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Seeing Sorenstam play against the men
after some of them complained that she should not be allowed to
play, combined with last month's story of Augusta National Golf
Club's refusal to accept women as members, would make the acronym
very interesting -- if it's true.
Not knowing whether it was fact or
folklore -- after all, I had read it on the Internet -- my curiosity
got the best of me and I decided to investigate. In the process, I
found that there are several competing versions as to when and where
golf was invented.
In baseball, there are those who say
that the game was invented by Abner Doubleday, whose descendents now
run the New York Mets. Others claim that Alexander Cartwright
invented it. Either way, there are only two competing versions.
Like baseball, the origin of golf has
never been clearly established. Unlike baseball, though, there are
four or five competing versions as to when and where the game
originated.
The earliest version of golf came from
the Romans during Julius Caesar's reign, when the game was played
with a cowhide-type of ball stuffed with feathers and struck with
club-shaped branches. There are stories of the Dutch playing on
frozen canals around 1425. Variations of golf were also played in
France and Belgium. The main flaw with the Dutch and French versions
lies in the fact that they lacked at least one essential element of
the game -- the hole.
Golf as we know it today actually
originated in Scotland around 1450. Its exact origins are unknown,
but it is believed that golf originated with men AND women along the
Scottish coast hitting a pebble with a stick, although the game may
have first been played in the Scottish moors by shepherds.
In 1457, King James II temporarily
banned golf in Scotland because it interfered with the practice of
archery, which was vital to the country's national defense. The
residents, though, ignored the ban and began playing on seaside
courses called "links," a term still used today to refer to golf
courses. King James' son, James III, and his grandson, James IV,
also tried to ban golf in Scotland but, like a drunk trying to
enforce prohibition, James IV also took up the game.
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second column in this article]
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King James VI of Scotland, who later
became known as King James I of England, brought the sport with him
from Scotland around 1603. King James' mother, Mary Queen of Scots,
also took up the game of golf.
St. Andrews golf course in Scotland is
the world's oldest course. A number of 6-, 8-, 9 and 12-hole courses
were opened in the United States around 1890, and the first 18-hole
course, the Chicago Golf Club, was founded in 1893.
So where does the word "golf" come from
and what does it mean?
It turns out that the word "golf" is
not an acronym at all; it is derived from the Scottish word "gowf,"
meaning "to strike."
While the "Gentlemen Only -- Ladies
Forbidden" philosophy still forbids women from becoming members at
Augusta, this is not the case with the PGA Tour. PGA stands for
Professional Golfers' Association. Nowhere does it state that it is
the "men's PGA." The LPGA Tour, on the other hand, states clearly in
its title that it's for ladies and, as a result, allows only female
players to compete. But I doubt that the women's game will ever be
renamed as "lomf," which would stand for "Ladies Only -- Men
Forbidden."
Next week:
"Accidental inventions"
[Paul
Niemann]
Paul Niemann is a contributing author to
Inventors' Digest magazine, and he also runs
MarketLaunchers.com, helping people in the marketing of their
new product ideas. He can be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
Last week's
column in LDN:
"Take a flight back in history to 1903"
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