The following golf timeline is the most extensive on the internet relating to golf equipment, but it is not all inclusive We continue to add to it with the last update on 3/19/7.  It is intended to include those events that were meaningful to the game, especially to the equipment. I have included a few other events or trivia that I thought were interesting. I wish I could say every entry is correct, but they can only be as correct as the source. We try and confirm each entry, but we recommend you do the same. We always appreciate updates, corrections, etc. We can provide a copy of most U.S. patents mentioned in this timeline for $1.00 per page.  These can be faxed or mailed.  Simply call us at the number above.

1350

·    "Kolfspel" played in Holland

1353

·    The first recorded reference to chole, the probable antecedent of golf. It is a derivative of hockey played in Flanders (Belgium).

1421

·    A Scottish regiment aiding the French against the English at the Siege of Bauge is introduced to the game of chole. Hugh Kennedy, Robert Stewart and John Smale, three of the identified players, are credited with introducing the game in Scotland.

1452

·    First recorded sale of a golf ball for ten shillings.

1457

·    Acts of James II yield earliest written reference to golf, banning ‘ye fut bawe and ye golf’ in favor of archery practice, reaffirmed in 1470 and 1491.

1470

·   The ban on golf is reaffirmed by the Parliament of James III.

1491

·   The golf ban is affirmed again by Parliament, this time under King James IV.

1502

·    With the signing of the Treaty of Glasgow between England and Scotland, the ban on golf is lifted.   

·    James IV makes the first recorded purchase of golf equipment, a set of clubs from a bow-maker in Perth, Scotland.

1504

·   First officially documented match is between King James IV and the Earl of Bothwell.

1506

·   For twelve golf balls for the King...4 shillings

1513

·    Queen Catherine of England, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, refers to the growing popularity of golf in England.

1527

·    The first commoner recorded as a golfer is Sir Robert Maule, described as playing on Barry Links (near the modern-day Carnoustie).

1550

·   The Documented reference of a John Daly playing with a wooden ball.

1552

·   The first recorded evidence of golf at St. Andrews.

1553

·    The Archbishop of St. Andrews issues a decree giving the local populace the right to play golf on the links at St. Andrews.

1567

·    Mary Queen of Scots found herself severely rebuked for playing golf at Seton House disrespectfully soon after the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley.

1589

·    Golf is banned in the Blackfriars Yard, Glasgow. This is the earliest reference to golf in the west of Scotland.

1592

·    The City of Edinburgh bans golfing at Leith on Sunday "in tyme of sermonis."

1602

·    Earliest known reference to a set of golf clubs being specially crafted for a particular golfer; the set was made for King James VI of Scotland.

1603

·    William Mayne a bow maker from Edinburgh is appointed by King James VI of Scotland (King James I of England) as the first Royal Warrant Holder as club maker.

1614

·    Cannon balls were described as bursting into fragments like golf balls, during the siege of a castle belonging to the Earl of Orkney

1618

·   James VI of Scotland (King James I of England) bans the import of balls from Holland and grants his subjects the right to play golf on Sundays.

·    James Melville awarded the patent for the feather stuffed ball by James IV, although many previous references have been made to the feathery. The ball was composed of three strips of leather stitched to form a case into which a large quantity of feathers would be forced with a stout stuffing iron to a size between 1.25 and 1.90 inches in diameter and weight of 1.75 to 1.88 ounces.

1621

·    First recorded reference to golf on the links of Dornoch (later Royal Dornoch), in the far north of Scotland.

1628

·   James Pett was making clubs in St. Andrews.

1641

·    Charles I is playing golf at Leith when he learns of the Irish rebellion, marking the beginning of the English Civil War. He finishes his round.

1642

·    John Dickson receives a license as ball-maker for Aberdeen, Scotland.

1659

·    Golf is banned from the streets of Albany, N.Y. - the first reference to golf in America.

1682

·    Leith was the scene of the first international golf match when the Duke of York and George Patterson playing for Scotland beat two English noblemen.

·    Andrew Dickson, carrying clubs for the Duke of York, is the first recorded caddy.

1687

·    A book by Thomas Kincaid, Thoughts on Golfe, contains the first references on how golf clubs are made.

1721

·    Earliest reference to golf at Glasgow Green, the first course played in the west of Scotland.

1724

·    "A solemn match of golf" between Alexander Elphinstone and Captain John Porteous becomes the first match reported in a newspaper. Elphinstone fights and wins a duel on the same ground in 1729.

1735

·   The first Golf Club established - Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh.

·   Andrew Bailey was making clubs in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1741

·   First written code of rules. Rule 1 stated: "You must tee your ball within a club's length of the hole."

1743

·   Thomas Mathison's epic The Goff is the first literary effort devoted to golf.

·   For the first time on record, golf equipment is shipped from Scotland to the American Colonies.

1744

·    The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers is formed, playing at Leith links. It is the first golf club.  First known rules of golf, formulated by Duncan Forbes for the Annual Challenge Edinburgh Silver Cup. The City of Edinburgh pays for a Silver Cup to be awarded to the annual champion in an open competition played at Leith. John Rattray is the first champion.

1754

·    St. Andrews Society of Fife, Scotland adopts first codified Rules of Golf with the exception of a ball must be dropped instead of teed when in watery lie.  

·    Royal and Ancient Golf Club established at St Andrews.  Golfers at St. Andrews purchase a Silver Cup for an open championship played on the Old Course. Bailie William Landale is the first champion.

1759

·    The earliest reference to stroke-play, at St. Andrews, Previously all play was match.

1764

·    The competition for the Silver Club at Leith is restricted to members of the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.  

·    The first four holes at St. Andrews are combined into two, reducing the round from twenty-two holes (11 out and in) to 18 (nine out and in). St. Andrews is the first 18-hole golf course, and sets the standard for future courses.

1766

·    The Blackheath Club becomes the first golf club formed outside of Scotland.

1767

·    The score of 94 returned by James Durham at St. Andrews in the Silver Cup competition sets a record unbroken for 86 years.

1768

·    The Golf House at Leith is erected. It is the first golf clubhouse.

1770

·    "Far" is yelled for the first time by Scottish reformer John Knox as his ball flies toward other players.  Due to his heavy Scottish accent it sounded like "fore" to an Englishman or American. It was meant to warn that his ball was going farther than he expected.

1773

·    Competition at St. Andrews is restricted to members of the Leith and St. Andrews societies.  

·    The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh is formed.

1774

·    Thomas McMillan offers a Silver Cup for competition at Musselburgh. He wins the first championship. 

·    The first part-time golf course professional (at the time also the greenskeeper) is hired, by the Edinburgh Burgess Society.

1775

·    Rule 6, touching of balls was revised to mean within six inches of each other, this created the "Stymie", in which the player furthermost from the hole had to go first even if the other ball was an obstacle in line with the hole.

1780

·   The Aberdeen Golf Club (later Royal Aberdeen) is formed.

·   James McEwan opens his club service in Edinburgh.

1783

·   A Silver Club is offered for competition at Glasgow.

1786

·    The South Carolina Golf Club is formed in Charleston, the first golf club outside of the United Kingdom, but fails to last. 

·    The Crail Golfing Society is formed.

1788

·    The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers requires members to wear club uniform when playing on the links.

1797

·    The town of St. Andrews sells the land containing the Old Course (known then as Pilmor Links), to Thomas Erskine for 805 pounds. Erskine was required to preserve the course for golf.

c1800

·    R & A standardize the size of the feathery at a diameter of 1.5 inches and between 26 and 30 pennyweights.

1806

·    The St. Andrews Club chooses to elect its captains rather than award captaincy to the winner of the Silver Cup. Thus begins the tradition of the Captain "playing himself into office," by hitting a single shot before the start of the annual competition.

1810

·    Earliest recorded reference to a women's competition at Musselburgh.

1815

·    Allan Robertson (considered golf's first professional) was born.

1819

·    Earliest mention of a professional tournament referring to the tournament played at St Andrews September 22nd 1819.

·    Hugh Philp was appointed club maker to the Society of St. Andrew Golfers.

1820

·   The Bangalore Club is formed, the first club outside of the British Isles.

1824

·   The Perth Golfing Society is formed, later Royal Perth (the first club so honored).

1826

·    Robert Forgan of St. Andrews, Scotland begins using hickory, imported from the U.S., for his shafts. Ash or hazel had been most commonly used prior to the introduction of hickory

1829

·    The Calcutta Golf Club (later Royal Calcutta) is formed. The first club outside of Britain.

·    The first-known hole-cutter, a tool for cutting holes into the green is built at the Musselburgh links (now the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club). It cuts holes to a hole diameter of 4 1/4 inches, which will eventually be adopted as the worldwide standard.

1830

·    Turf mowing machine patented by E. Budding in England.

1832

·    The North Berwick Club is founded, the first to include women in its activities, although they are not permitted to play in competitions. 

·    Ransomes of Ipswich build the first mowers, though these are slow to catch on, sheep still being used to crop grass in America until the 1900’s.

·    Mowers made specifically for trimming golf course grass are manufactured, but many courses still use sheep to keep the grass from getting high.

1833

·    King William IV confers the distinction of "Royal" on the Perth Golfing Society; as Royal Perth it is the first Club to hold the distinction.

·   The St. Andrews Golfers ban the stymie, but rescind the ban one year later.

·   Willie Park is born in Wallyford, Scotland. He was to become one of the top players and clubmakers of his day.

1834

·   William IV grants St Andrews the title of Royal & Ancient.

1836

·    The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers abandons the deteriorating Leith Links, moving to Musselburgh. 

·    The longest drive recorded with a feathery ball, 361 Yards, is achieved by Samuel Messieux playing from the Hole O’ Cross green into Hells Bunker, St Andrews.

1842

·    The Bombay Golfing Society (later Royal Bombay) is founded.

1843

·    First samples of gutta-percha arrive in the UK.

1844

·    Blackheath follows Leith in expanding its course from five to seven holes. North Berwick also had seven holes, although the trend toward a standard eighteen has begun.

1847

·    James McEwan moves his headquarters to Musselburgh.

·    Alexander Munro, Aberdeen, Scotland's resident clubmaker dies. He is followed by Ludovic Sandison who has his shop at 118 King Street, Aberdeen.

·    John Patrick, a cabinetmaker begins club making at Leven, Scotland

1848

·    First mention of the gutta-percha ball. There is wide spread controversy as to the true origins of this ball, with Willie Dunn, Robert Patterson and William Smith among those credited with its invention. Gutta-percha, literally ‘gum-cloth’, would be cut into strips, softened in boiling water and rolled into balls. The balls would then be hardened in cold water and generally left to season for six months before being painted and finally used. Although this new ball did not perform significantly better than the feathery it had the advantage of being easy to make and therefore far cheaper. The new ball was also harder and caused damage to the wooden clubs of the time prompting a slow but gradual change in club design which continues to this day.

·    Allan Robertson, the most prolific feather ball maker in St. Andrews and Tom Morris' employer, found Tom golfing with a gutta percha ball. This displeased Allan greatly, and he made his displeasure known to Tom. Later that day Tom leaves Allen's employ and each go their own way.  Their friendship remains.

·    Robert "Bob" Ferguson is born in Musselburgh, Scotland. He would become one of the top players and clubmakers during the late 1800's.

1851

·    Willie Dunn is appointed keeper of the green at Blackheath.

·    The Prestwick Golf Club is founded.

·    Tom Morris moves to Prestwick where he lays out the course for the Prestwick Golf Club.  He becomes custodian of the links and also made clubs and balls. 

·    Tom Morris, Jr. is born at Prestwick. He was to become the greatest golfer of his era.

·    With the introduction of the gutta percha ball a new rule provided that if a ball broke up in flight another ball could be dropped without penalty where the largest piece was found.

1852

·   Hugh Philp’s nephew Robert Forgan takes over the family club making business.

1854

·   The clubhouse for the St. Andrews Royal and Ancient Golf Club opens.

1856

·    ‘Guttie composite’ is patented by Capt. D Stewart.  It is a combination of iron fillings, cork and gutta-percha.

·    First European golf club is established in Pau, France. 

·    Hugh Philp, clubmaker of St. Andrews Dies at 74 yrs.  He is known for creating wooden clubs with beautiful perfect graceful elegant lines.

·    The Royal Curragh Golf Club is founded at Kildare, the first golf club in Ireland. 

·    A rule change is enacted that, in match play, the ball must be played as it lies or the hole be conceded. It is the last recorded toughening of the rules structure.

1857

·    "The Golfer's Manual", by "A Keen Hand" (H.B. Farnie), is published. It is the first book on golf instruction. 

·    George Morris, brother of Old Tom Morris is appointed the first professional and clubmaker at Carnoustie. 

·    The Prestwick Club institutes the first Championship Meeting, a foursomes competition at St. Andrews is attended by eleven golf clubs. George Glennie and J.C. Stewart win for Blackheath.

·   Burt and Packard Shoe Company founded in Brockton, Mass. Soon thereafter named Field and Flint Company which will produce the Footjoy line of golf shoes.

1858

·    The format of the Championship Meeting is changed to individual match play and is won by Robert Chambers of Bruntsfield. 

