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 between King James IV and 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).

1552

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

1550

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

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."

1603

·         William Mayne a bow maker from Edinburgh is appointed by King James I of England and VI of Scotland 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 I bans the import of balls from Holland. 

·         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 Abereen, 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.

1743

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

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 Honourable 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 greenkeeper) 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.

1819

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

·         Hugh Philpwas 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 Scotland, began to use hickory imported from America to manufacture shafts. This was quickly adopted as the wood of choice.

 1829

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

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.

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.

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 at the time, although the trend toward a standard eighteen had begun.

1847

·         James McEwan moves his headquarters to Musselburgh.

·         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, Rev. Adam Paterson, 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. They would than 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.

1851

·         The Prestwick Golf Club is founded.

1852

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

1856

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

·         First European golf club established in Pau, France. 

·         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. 

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

1858

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

·         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. 

·         Death of Allan Robertson, the first great professional golfer.

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 H.R.H.  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 began using the crown mark.

1864

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

1866

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

·         Automobile 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, the first golf club for women.

·         Schuyer, Hartley, & Graham purchased two small cartridge companies in Bridgeport, Conn. which would become the Bridgeport Gun Implement Co. (B.G.I.). They began 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.

1869

·         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 of 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).

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. The British Open is held for the first time at the Old Course.

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. 

1877

·         ‘Eclipse’ ball patented by William Currie

1878

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

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.

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.

1885

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

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.

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  

·         First rubber tee patented by W. G. Bloxsom, & A. S. Douglas, various moulds for sand tees were patented around this time

1890

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

·         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. 

·         H.G. Alexander Patented a Sand tee mold.

·         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.

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

1891

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

·         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. 

·         J. Fisher patented a practice mat and rubber cup.

·         Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is founded.

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

1892

·        Robert Anderson patents the first center-shafted club.

·        W. Cook, Jr. patented a Sand tee mold

·        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.

·        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.

·        Perfectum tee designed by P. Ellis of England.  It had a metal spike with rubber tines. 

1893

·         Founding of Ladies Golf Union.

·         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.

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

1894

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

·         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.

·         The first permanent teeing device that would be imbedded into the teeing ground was patented by J. T. Turnbull of Scotland

·         The United States Golf Association is founded 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. 

·         Willie Dunn Jr. wins the first unofficial championship of the U.S.

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

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

1895

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

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

·         A permanent teeing device was invented by David Dalziel of Glasgow.  His device was very intricate.

·         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 is instituted. Willie Anderson is the first winner. 

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

·         The U.S. Women's Amateur is instituted. Mrs. Charles S. Brown is the first winner.

·          A tee consisting of a metal disc, rubber collar, elastic tether and ground pin was developed by S.C. Millar of Scotland

1896

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

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

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

·         A sheet metal stamped tee was developed by W. Kirkwood of Scotland.  The golfer was required to bend the tee 90 degrees prior to using it.

1897

·         E. 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.

·         The “Victor” tee was developed by P.M. Matthews of Scotland.  It consisted of a rubber top and metal spike

·         Rules of Golf Committee formed by the R&A.

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

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

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

1898

• Invention of the Haskell ball by Coburn Haskell and Bertram Werk, patented 1899. 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. 
• The term "birdie" is coined at Atlantic C.C. from "a bird of a hole."  
• 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 flat bottomed, thin edged disc of India rubber with three or four tines.

1899

• Golfer’s Handbook first published, and still survives today.
• A tee developed by Agnes Donnely of Scotland was made of tempered steel. The upper arm described as a skidding arm, allowed the ball to be in free suspension before contact by the club head.  Donnely claimed that the design eliminated the friction between the ball and the tee

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.

·         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.

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

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

1901

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

·         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.

1902

·         Sandy Nerd 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. 

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

1903

·         F. Knight’s controversial Schenectady putter patented.

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

·         Burke begins making hickory golf shafts.