Was golf introduced in the U.S.A. solely as a means by lazy employees to get a Friday afternoon off? You be the judge!
Perhaps. Perhaps not. What is the history of the spread of golf in the US? The first notice of golf in America was in 1743 when 96 golf clubs and 432 golf balls were shipped from Leigh to Charleston, South Carolina. The apparent size and volume of this shipped golfing material was an obvious hint that golfing was alive and well at least in Charleston – in the American South. Savannah Georgia as well may have had an early rival golfing organization.
The first permanent golf club formed in the year of 1888. It occurred in Yonkers in the State of New York. The St. Andrew’s Golf Club was formed by John Reid The Reid gang of golfers came to have the nickname of the “Apple Tree Gang”. Reid and his friends were exceptionally devoted to golf and its pursuits. Their first golfing course was laid out around a large old apple tree hence their nickname became “The Apple Tree Gang”. The moniker stuck/.
Many consider that Reid should be considered as “The Founder of American Golfing “while others would insist that Charles Blair Macdonald - a golf enthusiast, golfing writer and golf course architect deserves the honour.
Macdonald, whom it is said can be said to be “True Pioneer of The Game of American Golf”, was the driving force behind the creation of the pivotal Chicago Golf Club, the first 18 hole golf course in the United States of America. This was in 1892 that Macdonald, the golf pioneer, was able to lay groundwork by convincing and persuading 30 Chicago business associates to pitch in the princely sum at the time of $ 10 apiece so that a nine hole golf could be constructed and developed. This golf site was to destined to become the prestigious and historic Downers Grove Golf Course. Later the next year an additional 9 holes were added to complete the first 18 hole golf course in America.
Macdonald, who had studied in Scotland at the St. Andrews University, is also credited with development of golf course architecture in the United States. Among the best known and recognized legacies is the National Golf Links course on Long Island, New York State, Along with that Macdonald left his mark by both assisting in and in creation of the USGA – the United States Golf Association?
The USGA emerged in the wake of a dispute between the St. Andrew’s Golf Club and the Newport Rhode Island Golfing Clubs. In the summertime of 1894 each team hosted an invitational golfing tournament, without the apparent knowledge of the other. Each prestigious golf club declared the winner of their tournament to be the “National Amateur American Golf Champion” of the United States. An unhappy loser of both golfing events- the golfing authority and mainstay McDonald himself, personally fueled the debate which went on to a loggerheads.
The solution in the end was for Mr. Macdonald to arrange to be the driving force and organizer of an official golfing tournament - a major annual event that amazingly enough he somehow would administer. This administrative organization dreamt up and logistically laid in place by Macdonald emerged to become the United States Golfing Association which is now known by the shorter acronym “USGA”.
Can it be said that history of golf in the United States was solely an attempt by lazy employees to get a Friday afternoon off? You be the judge! Perhaps or perhaps not.
Article Source: http://www.fitnesshealtharticles.com.
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Syd Nohcud Glendale Winnipeg www.fortunawebs.com www.glendalegolfs.com www.tratfor.com
History of The Sport of Golf in America
