Golf's history, with the legends labelled.

Golf's story is easy to tell badly. Clubs, towns and whole countries have claimed to be first, and some of the best-known tales were written down long after the events they describe. This section takes a stricter line: every fact comes from a named source, every date is given as that source gives it, and where two sources disagree we show both versions and who says each.

Where to start

The pages run roughly in historical order, then turn to themes that cut across the centuries.

• Origins: the 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, the earliest Scottish records, and the rival Dutch, Chinese and other claims to golf's invention.
• St Andrews and the R&A: the first golf societies, the founding of the Society of St Andrews Golfers in 1754, the 18-hole round, the Rules and the club's first women members.
• The Open's history: from eight professionals at Prestwick in 1860 to the 154th Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2026.
• Golf in America: the Yonkers "Apple Tree Gang", the founding of the USGA in 1894 and Francis Ouimet's 1913 U.S. Open.
• Equipment history: featherie, gutty and wound balls, hickory and steel shafts, the 14-club limit, and the dated rule changes that followed.
• The professional game: the first professionals, the PGA of America, the Masters, and the tours that run the game today.
• Women's golf history: the first ladies' clubs, the Curtis Cup, the founding of the LPGA in 1950 and the women's game since.
• Access and integration: John Shippen in 1896, the PGA of America's Caucasian-only clause, Charlie Sifford, Althea Gibson, Lee Elder and the opening of club membership.
• Olympic golf history: Paris 1900, St Louis 1904, the long absence and the return at Rio in 2016.
• Notable players: the major champions of each era, with titles and years.
• Timeline: the whole story as a dated table, with disputed dates marked.

What the record can and cannot tell us

The earliest firm written evidence for golf in Scotland is a ban. The National Library of Scotland dates James II's Act of Parliament against golf and football to 6 March 1457 and calls it the earliest known written mention of the game in Scotland. Older records describe other stick-and-ball games, such as the Dutch colf, whose link to golf is debated. Later Scottish stories that the sources call unsupported, such as Mary, Queen of Scots playing in 1567, are labelled as such.

From the 18th century the record gets much better, because the first golf societies kept minutes. Scottish Golf History says the R&A's founding date of 1754 is little disputed for exactly that reason: it has continuous minutes from its first competition. By the late 19th century there were national championships with published results, though sources still disagree on some later dates, and those disagreements are shown where they arise.

Today's game

For current events and results, see the events section, which describes the 2026 season as it stood on 20 October 2026. The bodies that run the game now are explained on the governing bodies page, and the current equipment limits on the conforming equipment page.