# Where was golf invented?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 7, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023 "2004-05-07T15:52:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Erstweal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@Erstweal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erstweal)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023/1 "2004-05-07T15:52:04Z")

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I always thought it was invented in Scotland, but this guy I work with says that that’s just where the first golfing association was organized, and the game was invented in France. What the Straight Dope?

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023/2 "2004-05-07T15:54:58Z")

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[The “invention” of golf](http://www.origins.net/ScotsLife/golf.html).

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**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023/3 "2004-05-07T15:57:40Z")

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In 2747, Golfimbul led an army of Orcs from Mount Gram in the Misty Mountains into the Northfarthing of the Shire. The Orcs were defeated by a troop of Hobbits led by Bandobras Took. During the Battle of Greenfields, Bandobras charged at Golfimbul and knocked off his head with a club. Golfimbul’s head flew through the air for 100 yards and went down a rabbit hole; it is said that this is how the game of golf was invented.

What?

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**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023/4 "2004-05-07T16:01:09Z")

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You should ask him where he picked up that tidbit. The generally-agreed origin of the _current_ sport is Scotland, but multiple variations of “hit the little ball with the stick” games have ancient origins. [For example](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf#History):

> [@](#):
>
> Golf is usually regarded to be a Scottish invention, as the game was mentioned in two 15th century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of “golf”. Some scholars however suggest that this refers to another game which is actually much akin to the modern field hockey. The same scholars also point out that a game of putting a small ball in a hole in the ground played with “golf clubs” was played in the 17th century Netherlands. What we think of as the modern game really came into being in the second half of the 19th century in Scotland. The basic rules of the game and the design of equipment and courses strongly resemble those of today.

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**Author:** ![Erstweal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@Erstweal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erstweal)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-golf-invented/244023/5 "2004-05-07T16:11:51Z")

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Hey, thanks! You guys are fast. I think I’ll just e-mail him a link to this.