·   The "Grand National Tournament" is played in Britain, the first national amateur championship and precursor to the British Amateur.

·    St. Andrews issues new rules for its members, and Rule 1 states, "one round of the Links or 18 holes is reckoned a match unless otherwise stipulated." This encourages other courses to convert to or be built to 18 holes in length.

·    Allan Robertson becomes the first golfer to break 80 at the Old Course, recording a 79.

1859

·   The first Amateur Championship is won by George Condie of Perth. 

·   Allan Robertson considered  the first great professional golfer dies.

1860

·    The Prestwick Club institutes a Professional Championship played at Prestwick; the first Championship Belt is won by Willie Park.

1861

·    The Professionals Championship is opened to amateurs, and the British Open is born. The first competition is won by Old Tom Morris.

1863

·    Robert Forgan and Son Ltd. appointed club maker to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales with early clubs being marked with the prince’s plume of feathers. When the prince became King Edward VII in 1901 Forgan begins using the crown mark.

1864

·    The North Devon Golf Club is founded at Westward Ho!

·    Tom Morris resigned his position with the Prestwick Golf Club due to being hired by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Charles Hunter replaces Tom Morris at Prestwick as custodian and clubmaker.  He remains there until his death in 1921.

·    John Jackson, Perth clubmaker relocates his business from Prince Street to Athole Street and later to North Methven Street.

1865

·    Tom Morris is officially hired as the acting professional and "keeper of the Green" at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

1866

·    The Golfer’s Yearbook, is launched as the first annual golf publication. It is the only edition ever to be published.

·    Alexander Greig, a club and ball maker in St. Andrews has a shop at 22 Duke Street between 1866 and 1872.

·    John Allan, a native of Prestwick and clubmaker who learned under Tom Morris, becomes the first professional at Royal North Devon, Westward Ho! and remained there until 1886.

·    The automobile is invented.  This was to revolutionize transportation allowing golfers a means to travel to locations not covered by the rail network.

1867

·    The Ladies' Golf Club at St. Andrews is founded. It is the first golf club for women.

·    Schuyer, Hartley, & Graham purchases two small cartridge companies in Bridgeport, Conn. which would become the Bridgeport Gun Implement Co. (B.G.I.). They begin making golf clubs in about 1898.

·    Tom Morris, Sr. opens golf shop in St. Andrews, across from the 18^th green on the Old Course.

1868

·    Young Tom Morris scores the first recorded hole-in-one on Prestwick's 8th hole during the Open Championship. 

1869

·   John "Jack" Morris son of George Morris who is Old Tom Morris' brother is hired as the first professional and clubmaker for the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake).  He holds the position for 60 years until 1929. 

·   Tom Morris, Sr. makes his son, Tom Morris Jr. a partner in his club and ball making business.

·    Young Tom Morris age 17, wins the first of four successive British Open championships. His streak would include an 11-stroke victory in 1869 and a 12-stroke victory in 1870 (in a 36-hole format). His 149 in the 1870 British Open over 36 holes is a stroke average that would not be equaled until the invention of the rubber-cored ball.

c1870

·    Separate teeing areas introduced, introducing sand buckets for producing tees, previously players had teed off from the previous green at a distance of a few yards from the hole using sand from the hole to produce the tee.

·    Hand mowers become popular for mowing greens, and horse drawn mowers for rough and fairways (USA).

1870

·    Willie Dunn moves to Musselburgh and sets up his clubmaking business. 

·    Robert Ferguson has a club and ball making business at Links Place, Musselburgh, Scotland until 1876. 

·    Tom Dunn, son of Willie Dunn, Sr. starts his own clubmaking business at North Berwick. Almost immediately he accepts the position of professional and clubmaker to the London Scottish Golf Club, Wimbledon, England.

1871

·    Young Tom Morris wins his third consecutive British Open Championship, thus winning permanent passion of the belt. 

·    Willie Dunn opens golf shop in Musselburgh, Scotland

·    Wright & Ditson Co. of Boston, Mass. was started this year by George Wright and Henry Ditson. They imported their first golf clubs and balls about 1889.

1872

·    The British Open Championship is reinstituted when Prestwick, St. Andrews and the Honourable Company offer a new trophy, with the Open Championship to be hosted in rotation by the three clubs.  Young Tom Morris wins his fourth consecutive British Open Championship.

1873

·    The Royal Montreal Golf Club is formed, the first club in Canada and is also the oldest continuously operating golf club in North America.

·    The British Open is played over 18 holes at St.; Andrews for the first time.  The Claret Jug is first presented to the winner of the British Open for the first time replacing the "championship belt."

·    Thomas Manzie is hired as the professional and clubmaker at Crookham, Berkshire until 1875.

·    Young Tom Morris is married and within a year afterwards his wife died in childbirth.

1875

·    A niblick with a large hole bored through the face was designed by W. G. Roy of the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club to allow water, sand or mud to pass through the club head and thereby allow a clean contact with the ball. It was called the President and is believed to have been made by Tom Morris and later by Anderson of Anstruther.

·    Tom Morris, Jr. Dies on December 25th at age 24.

1876

·    A.G. Spalding and his brother James start a business manufacturing sporting goods using the name A.G. Spalding & Brother.  When his brother-in-law joins the firm the name is changed to A.G. Spalding & Bros. 

·    Thomas Johnston receives the first patent issued for a golf club. It was a British patent Number 2,683 dated June 29th.  We also have found a British patent number 3,228 issued the year to Capt. Duncan Stewart for a golf ball made of a combination of gutta percha, ground cork, and metal filings. It is also claimed to be the first patent for a golf ball.

·    Thomas Manzie succeeds Robert Kirk as professional and clubmaker to the Royal Blackheath Golf Club.  He was succeeded by C. Thomson in 1885.

1877

·    British patent number 4,838 is received by William Currie of the Caledonian Rubber Works of Edinburgh for a process of making golf balls from India-rubber combined with ground cork, leather, or vegetable fibers. The ball was named the Eclipse, but was also known as the "Putty." 

1878

·    The first University match is played at Wimbledon, won by Oxford.

1879

·    David Strath one of the top professionals and clubmakers dies from "consumption" at age 29.

·   The President iron or "ring mashie" is introduced.  It is an iron with a hole in the middle made to hit balls out of water.

1880

·    The use of moulds is instituted to dimple the gutta-percha ball. Golfers had long noticed that the guttie worked in the air much better after it had been hit several times and scuffed up.

1881

·     T. B. Forgan joins his father’s, Robert Forgan’s company.

·     Earliest reference to a mashie this year in John Forgan's "The Golfer's Handbook".

1883

·     James Anderson opens a clubmaking shop next to the shop of Tom Morris in St. Andrews.

1884

·    The Oakhurst Golf Club is founded at White Sulphur Springs. The first hole at The Homestead survives from this course and is the oldest surviving golf hole in America.

·    Willie Park, Jr. returns to work in his father's shop in Musselburgh. In the next few years Willie, Jr. takes over the shop due to his father's failing health.

·    W.F. "Willie Davis is the first Scottish professional to work in North America. He was employed by the Royal Montreal Golf Club.  His wages were one pound a week and he agreed: "I am to get all that I can earn for making and repairing clubs and balls."

1885

·    The Royal Cape Golf Club is founded at Wynberg, South Africa, the first club in Africa.

·    James Davidson receives British patent number 14,349 on November 23rd for "improvements in handles for lawn tennis, racquet, and cricket bats, and for golf clubs and other articles." It illustration on the patent only shows a tennis racquet.  This was the second British patent related to golf clubs.

1886

·    A.J. Balfour is appointed Chief Secretary (Cabinet Minister) for Ireland-his rise to political and social prominence has an incalculable effect on the popularity of golf, as he is an indefatigable player and catalyzes great interest in the game through his writing and public speaking.

1887

·    “The Art of Golf” by Sir Walter Simpson is published. It was the first instructional book with photos.

·    “The Foxburg Country Club is founded in Foxburg, Pennsylvania, the oldest golf course in the United States in continuous use in one place.

1888

·    The St. Andrews Golf Club is founded in Yonkers, N.Y., the oldest surviving golf club in America. 

·    Second European golf club established in Antwerp, Belgium. Golf begins to spread through the rest of Europe throughout the 1890’s.

1889

·    W. G. Bloxsom, and A. S. Douglas receives British patent number 12,941 on August 16th the first patent issued for a rubber tee. 

·    Walter H. Cook receives British patent number 363 on January 7th for "a novel application of pulped paper stock" which included golf clubs among other sports instruments like cricket bats.  This was the third British patent to apply to golf clubs.

·    Willie Park, Jr. receives the fourth British patent ever given for a golf club. It was a British patent number 5,042 dated March 23rd.  It was the first iron ever patented.

·    George Forrester of Elie, Earlsferry registered the design for the Concentrated Lofter. It was the first iron with the back shaped to concentrate the weight behind the ball, being slightly thicker at the exact center of the face and becoming progressively thicker as it approached the sole. 

c1890

·     First golf shoes introduced in the UK.

·    Introduction of the ‘Brassie’ on the underside of lofted woods to protect them on rough ground and of the ‘Mashie’, predecessor of the modern ‘5’ iron.

·    Willie Park patents the diamond mesh pattern for golf balls.

1890

·    Professor P. G. Tait of The University of Edinburgh’s physics department calculates the explanation of flight of golf balls.

·    William Bussey and Joseph Pinder of London received British patent number 16,953 on October 23rd. This was the first patent to deal with the neck joint of a wood.  It also covered a sewn grip and a two-piece iron head.

·    Golf, A Weekly Record of Ye Royal and Ancient Game first published. This was the first weekly magazine on golf, and still survives today under the title Golf Weekly. 

·    John Ball, an English amateur, becomes the first non-Scotsman and first amateur to win the British Open. 

·    Robert Brand receives British patent number 9,015 on June 11th for making wood shape heads from celluloid or xylonite.  

·    H. G. Alexander receives British Patent number 4,901 on March 28th for a mold that would make a sand tee.  It was bell shaped, made of wood with a handle.

·    Clubmaker James Anderson is listed as an employee of R. Forgan & Son until 1884.

·    Bogey is invented by Hugh Rotherham, as the score of the hypothetical golfer playing perfect golf at every hole. Rotherham calls this a "Ground Score," but Dr. Thomas Brown, honorary Secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, christens this hypothetical man a "Bogey Man," after a popular song of the day, and christens his score a "Bogey." With the invention of the rubber-cored ball golfers are able to reach the greens in fewer strokes, and so bogey has come to represent one over the par score for the hole.

1891

·    Introduction of Scafe’s spikeless patent golf shoes and boots, using small rubber knobs to improve grip.

·    An iron head is found in inside a cornerstone dated 1682 with a coin dated 1682.  The iron head provides a gauge for dating other iron heads.

·    Time allowed in searching for a ball reduced from 10 to five minutes.

·    Alfred Schacht of Royal Blackheath Golf Club introduces "strap on" golf shoes, which fit over the golfers normal footwear employing spikes to increase traction.

·     W. Thomson patents the metal-faced wooden club.

·    Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is founded.

·    First advertisements for steel shafts although ruled nonconforming by both the USGA and the R&A.

·    In January Alexander M. Ross applied for British patent number 1,458 to cover his negative loft putter.  He abandon the application since golfer quickly rejected his putter.

·    Robert Anderson receives British patent number 3,794 dated March 3rd for socket joint woods.

·    The first patent for a metal wood was British patent number 5,741 granted to William Currie, Jr. on April 3rd.  It was for a clubhead made of brass filled with elastic material exposed on the face. It also calls for attaching the metal wood head to its shaft with a hosel socket formed like an iron's.  Mr. Currie was a manufacturer of India rubber in Edinburgh, Scotland.

·    J. Fisher receives British patent 6,501 on April 16th for a practice mat and rubber cup.

·     A British patent number 6,682 was granted to Frank Fairlie on April 18th for an iron with the bottom of the hosel bent forward to position the blade in front of the hosel. It was designed to eliminate shanking.

·    The first patent relating to sole design was British patent number 8,261 received by Robert Henry on May 14th.  It was for a solid brass or other metal soleplate cast in one piece with the back weight. 

·    British patent number 10,448 was issued to Charles James Rivett-Carnac on June 19th.  It was for inlaying a metal plate behind, and flush against the usual horn under the leading edge of a wood.

·    Andrew Morison a member at Troon Golf Club receives British patent number 12,207 on July 18th for a wooden golf club made from a single piece of wood.

·     William Cowan and James Watson Jones receive British patent number 16,872 on October 5th for forked splices.

·    The Golfing Union of Ireland is founded on 12th October 1891 and is the oldest Golfing Union in the world.

1892

·    Spalding Company becomes the first company to assemble and sell golf clubs in the U.S. It is still not known for sure whether Spalding Co., MacGregor, or Bridgeport Gun & Implement Co. actually manufactured the first golf clubs.

·    Gate money is charged for the first time, at a match between Douglas Rollard and Jack White at Cambridge. The practice of paying for matches through private betting, rather than gate receipts and sponsorships, survives well into the 20th Century as a "Calcutta," but increasingly gate receipts are the source of legitimate prize-purses.

