When was golf invented? Golf was invented in Scotland in the 15th century, and it was already popular by 1457. We know that because it's the year the Scottish Parliament tried to ban it. From Scotland's seaside links, it spread around the world. This is the short history of golf: where it started, the oldest courses still in play, and how it reached America, Japan and Korea.
Golf as we know it began in Scotland in the 1400s. The earliest written record is a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament under King James II that banned "the golf" because it pulled men away from archery. Stick-and-ball games were played earlier in the Netherlands and China, but the version played to a hole took shape in Scotland.
Jump to:
- Where was golf invented?
- A quick timeline
- The oldest golf course in the world
- How golf came to America
- How golf reached Japan and Korea
- How golf's look changed
- Golf today
- FAQs
Where Was Golf Invented?
Golf was invented on the east coast of Scotland, on the sandy links land around St Andrews, Edinburgh and Leith. Links are the strips of dunes and rough grass between the beach and the farmland. Sheep and rabbits kept the turf short and the wind shaped the ground. The sheltered hollows turned into natural bunkers. It was poor farmland, but it was perfect for golf.
Where did golf originate before that? Historians still argue about it. The Dutch played a club-and-ball game called colf, later kolf, and the word "golf" likely shares roots with the Dutch kolf ("club") and the old Scots gouf. China had a game called chuiwan centuries earlier. But there's no clear proof that either one led to the Scottish game. The Scots played across open ground to a hole, in as few strokes as possible, and that's the version that leads straight to the game we play now. It's why the origin of golf is generally credited to Scotland.
So who invented golf? No single person did. It grew out of games ordinary Scots were already playing on the links.
When Did Golf Start? A Quick Timeline
Records show golf was already a habit in Scotland by the mid-1400s. Here are the dates that matter most in golf history, from the first ban to the game's arrival in Asia.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1457 | King James II's Parliament bans "the golf" (and football) so men will practice archery instead. It's the oldest written mention of golf in Scotland. |
| 1502 | James IV, a golfer himself, lifts the ban and buys clubs from a bow-maker in Perth. |
| 1552 | Archbishop John Hamilton's agreement confirms the people of St Andrews can keep playing golf on their links. It's the earliest written record of golf in the town. |
| 1744 | The Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, near Edinburgh, write the first known rules of golf: 13 "Articles and Laws in Playing at Golf." |
| 1754 | Twenty-two golfers form the Society of St Andrews Golfers. In 1834 King William IV becomes its patron, and it takes the name Royal and Ancient Golf Club. |
| 1764 | The Old Course at St Andrews goes from 22 holes to 18, and 18 slowly becomes the standard round. Here's why golf has 18 holes. |
| 1860 | The first Open Championship is played at Prestwick, and Willie Park Sr. wins it. |
| 1884-1894 | Golf takes root in America: Oakhurst Links (1884), St. Andrew's Golf Club in Yonkers (1888), and the USGA (1894). |
| 1903 | Kobe Golf Club, Japan's first golf club, is founded on Mount Rokko. Its first four holes opened in 1901. |
| 1921 | Korea's first proper golf course opens at Hyochangwon, now Hyochang Park, in Seoul. |
The Oldest Golf Course in the World
The Old Course at St Andrews is generally called the oldest golf course in the world, and it's why the town is known as the home of golf. Golf has been played on those links since at least 1552, and Guinness World Records lists the Old Course as the oldest.
Musselburgh Old Links, just east of Edinburgh, has a strong claim of its own. An account book shows a lawyer named Sir John Foulis losing money at golf there on 2 March 1672, and Guinness once gave Musselburgh the title. Mary, Queen of Scots is said to have played there in 1567, though that's more legend than record.
The oldest golf club in the world is usually said to be the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, now the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, who organized themselves in 1744. Edinburgh's Royal Burgess Golfing Society dates its own start to 1735, so that title gets argued over too.
The town even gave its name to St. Andrews golf apparel, a brand inspired by the home of golf. Beyond the famous names, there are plenty of underrated golf courses worth the trip.
How Golf Came to America
The oldest golf course in America is generally credited as Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, laid out in 1884, which is why it's often called the first golf course in America. The USGA backs the claim, though the course sat unused for decades before it was restored.
Four years later, in 1888, Scottish-born John Reid and his friends founded St. Andrew's Golf Club in Yonkers, New York. It's the oldest golf club in the country that has existed without a break. In 1894 it was one of the five clubs that founded the United States Golf Association.
