National Golf Day

The first recorded mention of golf is a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament banning it. King James II declared it a distraction from archery practice, which Scotland needed for national defense. The ban failed. Golf survived three successive royal prohibitions before James IV lifted the restriction in 1502 and took up the game himself.

From those Scottish linkslands, golf has grown into a sport played by 48.1 million Americans as of 2025, generating $102 billion in direct economic impact and supporting nearly 2 million jobs. National Golf Day, observed on May 10, marks a sport whose history is inseparable from the countries that tried, and failed, to suppress it.

Golf emerged on the coastal linkslands of Scotland, where players hit pebbles with bent sticks across natural terrain. The landscape shaped the game: sandy hollows became bunkers, tall grasses became rough, and the well-drained turf of the links became the fairway. The earliest written record appears in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, where King James II banned golf because it was distracting men from archery practice.

The ban was reaffirmed by James III in 1471 and James IV in 1491. James IV then lifted it in 1502 and became a golfer himself. The game had outlasted three royal prohibitions.

St Andrews and the 18-hole standard

Golf was played at St Andrews by at least 1552. In 1754, the Society of St Andrews Golfers was founded, later becoming the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. In 1764, the Old Course was reduced from 22 holes to 18, establishing the standard that the rest of the world adopted.

The R&A codified the rules of golf and governed the sport internationally alongside the USGA. Many of the rules written at St Andrews in the 18th century remain in effect.

Golf comes to America

Early references to golf in America include a 1659 Dutch ordinance in Albany, New York, and shipments of golf equipment to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1743. But the sport did not take hold until the late 19th century. The Chicago Golf Club, built in 1892, became the first documented 18-hole course in the United States. The United States Golf Association was formed in 1894 to organize national championships and standardize rules.

Golf in America was initially a sport of private clubs and social exclusivity. That began to change with the rise of public courses in the 20th century and accelerated dramatically after Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes at age 21. The "Tiger Effect" drew millions of new players, increased television ratings, and reshaped the sport's commercial landscape.

The modern boom

Golf participation surged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as outdoor, socially distanced recreation became appealing. The growth has persisted. In 2025, a record 48.1 million Americans played golf, with 29.1 million playing on a course. Americans played more than 500 million rounds for the sixth consecutive year. The 2024 single-year increase of 1.5 million golfers was the largest since Tiger Woods' peak in 2000, and it came with approximately 2,000 fewer courses than during the Tiger boom.

Off-course venues like Topgolf have brought 19 million additional participants into the sport. Women made up 28% of on-course golfers in 2025, a record, and nearly 4 million juniors played on a course, the highest number since 2004.