·    John and Andrew Dickson clubmakers at 8 Braid Road, Morningside, Edinburgh applied for a British patent number 20,260 on their simplex iron, but their patent application was abandoned shortly thereafter.  The hosel of their club consisted of two iron tangs that extended up form the heel and attached on each side of the shaft.

·    The Perfectum tee designed by P. Ellis of England receives British patent number 3,916 on February 29th.  It has a metal spike with rubber tines.

·   Robert Anderson receives his second British patent number 6,385 on April 2nd for an unusually shaped, center shafted wooden club. He received his third patent number 10,187 on May 28th for a crescent shaped iron head with the shaft centrally attached to the back of the head.

·    William Bussey and Joseph Pinder receive British patent number 8,864 on April 10th for an adjustable iron.  

·    W. Cook, Jr. receives British patent number 15,408 on May 27th for a sand tee mold ejector.

·    Thomas Gourlay receives British patent number 12,093 on June 29th for fork splices connecting the head to the shaft.

·    On September 8th Sir Walter Dalrymple received British patent number 16,148 for his double faced hammer headed center shafted club.

·    Palmetto Golf Club was founded by Thomas Hitchcock, a prominent sportsman from Long Island, New York.  He and his wife attracted many wealthy families from the Northeast who established a Winter Colony in Aiken.

1893

·    Founding of Ladies Golf Union.

·    Chicago Golf Club becomes home to the first American 18-hole golf course built by Charles Blair Macdonald.

·    William Wilson, an early iron maker "constructed a machine for testing the comparative driving-powers of various players so far, at least, as initial speed is concerned."  It involved the use of a ball at the end of a leather thong attached to an indicator. 

·    The first golfing novel is published, M.A. Stobarts ‘won at the last hole’.

·     245 yards, longest recorded flight of a guttie by Freddie Tait.

·    Claude Johnson receives British patent number 8,954 on May 4th for a metal socket in a wooden head.

·    On September 21st Tom Morris receives British patent number 17,753 for a concave face niblick

·    Charles Ashford receives British patent number 21,383 on November 10th for a wood-style club, made from both wood and metal in a variety of possible combinations, having a metal socket.

·    Ralph H. C. Nevile is given British patent number 22,157 on November 20th for an aluminum or alloy socket head wood.

·    Victoria Golf Club is formed and remains the oldest course west of the Mississippi on its original site.

1894

·    Hole size is standardized at a diameter of 4 ¼ inches.

·    A. J. Reach Co. is started in Philadelphia, PA.  They begin selling golf clubs in 1905.

·    Tacoma Golf Club is founded, the first golf club on the Pacific Coast.

·    William Lowe and T. Eddleston, of Buxton apply for British patent number 14,102 to cover "improvements in golf putters and cleeks."

·    Willie Dunn Jr. in October wins what is billed as The Golf Championship of the United States and the first American Open Championship sponsored by the St. Andrews Golf Club on their Yonkers, NY course.  He receives a $100 first prize and a gold metal. This was not sanctioned by the USGA because the USGA was not formed until December 22nd.

·    The United States Golf Association is founded on December 22nd as the Amateur Golf Association of the United States. Charter members are the Chicago Golf Club, The Country Club, Newport Golf Club, St. Andrews Golf Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. 

·    George C Bussey and Co develop an improved hole liner, which prevents the ball from falling in the dirt at the bottom of the hole and the flagstick from leaning to one side.

·    On January 16th William Ballingall received British patent number 925 for a flange on and iron that extends about a 1/2 inch behind a beveled leading edge.  He feels this would allow his club to slide easily over the turf with out cutting it up.  It is the first patent ever issued for a flange.

·    The first U.S. patent granted for a golf club was given to Gustav A. Ruemmler of Yonkers, N.Y. He receives U.S. patent number 513,733 on January 30 for his one piece golf club.

·    John Duncan Dunn receives British patent number 14,309 on July 25th for his one piece golf club.  John was the grandson of Willie Dunn.  He received the patent while working at "The Golf Pavilion" in Bournemouth, England as a club and ball maker.

·    Robert Ramsbottom receives British patent number 14,799 on August 2nd for what was called the Ramsbottom "Crescent " iron.

·    J.T. Turnbull of Scotland receives British patent number 16,908 on September 5th for the first permanent teeing device that would be imbedded into the teeing ground.

·    Willie Park, Jr. receives British patent number 20,914 on November 1st. This was the second patent for a club with an unusual hosel shape. It was for a putter with the lower part of the hosel bent backward to offset the blade.

1895

·    William Mills produces the first successful aluminum headed ‘woods.

·    Charles Spinks develops a solid wood clubhead with socket neck which includes a wide brass ring/band around the neck.

·    Messers, Thornton and Co introduce a pull on rubber golf shoe, which stretches over the golfers own footwear.

·    William Bussey receives British patent number 11,777 on June 17th for his club carrier. It had two legs attached to the top that supported the top of the carrier when its bottom is placed on the ground .  The legs fold back next to the side of the carrier when it is pecked up off the ground.

·    A club developed by George Forrestgers called the "Drilled Neck Club" received a British design registration number 269,117.

·    Simplex produces a golf sole consisting of a spiked metal plate that straps onto the sole of the boot with leather straps.

·    The United States Open and the U.S. Amateur Championship are held for the first time in October during the same week at the Newport Golf Club. Charles B. Macdonald was the first amateur champion and Horace Rawlins the first open champion.  Horace was an English professor who won with a gutta-percha ball.  He received a gold metal, $150 and custody of the Open Championship trophy for one year.

·    The pool cue is banned as a putter by the USGA. 

·    James Anderson, one of the largest, oldest, and best makers of iron clubs dies. 

·    The first U.S. Women's Amateur Championship is held at Meadow Brook Club in Hempstead, NY. There were 13 contestants with Mrs. Charles S. Brown being crowned the winner. 

·    Spalding becomes the first American company to manufacture golf balls. The company's first ball is the Spalding Wizard, a "bramble" design (think reverse dimples - raised bumps covered the ball).

·    David Dalziel of Glasgow receives British patent number 3,735 on February 21st for a permanent teeing device. His device was very intricate.

·    S.C. Millar of Scotland receives British patent number 8,184 on April 25th for a tee consisting of a metal disc, rubber collar, elastic tether and ground pin.

·    Corlertt and Hulbert of  Scotland receive British patent number 9,405 on May 13th for a sand tee mold that includes an ejector and tamper.

·    Andrew Scott receives British patent number 21,444 on November 12th for his fork splice neck joint.

1896

·    James Foulis U.S. Open champion invents the flat sole, concave face mashie niblick. 

 ·   Willie Dunn Jr. opens a "golf gymnasium" at 306 5th Ave., New York City.  Inside what is now the old Madison Square Gardens, he gave golf lessons in a room 76 ft. long 30 ft wide and 28 ft. high.  The class was limited to 6 students who stood on a long strip of India rubber matting with places for their feet marked with chalk. 

·    Solid steel wire shafts introduced in Great Britain, but due to their heavy weight they were never successful.

·    W. Kirkwood of Scotland receives British patent number 253 on January 4th for a sheet metal stamped tee.  The golfer was required to bend the tee 90 degrees prior to using it.

·    W. J. Hadden of England receives British patent number 4,409 on February 27th for a tee made from a rubber disk with studs.

·    Ramsey Hunter was granted a British patent number 4,810 on March 3rd for a putter with a neck bent in order to offset the blade.

·    George Low is given British patent number 16,560 on March 3rd for a club with a n unusual hosel shape.·    Warren R. Briggs receives two U.S. patents on March 10th.  These were the third and fourth U.S. patents granted for golf clubs.  Patent number 556,042 dealt with a fork splice neck, but was more concerned with building a wooden head from a number of sectional pieces. The second patent number 556,043 covered a fork splice neck on a solid single piece head.  This second patent was also granted in Great Britain on March 10th under number 5,425.

·    On July 20th "W. Fernie" applied for a British patent number 16,028 for "improvements in or connected with golf clubs."  It is not known if this was William Fernie or
Willie Fernie, nor is it known what these improvements were since the application was abandon.

·    On July 28th Edward Slade receives the first U.S. patent that covers a meta  wood head number 564,655.  The club had an aluminum allow head with a wood block set in the face and an elastic material placed behind the wood block.

·    U.S. patent number 572,436 was the second U.S. patent for a metal wood. It was granted to William Mills on December 1st. He obtained the patent to protect the metal wood he had patented and was producing in England.

1897

·    E. B. Boehmer Patents an early golf trolley, though these did not come into popular use for another fifty years.

·    F. W. Brewster patents the “Simplex” torpedo club.

·    Royal & Ancient Golf Club (R&A) were given control of the Rules and Golf, by common agreement of the the existing clubs, who were mostly British.  Rules of Golf Committee formed by the R&A.

·    A. Cole patents a hollow auger for cutting golf holes.  

·    Eight clubs were found in a boarded up closet in a House in Hull, England with a paper dated 1741 which were to become known as the "Troon Clubs" were donated to Troon Golf Club by Adam Wood.

·    The first NCAA championship is held. Louis Bayard Jr. is the champion.

·    "Golf", America's first golfing magazine, is published for the first time.

·    MacGregor along with Spalding Co. are credited with the introduction of the coping lathe as a method of reproducing wood head master model shapes.

·    A U.S. design patent was granted to James Cram of Chicopee Falls, Mass. for the Cram Patent Brassie Cleek.  It was an iron headed club with the face hollowed out and then inlaid with wood, secured by two screws from the back of the club.  The patent was then assigned to A.G. Spalding Bros. who promoted it as the longest driving cleek made.

·    The "Victor" tee was developed by P.M. Matthews of Scotland and received British patent number 14,292 on June 12th .  It consisted of a rubber top and metal spike.

·    Willie Dunn receives a U.S. patent on July 27th for his stars and stripes gutty ball.  This is the first U.S. patent ever awarded for a golf ball. 

1898

·    The term "birdie" is coined at Atlantic C.C. from "a bird of a hole."

·    Willie Dunn is employed to assist Crawford, McGregor, & Canby in the making of wooden club heads.

·    Freddie Tait, betting he could reach the Royal Cinque Ports G. C. clubhouse from the clubhouse at Royal St. George's-a three mile distance- in forty shots or less, puts his 32nd stroke through a window at the Cinque Ports club. 

·    The United States Open expands to 72 holes from 36 and is held for the first time at a separate course from the Amateur. 

·    MacGregor introduces the drilled socket head method of shaft to wood head attachment. 

·    Spalding Company produces the first American made golf ball.

·    W. J. Hadden of England developed a tee with a flat bottomed, thin edged disc of India rubber with three or four tines.

·    Harry Cawsey receives British registration number 346549 for his Spli-Sok clubs.

·    On March 26th F. M. Wareing of England receives British patent number 7340 for a sand tee mold with ejector.

·    On June 27th Roger Lyons Cowper-Coles of London receives British patent number 14,169 for a cylinder putter without a hosel.  The shaft shaft entered a hole in the cylinder head. 

1899

·    Golfer’s Handbook first published, and still survives today.

·    The R&A publishes the first 'national' set of rules.

·    The Western Open is first played at Glenview G.C., the first tournament in what would evolve into the PGA Tour.

·    The R & A begins allowing free drops for balls lying in casual water through the green. In 1900 the USGA follows suit.

·    J. E. Ransome of England receives British patent number 241,164 for a sand tee mold that was 2 sizes in one.

·    Coburn Haskell and Bertram G. Work, receive U.S. patent number 622,834 on April 11th. The Haskell ball consisted of a non-elastic core around which rubber threads were wound tightly to form a ball which, would then be covered in a layer of moulded gutta-percha.  B.F. Goodrich employee Bertram Work, a friend of Haskell's, gets Goodrich engineers to design a machine to automate the winding process. The Haskell ball becomes the new standard for golf balls.

·    A tee made of tempered steel was developed by Agnes Donnelly of Scotland and receives British patent number 9,081 on May 1st.  The upper arm described as a skidding arm, allowed the ball to be in free suspension before contact by the club head.  Donnelly claimed that the design eliminated the friction between the ball and the tee.

·    James Dalgleish of Chicopee Falls, Mass., British citizen receives U.S. patent number 645,944 on November 29th for a brassie with a sole having a rounded ridge made of brass with a round lead weight being at the back and extending into the head.  The ridge was to make it easier to strike a ball in a grassy cupped lie.

·    George Grant of Boston, Mass. and a member of the Harvard Dental School faculty, receives U.S. patent number 638,920 on December 12th for a wooden and rubber golf tee. The ball was previously most likely teed on a small mound of sand.

C1900

·    Approximate date of the popularization of persimmon for clubheads. Aluminum was another alternative being used.

·    Around this time A. G. Spalding & Bros. begin drop forging in London, producing metal club heads cast in moulds allowing mass production of matched sets of clubs.  Prior to this all heads were made in the traditional way using anvil and forge.

1900

·    John Gammeter of The Goodrich Rubber Company, patents a machine for the winding of the Haskell balls, enabling them to be mass produced and signaling the slow demise of the gutta-percha ball.

