ranch.
As he explains in his new book on routing courses, Getting to 18, Doak originally had several holes routed on land that ultimately was used by David McLay Kidd for the Bandon Dunes layout.
Published in 1976, The World Atlas of Golf should be a cornerstone of any golf architecture library, and maybe its finest feature is contributing editor Pat Ward-Thomas’s article, “Elements of Greatness: A Classic Course.”
Situated at the end of a peninsula that juts into the Dornoch Firth, the 17th’s setting is impossibly gorgeous.
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."
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 ...
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.
In December 1650, the settlers of Fort Orange (near present-day Albany, New York) played the first recorded round of kolf (golf) in America. The Dutch settlers played kolf year round. During the spring, summer and fall it was played in fields. In the winter it was played on ice with the same rules.
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 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.
In 2014, the PGA Tour held a Champions Tour event on a nine-hole par-3 course, the Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf in Ridgedale, Missouri, with four (regular division) or three (over-65 division) rounds played over the par-3 course, and one round played on a nearby regulation 18-hole course with par of 71.
Aerial view of a golf course ( Golfplatz Wittenbeck at the Baltic Sea, Germany) A golf course is the grounds where the game of golf is played. It comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick ("pin") and hole ("cup"). A standard round of golf consists of 18 ...
The United Nations estimates that, worldwide, golf courses consume about 2.5 billion gallons/9.5 billion litres of water per day . Many golf courses are now irrigated with non-potable water and rainwater. In 1988, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the use of Diazinon on golf courses and sod farms because of its negative impact on bird species.
White – Farther still, typically used by low-to-average-handicap men and low-handicap teenage boys. Black or Blue – The farthest tee from the hole and with the most exposure to any major hazards; typically used only during tournaments or by zero-handicap ("scratch") male players.
A "par-3" course has either 9 or 18 holes, and the distance of each hole is a par 3 rating (typically 240 yards or less from the "men's" tee), with no par-4 or par-5 holes mandating shots through the green (though, occasionally, a "par-3" course may feature a par-4 or even a par-5 hole).
Red – Closest to the hole and often placed to minimize the influence of major hazards like water; typically used by ladies of all ages, juniors (up to age 12), and novice players of any age/gender. Gold- Next farthest, typically used by teenage boys, low-handicap ladies, and senior or high-handicap men.
The hole, or cup, is always found within the green and must have a diameter of 108 millimeters (4.25 in) and a depth of at least 10 centimeters (3.94 in). Its position on the green is not fixed and typically is changed daily by a greenskeeper in order to prevent excessive localized wear and damage to the turf.