Cecil,
I have recently read the following:
“During a discussion among the club’s membership board at St. Andrews in 1858, one of the members pointed out that it takes exactly 18 shots to polish off a fifth of Scotch. By limiting himself to only one shot of Scotch per hole, the Scot figured a round of golf was finished when the Scotch ran out.”
So does the origin of the eighteen hole golf course owe itself to a Scot and a fifth of Scotch or is it a bunch of modern golfers making legends of lies.? After all that does happen frequently in golf!
If this is an “urban legend,” what is the origin of the eighteen hole golf course? Why not a nice round twenty or some other number?
Awaiting you answer so I can share it with all my drinki…I mean golfing buddies here at home.
Thank You,
Brad Amundsen
Billings Montana
odinpop@aol.com
IIRC, golf was played for many years before the length of a golf course was standardized at 18 holes. The idea of 18 holes making a match did originate at St. Andrews in the 1850s, but that was because St. Andrews had 18 holes at the time.
It was unlikely the number of holes there had anything to do with drinking. St. Andrews had 22 holes prior to 1764, but it covered the same ground and it was converted to 18 by combining holes that were deemed too short.
I read the following at another website:
So there you have it — no drunken Scots at all.
Is it legal to reply to your own Queston?
Ya’know, Brad, it’s only polite to cite your source for things off of the WWW. Your last reply was taken verbatim from snopes. The Mikkelson’s work their butts off without pay to bring you that kind of stuff. Kinda like the folks at the Straight Dope. And, unless I’m wrong, it’s against the rules here on the board to copy something verbatim and post it. Snippets, OK. The whole thing, NOT OK.
Welcome to the boards.
According to this site, the reduction in the number of holes at the Old Course at St Andrews, from 22 to 18, occurred in 1764.
Apart from anything else, the quantities of whisky mentioned in the OP have no relevance to Scotland now or in 1858. Bottles of whisky are not, and never have been described as “fifths” in Scotland and the standard serving is not and never has been a “shot”. So whether there are 18 shots in a fifth is irrelevant.
A fifth contains 750ml; the standard spirit bottle size in the UK was reduced to 700ml in 1994 and the standard serving of whisky on licensed premises now is 35ml, so there are 20 servings in a Scottish bottle today (= 21.4 in a fifth). Whatever standard practice or law was in Scotland in 1858, any connection to the number of holes on a golf course is coincidental at best.