·    Scot, M. McDaid patents machines for winding golf balls in 1903 and 1906. 

·    Golf is placed on the Olympic calendar for the 2nd Games at Paris.

·    U.S. patent number 656,099 was issued to Willie Dunn, Jr. on August 14th for a negative loft convex face putter.

·    Sears, Roebuck & Co. Fall catalog lists Victor Golf clubs.

·    F. R. Matthews receives British patent number 8,452 on May 8th for a sand tee mold.  

·    Golf is placed on the Olympic calendar for the second games in Paris.

1901

·    Walter Travis becomes the first golfer, in the U.S. Amateur, to win a major title with the Haskell ball, a wound rubber core ball.

·    Robert Black Wilson develops his model 1000 offset putter which came in two styles.  It either had a square hole located in the heel or in the heel and the toe.

·    Robert The first course at the Carolina Hotel (later the Pinehurst Resort & CC) in Pinehurst, North Carolina, is completed by Donald Ross. Ross will go on to design 600 courses in his storied career as a golf course architect.

·    Walter Travis publishes his first book, "Practical Golf", a tome that received a rave review in the New York Times.

·    Sunningdale, a course built amidst a cleared forest, opens for play. It is the first course with grass grown completely from seed. Previously, golf courses were routed through meadows, which frequently created drainage problems as the meadows were typically atop clay soil.

·    On October 15th Henry De Long Vehslage of Irvington, N.J. receives U.S. patent number 684,532 for an aluminum head forming a shell around an open face filled with wood.  The end grain of the wood faced out for the striking surface.  The Vehslage driver was manufactured by The Aluminum Golf Head Co. of Newark, N.J. His patent was the third U.S. patent granted for a metal wood.

·    Frank Legh Slazenger, a British citizen living in New York City received U.S. patent number 682,960 on September 17th for a threaded socket driver with a screw-in shaft.

·    Isaac E. Palmer receives U.S. patent number 687,539 on November 26th for his putter with a forked hosel with the brass or lead inlaid down the center of the sole's entire length.  

1902

·    Sandy Herd becomes the first professional to win a championship with a Haskell at the Hoylake Open.  Sandy Herd wins the British Open and Laurie Auchterlonie the U.S. Open with the Haskell, virtually all competitors switch to the new ball.

·    Jack Jolly pioneers the first liquid cored balls. 

·    The firm of Robert Forgan & Son were appointed to be "Golf Club Makers to His Majesty King Edward" . 

·    E. Burr introduces the first grooved-faced irons for increased backspin.

·    W.F. "Willie Davis, the first Scottish professional to come to North America dies at age 39.

·    William McClenahan Ransom receives U.S. patent number 690,996 on January 14th.  It was for making the shaft and the entire center section of the head in line with the shaft from one piece of wood. He also receives British patent number 3,065 on February 2nd on this club.

1903

·    British residents of Kobe, Japan build a nine-hole course.

·    Spalding, which as been using gutta-percha as the cover material on its Haskell-style golf balls, switches to balata. Balata, also produced by a tropical tree, is more durable than gutta-percha.

·    Willie Park dies after a long illness.  

·    Burke Golf Company enters the golf business as a manufacturer of hickory golf shafts.

·    John Gray of Prestwick, Scotland, one of the first iron makers and much esteemed character in the west of Scotland dies at age 79.

·    Arthur F. Knight patents the controversial (mallet-headed) Schenectady putter.

·    Moses Swift is given British patent number 4,949 on March 3rd and U.S. patent number 722,927 on March 17th provided for a metal, stone, or glass face insert that would cover a small part of the sole's leading edge.

·    On March 24th Frank B. Felton receives U.S. Patent number 723,258 for a club with a rubber filled shell filled with gutta percha inside a metal head with a gutta percha striking face.

·    The first U.S. patent for a combination club was patent number 727,819 given to George Mattern on May 12th.  The hosel, face, and sole form a metal casing. He uses a strip of elastic material between the face and the wood block attached behind it.

·    Oscar Heeren receives British patent number 172 on January 3rd for a club with a face insert made of a block of glass, quartz, flint or the like.  He receives U.S. patent number 734,065 for this same club on July 21st. 

·    James Ross Brown a shipsmith from Montrose, Scotland receives British patent number 20,343 on September 22nd for four different style irons. Each has either horizontal openings, vertical slots, or perforations across the face.  He receives a U.S. patent in 1905.

1904

·    N. Pearson of England receives British patent number 7,547 on March 30th for a sand tee mold with ejector.

·    James Henry Roger a wine merchant in Glasgow is given British patent number 10,736 on May 10th for his "Roger Brown" rake.  The club, a rake iron is designed for "acting on the ball in sand bunkers, long grass, water ditches, and the like." 

·   James Henry Roger, of Glasgow, Scotland receives British patent number 10,736 on May 10th for a rake iron similar to the Higgs Deliverer.

·   Walter Travis becomes the first American to win the British Amateur using the center-shafted, Schenectady putter.

·   Golf makes its second and final Olympic appearance at the Olympic Games in St. Louis.

·    On June 25th John Carruthers a stockbroker's clerk from London is granted British patent number 14,313 for a mallet putter with a heavily curved face from heel to toe.

·    James Ross Brown is given British patent number 14,608 on June 29th.  It was the first patent granted for a "Swan neck" or a bent hosel that lines the shaft up with the center of the head. 

·    Pembroke Adolphus "Percy" Vaile, of Whitehall Court, in the city of  Westminster, Barrister at law of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and Frederick Henry Ayres, a manufacturer in London apply and receive British patent number 18,161 on August 22nd. Their clubs are nearly identical to the club patented in June by James Brown.

·    Robert Percival Higgs receives British provisional patent number 19,995 on September 16th for his 'Higgs Deliverer" a rake iron. He later abandoned his patent application.  The club was built by Tom Stewart. 

1905

·    Women golfers from Britain and the United States play an international match, with the British winning 6 matches to 1. 

·    "The Complete Golfer" by Harry Vardon is published. It promotes and demonstrates the Vardon or overlapping grip.

·    Dimples first appear on golf ball. The "Dympl" ball is patented by William Taylor in England, who discovers that balls with depressions, rather than bumps, fly higher and farther.

·    British patent number 826 was received on January 12th by E. H. Taylor of England for a tee shaped as a rubber dome with tassel.

·    James Ross Brown receives U.S. patent number 780,776 on January 24th for four different style irons. Each has either horizontal openings, vertical slots, or perforations across the face. 

·    G. Schultz receives British patent number 2,099 on February 2nd for a sand tee mold with ejector and handle.

·    On March 7th G. J. Williams receives British patent number 4,752 for a disposable cardboard tee.

·    On December 19th James and David Foulis received U.S. patent number 807,736 for an iron having a mildly concave face.

1906

·    Goodrich introduces a golf ball with a rubber core filled with compressed air. The "Pneu-matic" proves quite lively, but also prone to explode in warm weather, often in a golfer's pocket. The ball is eventually discontinued; at this time the Haskell ball achieves a dominance of the golf ball market.

·    Thomas B. Forgan, son of Robert Fogan dies on December 30th.  Peter Lawrence Forgan one of Thomas's sons takes over R. Forgan & Son Clubmaking Company.

·    On January 6th Thomas George Sharpe received British patent number 266 for an iron with a face made at 2 different angles.  He described it as a backspin iron.

·   A. G. Spalding Company is issued a trademark registration for the word "dot".  They use this "dot" trademark on balls for several decades.

·     Reginald F. Waters receives British patent number 21,237 on September 25th for his "Spring Neck Driver."

·    Charles T. Thompson and Frank P. Mitchell receive U.S. Patent number 838,284 on December 11th for a hollow aluminum head filled with resilient material such as gutta percha, rubber, or rubber mixed with feathers.

1907

·   G.H. Bartlett receives British patent number 10,840 on May 9th for a leather tee with rubber rings.

·   William Taylor an engineer from Leicester, England receives  a British patent for dimples on a golf ball cover. A. G. Spalding Company purchases the U. S. rights for dimples and begins producing balls with them in 1908.

·   British patent number 25,767 is issued to C. Mensies on November 21st for a tee consisting of a spike with hinged arm.

·   On December 10th James Govan receives U.S. Patent number 873,423 which covered an offset neck on cleeks and putters and holes drilled in the face. 

1908

·    Frank H. Mingay of Berfield, Scotland refines Jolly’s design with  a British patent for putting incompressible liquids, such as water, treacle, glycerine, castor oil, honey, mercury and frozen liquid pellets into the center of golf balls.  A. G. Spalding purchased the rights to Mingay's patent, but did not use it until 1916 when they introduced the "Witch" their first liquid core ball.

·    Mrs. Gordon Robertson, at Princes Ladies GC, becomes the first female professional. 

·    "The Mystery of Golf" by Arnold Haultain is published.

·    George F. Dagnall of Glasgow, Scotland in given British patent number 4,784 on March 3rd to cover placing a tube of mercury, lequid, or powder in a wood head.  

·    A tee with rubber arms and a fulcrum designed by C. J. Hartley receives British patent number 8,217 on April 14th.

·    Ernest Bales receives British design registration number 534,443 for his "Stoneded" putter.  This was a long head mallet with a slight, but distinct offset to its splice neck.

·    Old Tom Morris a multiple British Open winner, pioneer in golf course design and agronomy dies.

·    Riddell Gordon Carrington Smythe receives British patent number 210,792 on September 11th which called for making a wood shaft that extends to the end of either a wood or iron head.

1909

·    The USGA rules that caddies, caddymasters and greenkeepers over the age of sixteen are professional golfers. The ruling is later modified and eventually reversed in 1963.

·    For the first time, the R&A's Rules Committee issues rulings on equipment.  R&A bans all clubs where the shaft (or extension of the shaft in the case of a kinked shaft) passes through the center of the face.  This marks the beginning of a 42-year period with two official versions of The Rules of Golf.

·    USGA bans mallet-headed club, but allows center shafted clubs. 

·    Both R&A and USGA ban clubs using “mechanical contrivances.”

·   On April 15th D. H. Goldsmith of the U.S. receives British patent number 11,790 for an aluminum sand mold tee with ejector.

·    Willie Park, Jr. receives British patent number 22,113 on September 28th for his Pikup club.  It had a corrugated brass soleplate that was to reduce friction between the sole and the ground. 

·   C. K. Cook receives British patent number 9104 on October 18th for a sand tee mold with ejector.

1910

·    Horse drawn fairway mowers become common in the UK after being imported from America.

·    The R & A bans the center-shafted putter while the USGA keeps it legal - marking the beginning of a 42-year period with two official versions of The Rules of Golf. 

·    Nearly 20 years after they were first advertised, steel-shafted clubs are patented and begin to be developed by Arthur Knight (although hickory would remain the predominant shaft for another 25 years).

·    Burke Golf Company began manufacturing tennis equipment, but turned to golf in about 1910.  They had been the Burke Golf-Ten, Co.  The begin manufacturer of completed golf clubs.

·   Acushnet Process Company of Acushnet, Massachusetts is founded by Phillip "Skipper" Young.  It will produce its first Titleist golf ball in 1935.

·    Frank Murray receives British patent number 9,439 on April 19th for his splice neck irons.  According to the patent, friction was necessary to make his splice effective.

·    On November 30th Gilbert Legh of Norfolk, England received British patent number 27,874 for a club with a thick brass soleplate that is designed to ensure that the center of mass of the club head will be as nearly as possible in line with the shaft.

1911

·    The R&A rejects steel-shafted clubs as illegal.

·    W. A. Price receives British patent number 11,987 on May 3rd for a paper/cardboard cone tee.

·    Thomas Harrower receives British patent number 4,326 on February 7th. His patent covered a wooden shaft with a steel core that screwed into the base of the shaft and then screwed into the base of the socket inside the hosel.

·    On December 11th William Belsdam receives British patent number 27,807 for a negative loft putter that would create "follow" or topspin by providing a slight ridge high across the face.

1912

·    Formation of the Golf Greenkeepers association.

·    Charles H. Seely receives U.S. patent number 1,026,181 on May 14th for an iron head that uses two steel tangs in place of a hosel.  A. J. Spalding & Bros. produced irons marked with the "Seely patent" from 1912 to 1919.  

·    First production made wood with a permanent insert developed by MacGregor.

1913

·    Francis Ouimet, age 20, becomes the first amateur to win the U.S. Open, defeating favorites Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a play-off.

·    On May 14th Robert Simpson receives British patent number 11,264 for an iron with the sharp leading edges under the heel and toe rounded away as well as the edges on the back of the blade. 

·    The first professional international match is played between France and the United States at La Boulie, France.

·    Steel-shafted clubs are again rejected by the R&A.

·    Willie Park, Jr. receives British patent number 9,884 on April 13 for an iron with 3 different levels or steps from the bottom to the top of the blade. Each step set back slightly from the one below it.  It was determined by Park that this would impart backspin on the ball.

1914

·   First putting green recommendations (construction) put forward by F.W. Taylor.

·   First course built by Japanese for Japanese, The Tokyo Golf Club.

