by Chris Pearce

Created on: February 16, 2010   Last Updated: September 04, 2010

Scotland is the home of golf. It is regarded as one of its greatest assets and a national icon. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews, Scotland is golf’s world governing body (except for the US and Mexico). The Open Championship, or the British Open, the oldest of the four major golfing championships, has been held at the picturesque St Andrews course more often than any other course. Scottish golfers have won the event 42 times, ahead of the US with 41.

The modern game of golf started in Scotland, on a Fifeshire sheep pasture where a shepherd was hitting pebbles with his crook when one of them happened to fall into a rabbit hole. He then tried to deliberately hit pebbles into the hole. A friend was watching and he challenged him. Each of them tried to sink his pebble into the rabbit hole. The site for this impromptu game would become St Andrews. It soon became a popular pastime, causing the Scottish Parliament to complain that soldiers were hitting stones into holes when they should be practicing archery. James II of Scotland subsequently banned the new game. But royalty, including Charles I, James II of England, and Mary, Queen of Scots, enjoyed the game and the ban was soon lifted.

The first golf tournaments in the world were played between Scottish burghs, or towns. The concept of an 18 hole golf course was also first developed in Scotland. Old Links, now surrounded by Musselburgh Racecourse, is the world’s oldest golf course. It dates to at least as early as 1672, although it is thought Mary, Queen of Scots may have played there in 1567. Scotland took the game to the US in 1743 when 96 golf clubs and 432 golf balls were sent to South Carolina from Leith. Scottish merchants set up the first golf club in the US, the South Carolina Golf Club, in 1786. Standard rules for golf were first set down in 1882, by the St Andrews Club.

While golf is often regarded as an elitist sport in many countries, it has been enjoyed by people of all classes in Scotland, which has traditionally been an egalitarian society. Council golf courses have low fees and are dotted throughout the country. In all, Scotland has about 550 beautiful and spectacular golf courses. Thousands of international tourists travel to Scotland each year on golfing holidays. Nearly all golf courses in Scotland are open to the general public.

Scotland has many famous golf courses apart from St Andrews. The Prestwick course was where the first Open Championship was played back

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