Golf grew fast from there. The Masters, first played in 1934, became one of the game's great traditions. Americans added their own words, too. "Birdie" is credited to a round at Atlantic City Country Club, usually dated to 1903 (some accounts say 1899), and that's where golf's bird names come from. If you're still learning the lingo, here are the golf scoring terms worth knowing.
The 1950s were the first real boom for recreational golf in the United States, and Munsingwear's 1955 penguin polo became part of the look. You can still find Munsingwear on the course today.
How Golf Reached Japan and Korea
Golf came to Japan with British expats. Arthur Hesketh Groom, a British merchant living in Kobe, built four holes on Mount Rokko in 1901, and Kobe Golf Club, Japan's first golf club, was founded there in 1903. The game grew into a big part of Japanese life, and Japanese golf wear later became known for precise fit and quiet detail.
Korea's first proper course opened in Seoul in 1921 at Hyochangwon, now Hyochang Park. Some accounts point to a small six-hole course laid out by British customs officers at Wonsan around 1900, and one Korean encyclopedia dates Hyochangwon to 1919, so you'll see a few dates. Golf stayed small in Korea for decades, then took off in the late 20th century. Today you can play South Korea's best golf courses.
Se Ri Pak's win at the 1998 U.S. Women's Open inspired a generation of South Korea's greatest golfers. That win is a big part of how Korea became a global power in golf. For how the game looks in each country now, read our piece on golf culture in Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
From Tweed to Technical: How Golf's Look Changed
Early golfers played in what they already wore: tweed jackets, waistcoats and sometimes ties. Then came plus-fours and flat caps. The soft knit shirt crossed over from tennis in the late 1920s, and you can still see its bones in a modern mesh knit polo. By the 1950s, pastel polos ruled American fairways. Today some of the most interesting golf design comes from Seoul and Tokyo, where Korean golf apparel brands and Japanese labels put real thought into what you wear for a round. Here's how golf clothing evolved decade by decade, or browse the Seoul • Tokyo Edit.
Golf Today
Golf hasn't stopped changing. Those 13 rules from Leith in 1744 have grown into one shared rule book run by the R&A and the USGA, and the 2019 overhaul made the game simpler and quicker. Here's how golf's rules changed in the last decade. Shorter courses, simulators and driving-range venues have turned golf into one of the fastest-growing sports again, and younger players are a big reason. Read why Gen Z is taking up golf. Not bad for a game that started on Scottish sheep pasture.
When Was Golf Invented? FAQs
When was golf invented?
Golf was invented in Scotland in the 15th century. The oldest written record is a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament under King James II that banned the game because it distracted men from archery. Similar stick-and-ball games were played in the Netherlands and China, but the hole-based game we play today took shape in Scotland.
Where was golf invented?
Golf was invented in Scotland, on the east-coast links land around St Andrews, Edinburgh and Leith. Those sandy, grassy strips by the sea had short turf and natural hollows, so they were ideal for knocking a ball toward a hole. That's why St Andrews is still called the home of golf.
What is the oldest golf course in the world?
The Old Course at St Andrews is usually named the oldest golf course in the world, with golf on its links recorded since at least 1552. Musselburgh Old Links near Edinburgh has a strong claim too, with documented play from 1672, and Guinness World Records once gave it the title.
What is the oldest golf course in America?
Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, laid out in 1884, is generally credited as the oldest golf course in America. St. Andrew's Golf Club in Yonkers, New York, founded in 1888, is the oldest US golf club that has existed without a break, and it helped found the USGA in 1894.
What does GOLF stand for?
Nothing. "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden" is a modern myth, and the word is far older than that joke. As for why golf is called golf, the name most likely comes from the old Scots gouf or gowf, which may be related to the Dutch kolf, meaning club. Early Scottish records spell it many ways.
How old is golf?
By the written record, golf is about 570 years old, counting from the 1457 Scottish ban to today. It was probably played for a while before that, since Parliament wouldn't bother banning a game nobody played. Plenty of golf's habits are almost as old, and you can read up on golf's oldest traditions.
When did golf come to Japan and Korea?
Golf reached Japan first. British merchant Arthur Groom built four holes on Mount Rokko in 1901, and Kobe Golf Club, Japan's first, was founded in 1903. Korea's first proper course opened at Hyochangwon in Seoul in 1921, though some accounts point to a small course at Wonsan around 1900.