·   Arthur C. Ham receives British design patent number 641,489 for a rake iron and putter. The clubs were forged for Ham by Hendry and Bishop.

·   H. Fairbrother patents a new method for covering balls using a gum filler on behalf of Gammeter of Goodrich Rubber.

·    Abercrombie & Fitch, Co. formed in New York and began building clubs that year.

·    Wilson Sporting Goods, a major force in the development of golf equipment, is founded as the Ashland Manufacturing Company is renamed as the Thomas E. Wilson Co.

·    Tom Heffernan receives U.S. patent number 1,088,571 on  February 24 for glass face inserts that are dovetailed into the head backed by leather or other elastic material to allow movement of the glass.

·    On March 10th Thomas Taylor, Jr. receives U.S. patent number 1,089,881 for an iron with a series of feet like miniature flat-irons so that it will crush massively and yet with great speed through the ground just below the ball. He also receives U.S. design patent 44,457 on August 5, 1913, and British patent 5,340 on March 2nd on this same club.

·    Willie Park, Jr. received U.S. patent number 1,188,479 on June 27th for his step face iron he had received a British patent for in 1913.  This was the only U.S. patent received by Park for a golf club.

·   Otto G. A. Hackbarth receives U.S. patent number 1,116,417 on November 10th for a putter .

1915

·    It is thought that Thos. E. Wilson & Co. of Chicago, IL began selling golf clubs this year.  This meat packing house became involved with sports because of the need to find something to do with its cow hides, first making footballs and basketballs.  In 1924 the name changed to Wilson-Western Sporting Goods Co. then in 1930 became Wilson Sporting Goods, Co.

·     Burke golf develops an adjustable club called the “Master Club” allowing the golfer to carry only one club.

1916

·    The PGA of America is founded by 82 charter members and the PGA Championship is inaugurated. James Barnes is the first champion. 

·    The first miniature golf course opens in Pinehurst, North Carolina. 

·    Francis Ouimet is banned from amateur play for his involvement with a sporting goods business. The ruling creates a stir of protest and is reversed in 1918.

·    Schmelzer Arms Co. of Kansas City, Missouri begins making golf clubs using the name Schmelzer’s.  

·    Hillerich and Bradsby, Co. begin producing golf clubs.

1917

·    Turf for golf courses by Drs. C.V. Piper & R. A. Oakly published by USGA, is the first book of its kind in America.

·    Edward M. Fitzjohn and Elmer A. Stanton are granted U.S. patent number 1,250,296 on December 18th for their club that was designed with the intention of locating as much weight as possible below and behind the center of the blade.

1919

·    Pebble Beach Golf Links opens as the Del Monte G. L. in Pebble Beach, California.

·    A golf tournament is scheduled for the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp but it is ultimately cancelled.

1920

·    Green section of the USGA founded in collaboration with the US department of agriculture in order to research the development of golf course turf.

·    William Lowell invents an improved wooden tee to that of Grant, the forerunner of the modern plastic tee.

·    William P. Smith receives British patent number 161,423 on March 12th.  This club did not use a socket or wedge shaped extension, rather the head was attached directly to the shaft. He called it "The Evolution."

·    PGA publishes the first issue of The Professional Golfer of America which, today is known as "PGA Magazine", the oldest continually-published golf magazine in the United States.

·    William F. Reach receives U.S. patent number 1,337,958 on April 20th for his "double waterfall" iron which had deep grooves that curved twice on the face. He also received a U.S. design patent number 55,644 on July 6th for a single waterfall backspin iron and  he assigned both to A.G. Spalding & Bros.    

·    The first practice range is opened in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

·    Arthur August Kraeuter is granted U.S. design patent number 55,278 for his iron with scoring on the face resembling a brick wall.    

·    The Allied Golf Company is formed in November in Chicago, IL.

·    Jimmy Maiden professional at Nassau, Long Island gives the original Calamity Jane Putter to Bobby Jones.  The head bore the mark of W. Winton and the rose mark of a Condie iron.

·    MacGregor becomes the first major manufacturer to offer steel shafts in a production line of golf clubs.

1921

·    Early tractor mowers first used, although these were unable to cope with mowing the rough.   The R&A limits the size and weight of the ball.

·    The R & A limits the size and weight of the ball.

·    Jock Hutchison wins the British Open using deep-grooved irons; they were banned four years later.

·    Charles Hunter, Prestwick Golf Club custodian and clubmaker dies after serving the club for 53 years. 

·    William George Oke receives British patent number 176,999 on February 4th. His putter had a very thin long hosel so the golfer would not be distracted. 

1922

·   Walter Hagen becomes the first native American to win the British Open. He subsequently becomes the first professional golfer to open a golf equipment company under his own name.

·   Wilson Sporting Goods signs Gene Sarazen as the first member of the Wilson Advisory Staff. Sarazen will be under contract with Wilson for the next 75 years - believed to be the longest-running contract in sports history.

·   The R&A Championship Committee decides that the British Open will henceforth be played only on links courses.

·   An admission fee ($1) is charged for the first time at the U.S. Open.

·    James D. Standish J. of Detroit, Michigan convinces his colleagues on the USGA Executive committee of the need for a grass-roots competition due to the growing number of municipal and daily fee courses.  The first U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship is held with 140 entries received.  Fewer than half of those wore golf shoes.  The first champion was Eddie Held of St. Louis, MO.

·   On November 21st Charles W. Dayton receives U.S. patent number 1,436,579 for his backwards double faced putter.

·    Daniel S. Griffin receives U.S. patent number 1,414,124 on April 25 for an iron with many small holes through the blade. 

1923

·  In December Thomas Miller, founder of the Faultless Rubber Company receives a patent for the design of a one-piece golf ball.  This ball was not put into production until the 1960's.

·   Gene Sarazen signs a contract with Wilson Sporting Goods.  He represented the company for 75 years which is the longest contract in the history of sports.

·     Dutee Wilcox was granted a British patent number 217,126 for a shaft adapter made of wood that could be used to adapt metal and bamboo shafts to heads made for wood shafts.

·    U.S. patent number 1,454,267 was granted to Herbert Challis and Samuel Williamson on May 8th for a glass mallet putter head with a metal hosel.

·    On September 11th Harry E. Doerr receives U.S. patent number 1,467,714 for his negative loft putters. He believed they could impart over-spin on the ball.

1924

·   The USGA legalizes steel shafted golf clubs as of April 11^th.

·    The R&A does not follow suit until 1929, widening the breach in The Rules of Golf.

·    Irving R. Prentiss of Philadelphia devises a method of balancing clubs...of properly proportioning them from one to the next...within a set. This method, known as swingweighting, was covered under US patent number 1,516,786 dated November 24th.

·    Power greens-mower introduced by Jacobson. These did not become popular until the late ‘30s due to concerns of unemployment and environmental impacts.

·    Japanese Golf Association founded adopting the rules of the R & A.

·    USGA rules that effective on January 1st slotted or punched clubs with lines more than 1/16 inch in width an less than 3/32 inch apart are banned from competition. That ended the use of deep grooved irons.

·    English Silver King launches the first numbered balls to avoid confusion during foursomes.

·    Northland Ski Mfg. Co. in St. Paul, MN begins making hickory shafted golf clubs using the name Viking. 

·    Hillerich & Bradsby, Co. offer Bristol steel shafts as an option on their clubs.

·    On March 4th James A. McMahon receives U.S. patent number 1,485,685 for a metal wood of aluminum alloy with three wooden inserts and a metal weight in the back of the head.

·    Forgan & Son begin to forge iron heads after acquiring the cleekmaking operation of James Spence.  Prior to that they purchased iron heads which they shafted and sold under their name.

1925

·    USGA rules that steel shafts may be used in competition. The Royal Canadian Golf Association rules steel-shafted clubs legal, joining the USGA in so doing. The R&A continues to rule them illegal.

·    Deep-grooved irons are banned by both the USGA and the R & A. 

·    Brook Hollow Country Club, Dallas installs the first complete fairway irrigation system. 

·    On January 7th Ben Sayers receives British patent number 244,925 for a wooden club with what he called a "Gruvsol" or a recessed sole plate with grooves extending from front to back which he felt would help direct the club in a straight line.

·    U.S. patent number 1,525,137 was granted to Charles Lawton of Hancock, MI on February 3rd.  The club was made of gunmetal with a convex half circle or crescent shaped face.

·    On April 7th Walter B. Pederson received U.S. patent number 1,532,545.  His club was a mashie niblick with a convex face.  He felt this would provide for the ball to have longer contact with the face imparting more backspin.

·    Willie Dunn, Jr. receives U.S. patent number 1,541,126 on June 9th for a metal wood with a concave sole and a convex crown both intended to raise the center of gravity with in the head.

·    Frank Legh Slazenger receives U.S. patent number 1,544,489 on June 30th for the same idea he had patented in 1901 of screwing the shaft into a threaded socket. This time the patent was for a metal shaft. 

·    A U.S. patent number 1,550,647 was granted to Herbert Lagerblade of Bristol, Connecticut on August 15th for an adapter made either of wood or fiber to fit on the end of a metal shaft so it could be fitted into a head made for a wooden shaft. He assigned his patent to Horton Manufacturing Company

·    Elzie Harness receives U.S. patent number 1,552,297 on September 1st for a wood with a solid block of wood in an aluminum frame. He also specified screwing a metal plate to the wood face.

·    Herbert E. Getchell of Woonsocket, RI receives U.S. Patent number 1,554,721 for a wooden tee that was inserted into the ground at an angle.

·    On September 25th British patent number 253,394 was granted to Richard Charkshaw of Dunlewy, Gweedore, Ireland on March 1st for his "Dunlewy" club.  It is a wood with a v-sole with the stated purpose being to help the golfer accurately identify the center of the face when addressing the ball.

·    U.S. patent number 1,562,956 was granted to Alfred A. Guerne of Kalamazoo, MI on November 24th.  His patent is for a metalwood with a porcelain insert set in rubber. 

·    Frank P. Connolly was granted U.S. patent number 1,564,208 on December 28th for a golf club who's iron head was integral with the metal core in the shaft which was enclosed with either wood or fiber tapering inward as it extended toward the head.

1926

·    National Association of Greenkeepers of America (NAGA) founded by 60 greenkeepers at the Sylvania Country Club Ohio, later changing to the GCSAA.

·     Gate money is instituted at the British Open.

·    The first attempt by True Temper at producing a metal shaft was covered under Robert Cowdery's U.S. patent number 1,591,363 granted on July 6th.  Cowdery had worked and had interest in American Fork and Hoe which would become True Temper Corp.  His patent was for a club who's shaft and head were constructed of one piece of metal, preferably steel. 

·    British patent number 247,226 dated February 11th was granted to Albert Frederick John Percival and Ernest Robert Whitcombe for an iron putter with a convex crescent shaped face.

·    Willie Dunn, Jr. receives U.S. patent number 1,568,888 for a hollow metal wood designed to hold a liquid that would shift towards the ball at impact.  It was called the "Willie Dunn Magician"

1927

·    Development of ‘the perfect putting grass’, creeping bent is announced by the US Department of Agriculture.

·    The inaugural Ryder Cup Matches are played between Britain and the United States.

·    Field and Flint Company's Footjoy line of golf shoes become the official shoe for the American Ryder Cup team captained by Walter Hagen.

·    Ben Knight of Winona, MN is given U.S. patent number 1,616,377 on February 1st for his double jointed grip used on a putter.  The lower part of the club could pivot in the direction of the target while the upper portion of the grip bent back toward the golfer.

·    True-Temper Corp. is awarded a patent for their development of a method of tube reduction through a series of “step downs.”

·     MacGregor develops their first "harmonized" club sets, available in both steel and wood shafts.

·    Robert James Walker of Glasgow, Scotland receives U.S. patent number 1,652,594; on December 13th for an iron band at the top of a iron hosel.

·    U.S. Patent number 1,619,566 was granted to Richard Charkshaw of Dunlewy, Gweedore, Ireland on March 1st for his "Dunlewy" club.  It is a wood with a v-sole with the stated purpose being to help the golfer accurately identify the center of the face when addressing the ball.

·    On June 7th Charles H. Redman of East Orange, N.J. received U.S. patent number 1,631,504 for a backwards putter.  The toe of the club is towards the golfer with the shaft attached to the heal of the club which is at the furthest point from the golfer. He felt by doing this it would be easier to line up the face.

1928

·    Cypress Point Club opens, designed by Alister Mackenzie.

·    On December 18th Edwin Kerr MacClain of Houston, Texas receives a U.S. patent for his iron that had a large sole referred to as a wing or guide.  It was designed to help golfers escape sand or other trouble. 

·    J. W. Quynn of Parkerburg, W.V. was granted U.S. patent number 1,673,994 on June 19th for an iron with a large blade extension above what was a normal blade which is semi-circular, with less loft than the blade below it.

·    On July 31st Donald Swan of Grosse Ile, MI received U.S. patent number 1,678,750 on a putter with a large triangular flange on the top of the blade.  The flange went forward from the blade over hanging the ball to help with alignment. 

1929

·    Nat Rosasco, Sr. began to make golf clubs in the basement of his home beginning the Northwestern Golf Company.

