The Early History of Golf in the U.S. Essay

These magazines and movies are only a small portion of how golf has helped changed society.  Golf provided a helping hand in bringing the American nation closer together as equals.  Blacks and Whites of all ages and gender have been given the chance to play along side each other in a safe environment.  Sports sometimes provide a place for equality.  Golf is a great example of this equality.  Stossel says "golf is beginning to look more like America: diverse, multicultural, and largely middle class" (2).  But, will Americans take advantage of the

It is unknown when the game of golf originated, but it is believed that people began playing in Europe during the middle ages. In the United States, golf was a sport primarily played by the wealthy individuals until tournaments began being televised. Since then, golf has grown to be a very lucrative industry with over 27 million golfers nationwide by the end of the 1990’s. “Competition in the Golf Equipment Industry,” a case study written by John E. Gamble of the University of South Alabama, is an overview of the problems currently facing major companies in the golf equipment industry: technological limitations (due to golf’s governing organizations), a decline in the number of golfers,

Golf also produced its legend from the era, Bobby Jones. “In the span of 8 years, Jones won 13 national championships, both in Europe and the United States. He was the original hot headed golfer, known to either play brilliantly, or to implode on the course”(Boland par 21). Bobby undoubtedly prevailed in golf and no one could stop him.

b. Some historians believe that it was the Scottish who invented golf. Although there are two different theories, European history of golf, and Ancient Asian history of golf.

This new game that people were beginning to play in Scotland, seemed to take a hold of the people. At the time, the sport was open to all people- no fees to pay, no starting times- just a short game of golf that would always be followed by a trip to the local mead hall. Most golf played was on bets and times have not changed on that fact. Men would go and bet that they could beat the man next to them on the links, which at the time were only sandy, hilly pastures. It was because this game was at such a simple stage in its history; it required skill and finesse that almost all people could do. So, to meet the demand of the people, many courses were built along high bluffs on the eastern coastline in Scotland. It is here that nature developed dunes, ridges, gullies and hollows that would challenge the best of golfers.

One man began to bring the game to America, Walter Hagan. In 1921 he became the first American-born professional golfer to win the PGA Championship, and a mere nine months later, he also became the first American-born professional golfer to win the British Open. Hagan was able to bring the appeal of golf to more Americans by defeating the British and bringing two Championships home. Bobby Jones also

There is general agreement that the Scots were the earliest of golf addicts but who actually invented the game is open to debate. We know that golf has existed for at least 500 years because James II of Scotland, in an Act of Parliament dated March 6, 1457, had golf and football banned because these sports were interfering too much with archery practice sorely needed by the loyal defenders of the Scottish realm! It has been suggested that bored shepherds tending flocks of sheep near St. Andrews became adept at hitting rounded stones into rabbits holes with their wooden crooks. And so a legend that persists to this day was born!

A matter of opinion has separated a variety of sports enthusiasts apart, due to the ongoing debate of whether golf is a sport or simply a skill. Famed golfer Arnold Palmer declared, “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented. (ThinkQuest.com)” These words state what every athlete experiences and feels when he/she is turning a double play, making the game winning three point shot, or throwing a hail mary pass for a touchdown. Golfers are athletes too, they train for that big moment just like any other athlete, but

For hundreds of years, golf has been an extremely popular and growing sport all around the world. Looking where golf is now, it is growing rapidly from the young to the elder population. The first round of gold was first played in the 15th century off the coast of Scotland, but it did not start to be played until around 1755. The standard rules of golf were written by a group of Edinburgh golfers. Today, people of the US, Scotland, and England, have been drawn to the game because it is fun, challenging, and hardly any athletic ability at all is required for amateurs. In breaking down the game, geometry plays a major

Fourteen clubs - four wedges, six irons, a rescue, a three wood, a driver, and a putter - this is golf. It is one of the most mentally challenging sports in the world. It can fool beginners who are deceived by its simplicity. Golf is often underestimated by those who have never attempted to play the sport. While it has often been known as a “rich man’s” sport, in recent years this perception has begun to change. There are a number of other generalizations made when talking about golf, yet these are most always from those who have never experienced, played, or followed the game. One should question how a critic with no knowledge of the activity could state whether or not golf should be considered a sport. Golf is a sport, regardless of what any critic has to say. Studies and experimentation, along with the experience itself, reveal all of the athletic aspects that make golf better than most sports.

Our town is notable for having several interesting golf courses. For those residents whose interests lie in other pursuits, those courses are a waste of large quantities of otherwise useful space that could be better used to construct another mall or store. For the golf enthusiasts among us, however, the preponderance of courses is a delightful benefit of living in this otherwise uninteresting locale, where the only saving grace is the plentiful supply of interesting people.

Callaway Golf's success story begins with a small three-person golf company called Hickory Stick USA, which was founded in 1982 in Temecula, California. The company initially made wedges and putters that had unique shafts constructed of hickory with a steel core. These clubs caught the eye of Ely Callaway, who bought an interest in the company the following year. Mr. Callaway had already been a successful businessman in the fields of textiles

As anyone who has played a round of golf will attest to, the sport is based around many fundamental principals of physics. These basic laws are involved with every aspect of the game from how a player swings the club to how the ball moves through the air on its way toward the pin. It is the challenge that physics presents to the golfer that has allowed the game, and equipment used, to develop so drastically over the past one hundred years. The first golf balls used were called featheries. They were made with a horsehide cover packed with wet goose feathers. When the balls dried they became extremely hard. The major flaw with the featheries was that they could not be used when the conditions were wet because they

Since the age of four, when I was barely old enough to swing a putter, I have loved the game of golf. My dad, passing his love of the game down to me, would take me out every Sunday to Woods Edge Golf Course in Edgewood; he taught me the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts of the sport. One of the earliest memories I have of these trips to Woods Edge is being a mere couple of inches from driving the cart into a pond while dad was teeing off; this would definitely be considered a don’t in the world of golf. I received my first set of clubs for Christmas when I was eight and a year later, a pass to Pin Oak. Boy was I thrilled. I began to golf by myself and learn my own lessons through my experiences on the course. But as I grew as a golfer on my own, my dad was still there tweaking my swing in the back yard and taking trips to Edgewood with me. My dad is a big reason why I have a passion for the game of golf.

Many people take up Golf thinking that it is easy, after all, how hard can it be to hit a little white ball with a stick? This thinking evaporates the first time they step onto a driving range and attempt to hit that little white ball. Golf is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. My experience with golf began in May of 2005 when friends came to stay with us; my wife informed me that I would have to take Roy, her friend’s husband Golfing. I had not been to a driving range (since I was in my teens) and I had never played golf on a course before. It was quite an experience; the weather was cold, rainy and nasty the three times we played while they where here, the game hooked me badly, even with the bad shots and the nasty weather.