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With over 550 courses in Scotland there are more courses per head of population than in any other country in the world.
The word ‘golf’ may have come from the old Scots verb to ‘gowff’ meaning to strike hard.
In 1764 The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews reduced the number of holes on the Old Course from 22 to 18. Other clubs followed as the R&A became the game’s authority.
The oldest cup still played for today is The Old Club Cup at Royal Musselburgh which was first played for in 1774. Musselburgh was also the venue for the world’s first golf tournament for women on New Year’s Day 1811.
Winston Churchill once said golf was “hitting a very small ball into an even smaller hole with weapons ill-designed for the purpose.”
Nick Faldo once played Scarista golf course in South Harris and signed and deposited a £5 note in the course honesty box. This note was framed by the club and is now contested for annually by Harris members.
Tom Morris Jnr. hit the first-known hole-in-one at Prestwick in 1868.
In 1860 the 1st Open Championship was held at Prestwick and the first winner was Willie Park with a score of 174.
King James IV was an avid golfer and in 1503 bought a set of expensive clubs from a bow-maker in Perth. They did little for his game however as his records show the payments of debts as a result of lost golf matches.
Mary, Queen of Scots was such an avid golfer she caused a scandal when she was seen playing the game at St Andrews within days of her husband Darnley's murder.
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