St Andrews - Golf Jargon History

According to the history books, golf was played on the east coast of Scotland as early as the Middle Ages. Both noblemen and commoners became preoccupied with a game that required just a club, a ball and a hole in the ground. The first mention of golf in historical documents - the word derives from the Gaelic word "goulf" or "gowf" meaning "hit" - was in 1457 when James II gave this order to his men: "Gowf and fitba to be utterly cryit doon and not usit", in other words his soldiers were to concentrate on the more important military skills such as archery instead of wasting their time playing golf and football. Evidence exists to show that James IV acquired a new set of golf clubs in 1504, that Mary Stuart was an enthusiastic golfer and that her son James VI, after he had acquired the English crown and moved to London, established the first golf course outside Scotland. The first record of any attempt to discuss technique was found in the diary of Thomas Kincaid, a medical student from Edinburgh. By the middle of the 18th century the first golfing associations had been founded and the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith laid down some firm rules. The world's oldest golf club was set up in 1744 by "The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers" some ten years earlier than the St Andrews club; however, "proper" golf was played for the first time at St Andrews. In 1834 William IV elevated the Society of St Andrews Golfers (founded in 1754) to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and its members have been responsible for laying down the international rules since 1897. In conjunction with the United States Golf Association, the club publishes a revised edition of the rules every four years. The dream of every golfer is to play at least once on the Old Course at St Andrews, agreed by all golfers to be the world's top championship course. In Scotland alone there are over 430 golf courses in either private or public ownership. Unlike many other countries, in Scotland golf is not an elite pastime for the rich but it is a sport enjoyed by all sections of society. Apart from the exclusive clubs and magnificent golfing hotels such as those at Gleneagles or Turnberry, there are golf courses where the annual membership subscriptions are only moderate sums and a round can be played in return for the payment of a "green fee". The object of the game - which some maintain started out as a pastime for Scottish shepherds who would strike a pebble into a rabbit burrow with a piece of driftwood - is to hit a small ball into a hole over a range of distances. The winner of the game is the player who completes a round in the least number of strokes.

A hole consists of three sections: the "teeing ground" from where the ball is first struck, the closely mown "fairway" and then the flawlessly smooth and very closely mown "green" where a flagstick marks the position of the hole (diameter 4.25 inches/10.79cm). When the ball (1.62 ounces/45.93g in weight and not less than 1.68 inches/42.67mm in diameter) is first struck from the tee, it may be placed on a small peg, also known as a tee, that is pushed into the ground.

The fairways are surrounded by longer grass known as the "rough", by water or by shrubland. The ball could just as easily land here as on the man made obstacles such as the sandy bunkers. If a ball is lost, golfers follow the rule that was agreed by the Royal Aberdeen Club in 1783: no longer than five minutes is to be spent looking for it! Until the end of the 19th century most golf courses had 25 holes, but now a round is usually 18 holes. On nine-hole courses a game consists of two circuits of the course.

A set of golf clubs will have up to 14 different types of clubs. Heads may be made of wood or metal and the angles on the striking surface will vary. Wooden clubs ("woods" nos. 1 to 5) have heads weighted with lead and are used for driving shots, while the lighter, spoon-like "irons" (nos. 1 to 9) are for making shorter strokes. A "pitching wedge" is a special club with a flatter angle to the head and is used for hitting the ball high but only over a short distance on to the green, while a "sand-wedge" is for balls stuck in a bunker. A "putter" is used on the green to stroke the ball into the hole. The scorecard gives the names to the different holes, the degree of difficulty and also the "par". The latter refers to the average number of strokes that each hole requires. Where the distance from tee to green is less than 750ft/228m then a par of three applies, up to 1,425ft/434m par is four and beyond that the par is five. A top-class golfer should take between 63 and 74 strokes to complete each course. If a less experienced player is expected to complete the course in 84 strokes instead of 74, then he is said to have a handicap of 10. Each player is awarded a handicap and this number is arrived at by averaging out his scores over a year. If a player finishes a hole with the average number of strokes for that course, then he has completed a round at "par". If he completes a hole at one less than par, then he has scored a "birdie", two under par is an "eagle", three under par an "albatross". Every golfer's dream is, of course, a "hole in one" or an "ace", but novices and the average player are more likely to be satisfied with scoring a "bogey", one stroke above par. A "birdie" is otherwise known as the "19th hole".Guest players need to be clear about Scottish golfing etiquette. A round should be completed without any major interruptions at a steady pace - although weather conditions may intervene. As a good rule of thumb, a round of golf should last about 3 hours 30minutes. Anyone who wishes to take their time should allow others to overtake them. Care should always be taken with the turf and divots replaced. Visiting players will value the assistance of a "caddy", not just to carry the clubs but also to offer advice on the idiosyncrasies of the course. Scottish golf clubs can be rather conservative with regard to dress, for example. In many places a jacket and tie must be worn and some clubs have balked at the thought of sexual equality, offering restricted playing times for women or until fairly recently excluding women.

Anyone with a serious interest in the history of the game and its place in the social history of Scotland should try to visit the meticulously kept museums at St Andrews and Gullane (East Lothian).