Golf originated hundreds of years before the game migrated across the Atlantic from Europe. The evolution of the sport began as popular pastime for shepherds and the like who would hit rocks with sticks to pass the time. And while origins of the game can be traced back to the Dutch, it was in 15th century Scotland, that the sport evolved with rules that we know today as golf. The plains of Scotland were perfect for the game. Wide lawns trimmed short by sheep and goats and natural sand traps made the courses challenging.
In the 18th century there was a large Scottish immigrant population coming into the United States. And while that immigration is given some credit for bringing golf to America, there is a story that in 1657 a pair of allegedly drunk men were arrested after they had been breaking windows with their golf balls. There’s also a 1739 shipping record which documents the arrival of golf equipment from Scotland.
The Savannah Golf Club claims to be the oldest American golf club established in 1794 but, according to the USGA, it was a club in Charleston, South Carolina that was founded in 1786.
Like Scotland, the first American golf courses were cattle pastures and village greens but eventually, one hundred years later, golf course architects and professional landscapers began to design golf courses.
In 1894 the United States Golf Association formed when two separate golf courses held what they claimed was the national amateur championship. By forming a national organization, the USGA made it clear which tournaments were official and which were just for boasting rights. Twenty-two years later, the American Professional Golfers Association formed, and between the two organizations, golf in the United States became the organized sport it is today.