In today’s world of social media, new holidays seem to appear more often than not. When we start to notice these new holidays such as “National Golf Day”, we wonder how it even started. It is a charitable event, sponsored annually since 1952 by the Professional Golfers Association (PGA). National Golf Day is held all around the United States in honor of this great sport. Each year, golf enthusiasts shine up their clubs and get ready to hit the course in celebration.
Golf has always been known as an elitist sport and many people wonder where this amazing sport even started from. It is believed that the modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland, where the world’s oldest golf tournament is The Open Championship. This was first played October 17, 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland.
Below is a brief history of Golf in the United States:
1779 – An advertisement in the Royal Gazette of New York City for golf clubs and golf balls.
1796 – Notice of annual general meeting for a golf club in Savannah was published in the Georgia Gazette.
Golf became firmly established in the late 19th century.
1894 – Delegates from the; Newport Country Club, Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, Yonkers, New York, The Country Club, Chicago Golf Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club met in New York city to form what became the United States Golf Association (USGA)
1910 – There were 267 Clubs affiliated to the USGA.
1922 – Walter Hagen became the first native born American to win the British Open Championship,
1932 – There were more than 1,100 Clubs affiliated to the USGA.
1980 – Over 5,908 Clubs affiliated to the USGA.
2013 – Over 10,600 Clubs affiliated to the USGA.
“And we were taught to play golf. Golf epitomizes the tame world. On a golf course nature is neutered. The grass is clean, a lawn laundry that wipes away the mud, the insect, the bramble, nettle and thistle, an Eezy-wipe lawn where nothing of life, dirty and glorious, remains. Golf turns outdoors into indoors, a prefab mat of stultified grass, processed, pesticided, herbicided, the pseudo-green of formica sterility. Here, the grass is not singing. The wind cannot blow through it. Dumb expression, greenery made stupid, it hums a bland monotone in the key of the mono-minded. No word is emptier than a golf tee. No roots, it has no known etymology, it is verbal nail polish. Worldwide, golf is an arch act of enclosure, a commons fenced and subdued for the wealthy, trampling serf and seedling. The enemy of wildness, it is a demonstration of the absolute dominion of man over wild nature.”
― Jay Griffiths, Wild: An Elemental Journey