·    Steel shafts are legalized by the R&A after the Prince of Wales uses a steel-shafted set during a round at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

·    Norman Stewart Main receives British patent number 304,008 on January 17th for his mallet putter with a face curved from heel to toe.

1930

·    Spalding produces one of the first sets of matched clubs. They feature hickory shafts.

·    Wilson introduced "The Bomber", possibly the first sand iron in golf.

·    Bobby Jones retires from competitive golf and enters into a promotional relationship with A. G. Spalding & Bros.

·   The Spalding Kro-Flite is the first liquid-center golf ball. Its liquid center is covered with wound rubber and a balata surface.

1931

·   The USGA increases the minimum size of the golf ball from 1.62 inches to 1.68 inches, and decreases the maximum weight from 1.62 ounces to 1.55. The R&A does not follow suit. The lighter, larger "balloon ball" is universally despised and eventually the USGA raises the weight back to 1.62 ounces.

·    The concave-faced wedge is banned, but Gene Sarazen perfects his design of the sand wedge, with a wide flange, which will remain legal.

·   Bobby Jones, 1930 grand slam winner films a series of instructional movies entitled ‘how I play golf’.

·    Kroydon Company introduces the "Kroydon Blaster" almost a copy of the Hagen Concave Sand Wedge with a straight face. 

·    Billy Burke defeats George Von Elm in a 72- hole playoff at Inverness to win the 1931 U.S. Open, in the longest playoff ever played. They were tied at 292 after regulation play, and both scored 149 in the first 36-hole playoff.

·   Burke is the first golfer to win a major championship using steel-shafted golf clubs.

1932

·   Titleist introduces X-ray technology to ball manufacturing. 

·    The concave-faced wedge is banned. 

·    The golf division of Acushnet Process Company is formed

·    A.G. Spalding & Bros. Spring and Summer catalog are the first to list "Robert T. Jones" signature clubs. 

·    Gene Sarazen introduces the sand-wedge.

·    The first Curtis Cup Matches are held at Wentworth in England. 

·    The Reminder Grip was introduced by Wilson Sporting Goods.  It was developed by L. B. Icely and Gene Sarazen.  Many years later the USGA ruled it was "non-conforming."

·    Jack Harkins starts Professional Golf Company makers of the First Flight line of clubs.

·    The American Lefthanders Golf Association is founded, and its first president is baseball legend Babe Ruth.

1933

·     Augusta National Golf Club, designed by Alister Mackenzie with advice from Bobby Jones, opens for play. 

·    Craig Wood hits a 430 yard (393 m) drive at the Old Course's fifth hole in the British Open, this is still the longest drive in a major championship. 

·    Hershey Chocolate Company, in sponsoring the Hershey Open, becomes the first corporate title sponsor of a professional tournament.  

·    Mizuno begins the manufacture of golf clubs. 

·    Norman Stewart Main received U.S. patent number 1,901,562 on March 14th for a mallet putter with a wood headed putter with the face curved from heel to toe. It is the same club he received a British patent on in 1927.

·    Burke-Smith clubs are introduced which were the industries first production irons offering a true 4-way cambered sole.

·    Sidney Warren Green is given British design registration number 784,462 on July 4th for a putter that is slightly oversized with a one inch gap between the side of the hosel and the beginning of the blade.

·    The Wilson Ogg-mented is a forerunner of perimeter-weighted clubs, designed with the redistribution of weight around the clubhead in mind. They are named for golfer Willie Ogg, a member of the Wilson Advisory Staff, who designs the clubs to move weight away from the heel and toward the sweet spot.

·    Based on Gene Sarazen's invention that helped him win the 1932 British Open, the Wilson R-90 is the first big-selling sand wedge. It remained in use for the next 60 years at the highest level of the game and was copied by many clubmakers.

·    A cup with a diameter of eight inches is tested by the PGA Tour at the Gasparilla Open in Tampa, Florida. The test was urged by Gene Sarazen who thought a larger cub, and thus more putts made would be more exciting for the fans

1934

·    The first Masters is played. Horton Smith is the first champion. In this inaugural event, the present-day back and front nines were reversed.

·    Henry Cotton wins his first British Open, at Royal St. George's, and shoots a 65 in his second round, a feat that was commemorated by the "Dunlop 65" golf ball

·    The official U.S. PGA Tour is created, built around events like the major championships, Western Open and Los Angeles Opens which pre-dated it. Paul Runyan is the first official Money List leader.

1935

·   Pennsylvania hires Dr. F. V. Grau as America’s first full-time turfgrass specialist.

·   Bridgestone Golf was started by Shojiro Ishibashi. The company combined its knowledge of tire technology into making them the number one producer of golf balls in Japan.

·    Allan Lard comes the first person to receive a patent for an iron shaped head made completely out of non-metallic material.  His patent number 1,988,043 on January 15th is for a metal shafted iron shaped head made from moulded mutilated fabric such as canvas, bakelite, texto-lite or formica.  The design included a small metal plate across the sole.

·   Pinehurst #2 is completed by Donald Ross, generally described as his masterpiece.

·   Dr. William C. Geer's patent for vulcanizing golf ball covers and Dr. Sidney Cadwell's patent for the same were merged. 

·    Acushnet produces the first Titleist golf ball.

·   Acushnet engineers develop the first automatic swing machine.

1936

·    Johnny Fisher becomes the last golfer to win a major championship (the U.S. Amateur) with hickory-shafted clubs.

1937

·    The Bing Crosby Pro-Am is inaugurated in San Diego. A few years later it moves to the Monterey Peninsula.

1938

·    New rule by USGA limits players to fourteen clubs as of January 1st, the R & A does not adopt this until 1939.  Some players had been carrying as many as twenty-five clubs.

C1939

·    Hillerich and Bradsby Co. begin using coded registration numbers on their woods.

1939

·    The R & A limits players to 14 clubs in their bags. Some players, the USGA says, have been carrying as many as 25 clubs, and the new rule is "designed to restore shot-making skill."

1941

·   USGA adopts the initial velocity test in order to control the explosion in golf ball technology.

·   Strata-Bloc wood construction was introduced by Wilson Sporting Goods.  It was bonded layer on layer of select maple made into a wood head that would not warp, swell or split.

·   The USGA develops a machine for testing golf-ball velocity at impact. The ball, tested mechanically under standard conditions must have an initial velocity not exceeding 225 feet per second.  Plans for limiting initial velocity are put on hold until after the war.

1942

·   The U.S. Open is discontinued for the duration of the war. A world-wide shortage of rubber, a vital military supply, creates a shortage and huge price increase in golf balls.

·    Sam Snead manages to complete an entire four-day tournament playing one ball, but the professional circuit is severely curtailed.  The U.S. government halts the manufacture of golf equipment for the duration of the war.

·    A Rule change authorizes players to stop play on their own initiative if they consider themselves endangered by lightning. 

·   The manufacture of golf equipment is halted by the U.S. government as part of wartime rationing of metals and materials.

1944

·   Walter Hagen Golf Company is purchased by Wilson Sporting Goods Company.

1945

·   Footjoy wins its first shoe count on the U.S. PGA Tour.

1946

· The American Society of Golf Course Architects founded. 

· Otey Crisman, Jr. starts a clubmaking business with his son Otey III.  They make primarily putters under their name as well as for First Flight, Scoggins, King, and Colt Golf Co., N.Y. 

·  The U.S. Women's Open is instituted. Petty Berg is the first winner.

1947

·    Soil structure improved with the first ‘tubular tine forking’ machine designed specifically for golf course use.

·    Golf is televised for the first time, in a local St. Louis telecast of the U.S. Open.   

·   Golf World magazine is founded.

·  The USGA reduces the Rules of Golf from 61 rules to 21, but the R&A does not follow suit.

1948

·   Herbert Warren Wind's authoritative “The Story of American Golf” is published.  

·    Lyle, Bob and Allan Hansberger originally from Worthington, MN open Sportsmans Golf Corp. in Chicago, IL.

·    USGA holds the first U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the University of Michigan G. C.  There was a starting field of 128 players.  Dean Lind was the first champion defeating Ken Venturi who would win the 1964 U.S. Open

·     Acushnet develops balls with more resilient winding thread called DT (Dynamite Thread).

·    The "USGA Golf Journal" is founded.

1949

·    Marie Roke of Wollaston, MA aces a 393 yard (359 m) hole—the longest ace ever recorded by a woman.

·    The first U.S. Girl's Junior Championship was held at the Philadelphia C.C., Philadelphia, PA.  28 girls from 17 states were present with Marlene Bauer being awarded the championship.  She went on to win the 1956 LPGA Championship.

·    Northwestern Golf Company introduces forged stainless steel irons.

·    The first time a Titleist golf ball is played in a U.S. Open.

·    The LPGA is founded, replacing the ailing Women's Professional Golf Association.

·    MacGregor is the first company to introduce a matching set of woods and irons, a move that revolutionized the merchandising of top-grade pro clubs. 

1950

·    USGA publish ‘Turf management’ by Dr. H. B. Musser

·    Wilson Sporting Goods patents the Dyna-weight iron blade design. 

c1950

·    Slip-on rubber grips introduced, replacing the previous leather. JGA adopts the rules of the USGA, after the war due to the American presence and democratization.

1951

·    The USGA and the R&A, in a conference, complete a newly revised Rules of Golf. Although in 1951 the R&A and the USGA continue to differ over the size of the golf ball, all other conflicts are resolved in this momentous conference. The center-shafted putter is legalized world-wide. The out-of-bounds penalty is standardized at stroke-and-distance, and the stymie is finally and forever abolished.   

·    Golf Digest is founded, with Bill Davis as editor.

C1952

·    Northwestern Golf Company is awarded a large government contract to supply golf clubs to U.S. military bases and personnel worldwide.

1952

·    Ajay Enterprises Corp. enters the golf industry with the production and sales of pull carts. 

·    The National Hole-in-One Clearing House is established by Golf Digest.

1953

·    Tommy Armour's "How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time" is published and becomes the first golf book ever to hit the best-seller lists.

·   Ben Hogan starts The Ben Hogan Company.

·   The Tam O'Shanter World Championship becomes the first tournament to be nationally televised. Lew Worsham holes a 104 yard (95 m) wedge shot on the final hole for eagle and victory in one of the most dramatic finishes ever.

·    The first U.S. Women's Open run under the auspices of the USGA is held at the Country Club of Rochester, Rochester, NY where Betsy Rawls is the winner.

1954

·   The U.S. Open is nationally televised for the first time.  

·   "All-Star Golf," a filmed series of matches, debuts on network television.   

·    The first PGA Merchandise Show is held in a parking lot in Dunedin, Florida, outside the PGA National Golf Club. Salesmen work the show out of the trunks of their cars. The Show goes on to become one of the main events on the golfing calendar-by 1994 it grows to over 30,000 attendees, four days, and has become the single-largest tenant of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, spilling over 220,000 square feet of exhibit space.

·   The Ben Hogan Company releases its first set of irons called the "Precision."  They were to be released in 1953, but because of Mr. Hogan's exacting standards production was delayed.

·   The Wilson Staff golf ball is introduced, one of the first power balls. It "springs" off the clubface traveling 40-percent faster than the swing speed.

1955

·    Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) founded to advance ‘environmental and scientific developments in golf course management’.

·    Although the U.S. Senior Golf Association had been organizing senior competitions for many years there had not been one event open to all senior amateurs.  The USGA organizes the first Senior Amateur Championship at Belle Meade C.C. in Nashville, TN. 

·    The first loft-and-lie machine - a machine that can adjust the loft and/or the lie of golf clubs - is produced and marketed. It is called the Sam Snead Adjusto-Matic.

1956

·   The current yardage guides for par are adopted by the USGA. The USGA adjusts the yardage guides to: par-3, up to 250 yards; par-4, 251 to 470 yards; par-5, 471 yards and over.

·   Club pro Jim Russell, managing a tournament at Walla Walla (Wash.) Country Club, disperses players around the course to start play simultaneously from different tees. He fires off a shotgun to signal the start of play, giving rise to the term "shotgun start."

·   Wilson Sporting Goods begins using the bore-through hosel design, in which the shaft runs completely through the iron head to the sole. 

1957

·    Ben Hogan's Five Lessons is published.  The “Speed Slot” first appears on Hogan woods.

·    Stone and Tarlow families purchase Field and Flint Company and its Footjoy brand golf shoes.

·    President Dwight D. Eisenhower spends most of the summer playing golf at the Newport Country Club.

1959

·    Bill Wright, in winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links, becomes the first African-American to win a national championship.

·    Karsten Solheim, who would go on to found Ping, builds the first heel-toe weighted putter. It is called the 1-A.

·    All Footjoy shoe production is moved to Stone/Tarlow Plant on Field St. in Brockton, Mass.

·    Golf Magazine is founded, with Charles Price as the first editor.

1960

·    Lifting, cleaning, and repairing ball marks is allowed on the putting green for the first time.

·   Ben Hogan sells the Ben Hogan Company to American Machine and Foundry (AMF). Ben remains the Chairman of he Board after the sale.

·    Distance measuring devices banned.

1961

·    PGA allows non-whites to become members.  

·    Ajay Enterprises Corp. begins building golf clubs.

C1962

·     MacGregor signs Jack Nicklaus to a player promotional contract. 

·     Acushnet acquires the Bulls-Eye brand of brass putters from John Reuter

1962

·    Dr. Joseph Boydstone records 11 aces in one calendar year. Three were recorded in one round, at Bakersfield C.C., Calif.  

·    Painted lines are first utilized to mark water hazards at the U.S. Open.  

·    The casting method for irons is first employed.

·    The USGA holds the first Senior Women's Amateur Championship at the Manufacturer's Golf and Country Club in Oreland, PA.

1963

·    Clubmakers are experimenting with the casting method for making irons, enabling them to create a larger "sweet spot" than forged blades offer.

·    Golf Pride introduces the Victory grip, a slip-on rubber grip that is less expensive and easier to make than the wrapped leather grips currently in use.

·   Wilson patents the X-31 woods.  The design placed the power axis of the shaft directly behind the hitting area.

1964

·    Norman Manley, an amateur from Long Beach, Calif., scores holes-in-one on two successive par-4s at Del Valley CC, Calif. It is the first and only time this feat has been accomplished.

·    Women's World Amateur Team Championship was begun in 1964.  The USGA accepted an invitation from France to play an informal match after that year's Curtis Cup Match in Wales.  The USGA suggested inviting more nations. Twenty-five teams competed, with France winning.  The WWATC was born. 

·    Arnold Palmer Golf Co. formed with clubs being produced by Pro Golf/First Flite.  

·    Northwestern Golf introduces lightweight steel shafts.

1965

·    Faultless Rubber Company begins to produce a one-piece ball. 

·    PGA Tour Qualifying School is inaugurated at PGA National, with 17 golfers of the 49 applicants winning their playing cards.

·    A U.S. patent is issued for what is called the "body pivot" putter. This is believed to be the earliest patent for what would come to be known as the belly putter.

1966

·    Northwestern Golf Company introduces aluminum shafts.  

·     Sportsmans Golf Corp. produces the first Surlyn-covered golf ball using the name “Ram” for the first time.

1967

·    BBC televises the Masters internationally for the first time via satellite.

·    Carl Paul establishes Golfsmith company in his two-bedroom home in New Jersey.  He traded in his wife's "green stamp books" for an electric drill, his first clubmaking tool.

·    Responding to growing demand for his "Anser" putter, Karsten Solheim resigns from General Electric and incorporates Karsten Manufacturing, which will produce Ping golf clubs.

·    Due to their “Ram” balls popularity Sportsmans Golf Corp. and its subsidies are consolidated under Ram Golf Corp. with the first Ram golf clubs manufactured.

1968

·   The PGA of America and the PGA TOUR officially split, with the tournament professionals forming a breakaway group known as the Association of Professional Golfers. The breach is eventually healed, and a Tournament Players Division of the PGA is formed. Joe Dey is elected the next year as the first PGA TOUR commissioner.

·    Tommy Moore, age 6 years 1 month, 1 week, becomes the youngest player to score a hole-in-one. Moore also becomes, in 1975, the youngest player ever to score a double-eagle.

·    Croquet-style putting, recently employed by Sam Snead, is ruled illegal by the USGA.

·    Karsten I Model Ping irons released by Karsten Manufacturing Corp. 

·    Acushnet purchases Golfcraft, Inc. and begins manufacture of the Titleist brand of golf clubs

·   The Ramlon, produced by Ram, is the first golf ball with a Surlyn cover. Surlyn, invented by DuPont, is a plastic whose hardness helps balls last much longer than those with balata covers.

1969

·    The graphite shaft developed by Frank Thomas of the Shakespeare Sporting Goods Company.

·    Jack Nicklaus concedes Tony Jacklin's final putt and England ties the U.S. in the Ryder Cup matches, after five consecutive defeats. The gesture is often hailed as "The greatest act of sportsmanship in history."  

·    Arnold Palmer sells the rights to produce clubs bearing his name to Sears, Roebuck and Co. 

1970

·    Titleist develops the aerodynamically superior icosahedron dimple pattern.

·    PGA of America establishes its apprentice program.

·    Field and Flint Company officially becomes known as Footjoy, Inc.

·    The British Institute of Golf Course Architects is founded, also the Golf Course Builders Association of America.  

·    Northwestern Golf Company introduces a stainless steel shaft. 

·    PepsiCo, Inc. purchases Wilson Sporting Goods.

·    Professional Golf Co. introduces the very first shaft over the hosel designed golf head in their First Flight FTD irons.  

1971

·     Alan Shepard plays two six iron shots on the moon using a modified club. 

·     Daiwa enters the golf market. 

·     Lynx Golf opens its doors offering the Lynx Master Model irons.     

1972

·    Spalding introduces the first two-piece ball, the Top-Flite, constructed with a solid core inside a durable synthetic cover.

·    Bridgestone enters into the design and production of golf clubs.

·    R &M Golf Company is formed by John Riley and Juim Murray in Ocean Grove, CA producing woods and irons under the name “Pinseeker.” 

·    Ram Golf Co. begins using Golden Ram name on its professional-line products

·    Aldila begins manufacturing graphite shafts, the first attempt at mass-marketing the graphite shaft. The company's sales would explode within a year.

·    First Hogan Apex iron introduced.  It had a compact blade with slight bounce sole. Split level back, thick muscleback with Ben Hogan signature on back with BH logo (sunburst).  Within a few years, it becomes the most widely used iron on the PGA tour.

1973

·    Dr. J.B. Beard publishes the comprehensive Turfgrass : Science and Culture. 

·    The graphite shaft is invented.

·    Carl Paul's brother Frank joins Golfsmith Company which relocates to Austin, Texas

·    The classic golf book Golf in the Kingdom, by Michael Murphy, is published.

·    Mac Hunter begins Mac Hunter Golf Company later to become Auld Golf Company

1974

·   Mike Austin hits a 515-yard drive at the 1974 National Seniors Open in Las Vegas, Nev., the longest drive ever recorded in competition.

·    Tom Weiskopf strikes a 420-yard drive in the greenside bunker on the 10th hole at Augusta National-the longest drive in Masters history.  

·    US Precison, Inc. Started in April by Ken Maemoto making investment cast irons that were marketed under an arm of the company called Bel Air Associates.  

·    In April Bud Leach with the help of Tom Crow starts Cobra Golf. 

·    The first addition of “Golf Club Design, Fitting, Alteration and Repair” by Ralph Maltby is published. 

·    In April, Elmore Just starts Louisville Golf offering pro-line quality heads to assemblers and manufacturers. 

·    Professional Golf Co. changes its name to Pro Group, Inc.

·    Square Two Golf is founded by Louis Jeffrey.

·    A golf ball called the "Faultless Omega" is the first two-piece ball with a Surlyn cover.  Lee Trevino uses it to win the World Series of Golf.

1975

·    ‘Polara’ ball patented by David Napala and Dr Fred Holmstrom, with dimples so aligned to correct hooks and slices. The ball was immediately disapproved of by the USGA, and was a factor in the introduction of the symmetry rule (1981).  

·   R &M Golf Company changes its name to Pinseeker Golf Corp.

·   General Mills, Inc. purchases controlling interest in Footjoy.

·   Cobra Golf introduces the Baffler, a 23 degree 7 wood that today is considered the progenitor of the modern utility club or hybrid.

1976

·    The overall distance standard is introduced to supplement the initial velocity test. The ball struck by mechanical driving machine ‘Iron Byron’ with a club-head speed of 106 mph must travel no further than 280 yards, or 296 yards including roll.  

·    Browning Company with the Browning 440 irons developed by FN Sports of Belgium enters the golf market.

·    In September GolfWorks begins business in the basement of its owners Ralph and Donna Maltby. 

·    Joe Braly begins marking Con-Sole frequency matched woods and irons. 

·    Pinseeker extends the investment casting process to the production of woods with the introduction of  the Pinseeker Bombshell metal woods the creation of John Riley that are extremely different in their design.

·    A.O. Stuff began building club sets with matching swing weights, total weights, balance points and centers of percussions all based on a swing weight scale with a 5" fulcrum from the Square Two Company.

1977

·    All 18 holes of the US Open are televised for the first time, an American first.  

·    Lynx introduces the Predator metal wood, an aluminum and laminated maple combination wood.

·    General Mills, Inc. acquires full ownership of Footjoy, Inc.

·    The U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship is held for the first time at Yahara Hills Golf Club in Madison, WI.  There were 686 players. More than the combined fields of all the other USGA women's championships.

·    Victor Golf discontinues production of the Burke line of golf clubs ending an illustrious 67 year history of club making. 

1978

·    Accuform Golf is formally founded by its owner John Saksun in July in Toronto, Canada. 

·   Foxbat Precision Golf Equipment Company is formed by Lin Fisher.

·    Northwestern Golf Company with the help of the Accles and Pollock Shaft Corp. of Great Britain produce the Northwestern Power Kick shaft.

·    The USGA introduces a modified version of the Stimpmeter, a device invented by Eddie Stimpson. The Stimpmeter provides a uniform way of measuring green speeds.

1979

·   Taylor-made Golf Co. begins business in February in McHenry, IL is and introduces its first metal wood at the PGA Merchandise Show. Woods with metal heads had sporadically shown up before on the PGA Tour, and metal woods were frequently used as driving range clubs. But TaylorMade's metal wood started the growth of the product and was destined to drive persimmon almost completely out of golf.

·   Hogan Apex II introduced.  It was a longish blade with the Hogan Cameo (in white) on the back near the toe area and the Ben Hogan signature on the muscleback.

·   Foam filled "metal woods" were introduced for better feel and sound.

·    Acushnet Golf Company is sold to American Brands.

·   The USGA introduces the Symmetry Standard, banning balls such as the Polaris which correct themselves in flight.

·   Cleveland Golf is founded by Roger Cleveland.  The company begins by producing exquisite replicas of classic golf clubs from the 1940's and 1950's.

·   FootJoy enters the golf glove business by introducing the Sta-Sof golf gloves.

1980

·    British Association of Golf Course Constructors formed.

·    Conforming Ball List introduced in Rules.

·    Ben Hogan golf balls become the number one ball on the PGA Tour.

·    Golfsmith establishes the Golf Clubmakers Association (GSA).

·    Cobra Golf introduces and is one of the first to promote the three wedge system.

1981

·    Symmetry rule introduced partly in response to the ‘Polara’ ball, meaning a balls performance cannot be related to the way it is positioned on the tee.

·   Daiwa enters the US golf market.

·   Ely Callaway sells his vineyard and uses a portion of he proceeds to invest in Hickory Stick USA, the makers of hickory shafted wedges and putters.

·   The USGA organizes the first U.S. Mid-Amateur for golfers 25 years old or older at Bellerive C.C. in St. Louis, MO.  It drew 1,638 entries. 

·   Square Two enters into and agreement with the LPGA to produce an entire line of ladies clubs with the LPGA logo.  Included in the line was the industries first petite line of ladies clubs.

·   The Haig woods and irons become a part of the Wilson Sporting Goods Pro line. 

1982

·    In September Ely Callaway purchases the rights to the hickory core shaft starting Hickory stick, USA, Inc. (Callaway Golf). 

·    A U.S. based subsidiary of Mizuno Golf Company is formed and begins distributing golf clubs in the U.S. 

·    The first all graphite wood head “Vanguard” model is developed by Mizuno Golf. 

·    Mizuno becomes the first company to be able to change the bend point of graphite shafts. 

·   Gear Effect woods and irons introduced by Wilson Sporting Goods.

·    Ram Golf Co. produces the industry’s first commercially successful frequency matched line of golf clubs using the Precision shaft.

·    Lynx introduces the Super Predator which is the industry’s first deep-faced conventional shaped stainless steel metal wood. 

·    Yamaha behind its carbon composite wood heads enters the U.S. golf market.

·    Wayne Levi wins the PGA Hawaiian Open using an orange golf ball.

1983

·    Ely Callaway renames  his company Callaway Hickory Stick USA, becomes President and CEO, then moves the operations to Cathedral City, CA.  Ely delivers clubs personally from the truck of his Cadillac.

·    Yonex introduces its all-graphite headed driver, the Carbonex II and the first graphite headed iron the Carboniron in August.

·    Wilson Staff irons are number one on the PGA tour and will remain number one through 1989.

c1984

·   Instructional golf videos begin to become widely available. 

1984

·    Dave Pelz introduces his revolutionary Feather-lite golf clubs which were 1 ½ oz. lighter than the average club being build and were frequency matched.

·   Golf instructional videotapes first hit the market.

·   France based Salomon S.A. purchases TaylorMade from Adams, in fusing not only capital, but also sophisticated research and development.

·   Mizuno Golf begins manufacturing golf clubs in the U.S.

·   Five years after their introduction, and three years after one was first used to win a PGA Tour event, the TaylorMade metalwood becomes the most-played woods on Tour.

1985

·    In June, Pro Group, Inc. introduces a unique, patented game improvement golf club called the “Axiom” which sold more than any other model in the history of the company.

·   TaylorMade becomes the first major golf company in the San Diego area opening a 90,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Carlsbad, CA.

·    Callaway Company moves to Carlsbad, CA.

·    The USGA introduces the Slope System to allow golfers to adjust their handicaps to allow for the relative difficulty of a golf course compared to players of their own ability.

·    Acushnet Company acquires Footjoy, Inc. from General Mills.

1986

·   Karsten Manufacturing Corp. (Ping) introduces theEye2 Beryllium Copper.   Patent pending design identical to the stainless steel "Square Groove" but made from Beryllium Copper.

·    Callaway Golf is the first to use computer controlled milling machines to machine the surface of the putter faces to ensure uniform flatness.

1987

·    The Links at Spanish Bay opens, the first true links course in the Western United States. It is a co-design by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Tom Watson, and former USGA President Frank "Sandy" Tatum.

·    Browning Company sells its golf cart division to a group headed by Larry King.  The new company is known as Bag Boy, Inc. 

·    Minstar puts Hogan Golf up for sale and it is purchased by Cosmo World Corp.

·    Judy Bell becomes the first woman elected to the USGA Executive Committee.

·    The U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur became the USGA's 13th Championship.  It is created to provide a national competition for amateurs 25 years of age or older.  The first championship consisted of 130 players at Southern Hills C.C. in Tulsa, OK. 

·   Adams Golf is founded by Barney Adams.  Barney liked to tinker with golf clubs and because of this went to work as the CEO of the Dave Pelz Co.  Pelz Golf went bankrupt which left Barney without a job in the golf industry.  In 1986 Barney purchased the assets of Pelz Golf at a sealed auction and began as a components supplier. 

·    Mizuno Introduces the Black Turbo II the first truly original ceramic/graphite iron.

1988

     ·    For the first time, metal drivers outnumber persimmon drivers on the PGA Tour.

·    Square-grooved clubs such as the PING Eye2 irons are banned by the USGA, which claims that tests show that the clubs give an unfair competitive advantage to PING customers. Karsten Manufacturing, maker of the clubs, fights a costly two-year battle with both the USGA and the PGA TOUR to have the ban rescinded after winning a temporary injunction. Eventually both organizations drop the ban, while Karsten acknowledges the right of the organizations to regulate equipment and pledges to make modifications to future designs.

·    Bridgestone Sports, Inc. is established in the United States, but is one of the oldest and most respected names in golf in Japan. 

·    Adams Golf develops a low CG driver and a soft feeling iron.  The driver is one of the first oversized metal woods. 

·    Callaway Hickory Stick USA changes its name to Callaway and begins production of the S2H2 metal woods and irons.  There is no hosel on the woods and very little on the irons in a true Thru-bore design. 

·    Yonex introduces the first WideBody Driver, the A.D.X. 200.

·    Links Magazine is founded (originally Southern Links), with Mark Brown as editor-in-chief.

·    Lori Garbacz orders a pizza between holes at the U.S. Women's Open to protest slow play.

1989

·    The Professional Clubmakers’ Society, the only independent international professional organization for clubmakers is founded.

·    The Amer Group, Ltd. of Helsinke, Finland purchases Wilson Sports from PepsiCo. Inc.

·    The PGA Tour announces it will ban square-groove irons next year, but Karsten Manufacturing wins a court injunction against the move. Four years later, in an out-of-court settlement, the Tour reverses itself and permits square grooves.

·    Founders Club is started by Asics Tiger, Corp. of Japan and Gary Adams, father of the metal wood revolution and founder of TaylorMade. 

·   Ben Hogan Company introduces a perimeter weighted, cavity back, forged iron called the "Edge."  It will become the best selling iron in the history of the company.

·    Callaway unveils the original Big Bertha driver. Although it is one-third larger than the typical drivers of this time, the original Big Bertha is only 190cc in clubhead size.

·    FootJoy introduces their famous DryJoys golf shoes.

1990

·    The 1.68 inch diameter ball is adopted by the R & A, standardizing the rules of golf throughout the world for the first time since 1910.

·   The Ping Eye 2+ introduced.  It has the same design features as the "+ No +" model but with increased groove width. Available in stainless steel and copper. Distinguished by the "+" in the cavity underneath the patent numbers. US Patents 4512577 and 4621813. Ping ceased production of the beryllium copper model in 1999 due to environmental regulations

·    First World Scientific Congress of Golf held. 

·    In August, Greg Norman acquires an equity position with Cobra Golf

1991

·    First DCI Gold introduced by Titleist with gold delta (or triangle) and moderate progressive offset.

·    Oversized metal woods are introduced, with Callaway Golf's Big Bertha quickly establishing itself as the dominant brand, the Big Bertha driver becomes the biggest-selling club of all time.

·    Power/Bilt (Hillerich & Bradsby, Co) introduces a unique marketing approach of selling clubs that has specifically designed models for ladies, seniors, standard and advanced players.

·    Mark Brooks becomes the first PGA tour player to win with a Big Bertha driver.

·    Scotty Cameron begins hand-making putters in his garage.

·    Harvey Penick's "Little Red Book" becomes the all-time best selling golf book.

·   Square Two extends its agreement with the LPGA giving Square Two their official endorsement until 1997.

1992

·    In January Dunlop Slazenger Corp. changed the name of its Dunlop Golf Division to Maxfli Golf.  

·    Daiwa is the first manufacturer to capitalize on the USGA’s rule change to permit irons with inserts.

·   Ram introduces its Zebra Driver.

·    Callaway Golf becomes a publicly traded company.

·   The Ultra 45 irons with progressive offset introduced by Wilson Sporting Goods.

·   Original DCI Black introduced by Titleist, black delta meaning less offset although it was still progressive

1993

·    An ownership group led by Joe Gibbs and Arnold Palmer announce plans for The Golf Channel, a 24-hour, 365-day cable service.  

·    Softspikes introduce the popular plastic spikes which help to eliminate spike marks on putting greens.

·    Scotty Cameron and his wife Kathy start Cameron Golf International and have their first major championship victory at the Masters.

·   The Killer Whale oversized driver was introduced by Wilson Company.

1994

·    Wynstone Golf Club in Illinois is the first golf course to ban metal spikes on golf shoes. The move signals the beginning of the end of metal spikes in recreational play, and ushers the recently invented Softspikes into the spotlight.

·    Second World Scientific Congress of Golf held.

·    During the Players Championship well known teaching pro Peter Kostis approached Scotty Cameron and mentioned that Titleist was interested in his company to design putters.  The next day Scotty received a call from Wally Uihlein, CEO of Acushnet Company, and they agreed to meet.  After several meetings, it was clear they shared the same vision and a relationship was formed. In September Cameron Golf International and Acushnet Company became partners.

·    TaylorMade's metalwood with a bubble shaft is the first metalwood to win the Masters at Augusta.

1995

·    The Bulls Eye originally designed by Jim Reuter, Jr. in the 1940s; is redesigned by Scotty Cameron; longer sweetspot; beveled edge; wide paddle grip; low gloss satin finish over hosel shaft; five models: Standard, Original, Standard Flange, Original Flange, La Femme.

·    Great Big Bertha Driver (250 cc) launched by Callaway with Callaway being the number one manufacturer in sales of woods and irons.

·   Titleist introduces DCI Oversize models featuring Senior, Lady Oversize, and an even larger Oversize Plus (+). The Oversize+ first came in the more offset Gold version and was followed by Black and "B" versions. The Oversize+ Black is still available as custom order only.

·    "Spring-like effect" enters the golf lexicon as drivers with thin metal faces come into vogue.

·    Adams Golf introduces its Tight Lie fairway wood.  It is a low CG Air Assault design in a shallow face.  It is a huge success.

·    Golfsmith opens their first superstores in Houston, Denver and Dallas.

1996

·    Tiger Woods turns professional, in three years he wins 18 tournaments, popularizing golf amongst the young.

·    Nike signs Tiger Woods soon after he gives up his amateur golf status.

·    The strata, made by Spalding, is the first multilayer non-wound golf ball.

·    The Callaway golf ball company is formed.

·    Footjoy celebrates the sale of the 50 millionth glove sold worldwide.

·    The DCI 96 is introduced by Titleist as the replacement model for the original DCI-Black. Intent was to make this iron feel more like a muscleback iron and to this end, more weight was placed in the heel and bottom of club. Features thinner topline than the DCI Black. Also featured a taller heel profile and less offset. First time for a DCI iron to have the Triple Grind Sole with centrally located crescent-shaped bounce surfaces intended to provide more stability through impact and enabling the club to be more versatile from a various lies. Stand shaft was the Tri-Spec steel and graphite.

1997

·    John Daly is the first player to finish the PGA Tour season with a driving distance average of more than 300 yards.

·   Greg Hopkins is appointed president of Cleveland Golf.  This is a major move toward product line expansion and increasing visibility in the marketplace. 

·    Only 11 golfers on the PGA Tour use a persimmon driver at any point during the year.  Justin Leonard and Davis Love III are among the last holdouts, but both switch to metal drivers before years's end.

·    The Biggest Big Bertha Titanium Driver (290 cc) and Great Big Bertha Titanium Tungsten irons are introduced by Callaway.

·    Footjoy establishes a strategic marketing/OEM product alliance with SoftSpikes, Inc.

·   Mizuno is the number 1 iron on the PGA Tour for the 5th consecutive year.

·    Third World Scientific Congress of Golf held.

·    Callaway acquires Odyssey Putters.  

·    Golfsmith acquires Lynx Golf, Black Rock Golf Corp. (Killer Bee), and Snake Eyes Golf Club, Inc.

·    Big Bertha X-12 irons introduced by Callaway.

·    TaylorMade and its parent company Salomon are acquired by Adidas.

·   The Fat Shaft, Fat Shaft Titanium woods, and Titanium ball introduced by Wilson Company

·    USGA introduces testing protocol for “spring-like” effect at World Scientific Congress of Golf.

1998

·   TaylorMade moves into a 200,000 sq. ft. complex in Carlsbad, CA complete with an on-site testing facility.

1999

·   First issue of Golf Science International.

·   Titleist introduces the DCI 990 their next generation cast perimeter-weighted club.

·    Hogan Apex Plus introduced.  It had a forged perimeter-weighted players design featuring progressive offset and a profile that is similar to, but slightly larger than the 1999 Apex blade.

·   The USGA implements testing protocol for "spring-like" effect in metal woods.  

·   Callaway introduces Great Big Bertha Hawk Eye titanium woods, and Hawk Eye irons.

2000

·    Titleist introduces the solid-construction, urethane-cover Pro V1 392 golf ball.  It quickly becomes one of the most popular balls, and wound balls essentially disappear from all levels of golf.

·   Cook Family purchases Pat Ryan Golf. 

·   Arnold Palmer joins the Callaway family. 

·   Wilson Company introduces new Fat Shaft irons and Smart Core Golf Balls.

·    Thomas E. Cook receives first award of Regional International Clubmaker of the Year

2001

·    The solid-core Titleist Pro V1 takes the pro tours by storm, becoming the first non-wound golf ball to gain wide acceptance among professional golfers. Wound balls all but disappear from golf.

·    Kimberly vanMeeteren and Sue Cook receive their “Class A” Clubmaker certifications becoming 2 of only 8 women in the world to achieve that level. 

·    Ely Callaway retires from Callaway Golf.

·    Odyssey introduces the two ball putter.

·    Hogan Apex Edge introduced.  It has a forged perimeter-weighted players design featuring progressive offset and a profile that is similar to, but slightly larger than the 1999 Apex blade.

·    Thomas E. Cook receives second award of Regional International Clubmaker of the Year.

2002

·    Thomas E. Cook selected as "International Clubmaker of the Year" by the Professional Clubmakers' Society. 

·    The Odyssey two ball putter becomes the best selling putter.

·     Fourth World Scientific Congress of Golf held.

·    Thomas R. Cook (jr.) receives his “Class A” Club Repairer certification and becomes the second clubmaker in Minnesota to become a Professional “Class A” Clubmaker.

2003

·   Pendulum test introduced for the measurement of ’spring-like’ effect (characteristic time).

·   Mizuno achieves its most prolific golf product launch in Mizuno USA history with the introduction of the MP-30 irons.

·    Callaway is the number one brand in woods, irons, and putters combined for the seventh consecutive year.

2004

·   USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club restrict the size of a driver head to 460cc, the length of a club to 48 inches, and the C.O.R. of the face to .830.

·   Interpretation of Plain in Shape Rule for putters liberalized.

·   Callaway Golf purchases Ben Hogan Company.

·    Wilson Golf marks its 90 years in the golf equipment market with re-launch of its famous Wilson Staff brand. 

2005

·    Pat Ryan Golf awarded the Top Shop Award by the Professional Clubmakers' Society.

·    Callaway introduces its first forged iron the X Tour iron.

·    Cleveland Golf is acquired by Huntington Beach based Quicksilver.

2006

·    USGA implements a rule change limiting the MOI of a golf club head to 5900 g cm2.

·    Distance measuring devices allowed by Local Rule.

·    In September the Scotty Cameron Putter Museum is opened at Hamamatsu Seaside Golf Club in Japan.

2007

·