During the 15th century, golf as we know it today originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife. Players would strike a pebble around a natural course of sand dunes, rabbit runs and tracks using a primitive club or stick.

Many historians believe that Kolven from Holland as well as Chole from Belgium influenced the game. Later the game of golf was introduced into Scotland in 1421. On the other hand, while these games and countless others are stick and ball games, they are missing that vital component that is unique to golf - the hole. Whatever the quarrel, there can be no argument that Scotland gave birth to the sport we know as golf today.

During the mid-15th century, Scotland was preparing to protect itself against an English attack. The population's eager search of golf and soccer to the neglect of military training (archery primarily) caused the Scottish parliament of King James II to disallow both sports in 1457. The outlaw was reaffirmed in 1470 and 1491 although people largely overlooked it. Only in 1502 with the Treaty of Glasgow was the ban lifted with King James IV (James 1 of England) himself taking up the sport.

Golf's class and reputation rapidly spread throughout the 16th century due to its royal approval. King Charles I popularized the game in England and Mary Queen of Scots, who was French, introduced the game to France while she studied there. Indeed the term 'caddie comes from the name given to her helpers who were the French Military, known in French as cadets.

The premier golf course at the time was Leith near Edinburgh. Indeed King Charles I was on the course when given the news of the Irish revolt of 1641. Leith was also the sight of the first international golf match in 1682 when the Duke of York and George Patterson playing for Scotland won against two English noblemen.

The first mention to golf was at the historic town of St Andrews in 1552. The clergy permitted public access to the links a year later. In 1754 the St Andrews Society of Golfers was created to compete in its own yearly competition using Leith's rules. Stroke play was introduced in 1759 and in 1764, the 18-hole course was constructed which has of course become a de-facto standard. The first women's golf club in the world was created there in 1895. King William honored the club with the name 'Royal & Ancient' in 1834 and the new famous clubhouse was erected in 1854. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) became the premier golf club because of its fine course, the publication of rules, its royal patronage and its advertising of the game as a suitable sport.

Of course, by this time golfers were using the right clubs and balls. Club heads were made from beech or the wood of fruit trees such as apple. Some club heads were made from hand-forged iron. Shafts were usually ash or hazel. Balls were made from tightly compressed feathers wrapped in a stitched horse hide sphere. The sport was somewhat elite due to the expense of the handcrafted equipment. After 1826, perimmon and hickory were imported from the USA to make club heads and shafts correspondingly. Today these antiques are highly valued by collectors.

The British Empire was at its peak during the 19th century. Indeed the phrase 'the sun never sets on the empire' was coined to replicate Britain's world-wide influence. Most of the early golf clubs outside the British Isles and America were shaped throughout the Commonwealth.

The first golf club was shaped outside Scotland was Royal Blackheath (near London) in 1766. However golf is thought to have been played there since 1608. The first golf club outside Britain was the Bangalore, India (1820). Others were the Royal Calcutta (1829), Royal Bombay (1842), Royal Curragh, Ireland (1856), the Pau, France (1856), the Adelaide (1870), Royal Montreal (1873), Cape Town (1885), St Andrew's of New York (1888) and Royal Hong Kong (1889). Some say that the South Carolina Golf Club, Charlestown of 1786 precedes all of these.

The Victorian Industrial Revolution brought with it numerous social and economic changes. The escalation of the railways gave birth to the mass tourism industry. For the first time, ordinary people could explore the country as day-trippers or weekend visitors. Golf clubs popped up all over the country and people could enjoy the challenge of playing different courses each time they went out.

Hitherto golf equipment was handcrafted and therefore not cheap. Golf was therefore the preserve of the wealthy. Once metal club heads and shafts and gutta percha balls (1848) began coming off the production lines, the standard person was able to afford to play golf. Both of these factors directly contributed to the extraordinary increase of golf.

The Prestwick Golf Club was shaped in 1851. The pioneer to the British Open, the first major national championship, was played there for the first time in 1860 with Willie Park as winner. The legend of Old Tom Morris was born when he won the event in 1862, 1864 and 1867. However his son, Young Tom Morris, was the first great champion winning the event a record four repeated times from 1869. Other illustrious winners were JH Taylor in 1894 and Harry Vardon in 1896. Together with James Braid, these three men were known as the Great Triumvirate.

Besides the few sponsored events such as the British Open, most golf professionals made a living from competitions by placing bets against their challenger. Professionals also earned a living from schooling, ball and club making and caddying.

The growth of golf as an organized competitive sport in the United Kingdom was brought abroad in India and the USA. Gate receipts were used as prize money for the first time in 1892 in Cambridge, England. The first international golf tournament was the Amateur Golf Championship of India and the East in 1893.

In 1894, the United States Golf Association (USGA) was established to control the game in the United States and Mexico. Besides rules it manages the handicapping system and conducts research into grass. The US Open US Ladies Amateur Open was established in 1895.

By 1900 there were more than 1000 golf clubs in the USA. Chicago was the first to have 18 holes. Significantly American golf courses were usually specifically landscaped parklands not like those in the United Kingdom, which were usually links courses.

The game engrossed the awareness of the media and business sponsorship which raised its shape enormously. In 1897 the first monthly magazine, Golf, was published in the USA. The USA became the center of the professional game due to the explosion of commercially sponsored competitions. However the prominent events were still those hosted in the United Kingdom. Interestingly, it was the amateurs besides the professionals, which were enthusiastic by the public. Golf was confirmed as a global sport when it was made an Olympic sport in 1900.

The dawn of the 20th century brought with it several technological advancements. The first was the Haskell one piece rubber cored ball of 1900, which basically guaranteed an extra 20 yards. Grooved-faced irons were introduced in 1902. In 1905 William Taylor invented the first dimpled ball. Arthur Knight introduced steel-shafted clubs in 1910 though hickory was broadly used for another 25 years. Within the gap of a decade, golfers could hit further and more accurately than ever before by means of these new equipment which was relatively inexpensively mass-produced.

The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of America was shaped in 1916 and at first consisted of a winter calendar. However by 1944 the tour was played throughout the year and consisted of 22 events.

In 1921, the R&A forced a limit on the size and weight of golf balls which began a 30 year split between the European and Commonwealth game and the US game (regulated by the USGA). Most of the differences were resolved in 1951 when both parties agreed to a common set of rules. However the golf ball issue was not settled until 1988! Today golf worldwide is in harmony equally by the R&A and the USGA. They hold a meeting every four years where they see eye to eye on alterations to the published official rules of golf.

The rift was accompanied by the introduction of the Ryder Cup matches in 1927. Initially the Europeans were represented by golfers from Britain and Ireland. The Americans with their riches of talent won every event between 1935 and 1985 with the exclusion of 1957. Only since 1979, have players outside the British Isles been allowed to play for the European Ryder Cup team and the rivalry become truly competitive.

Perhaps the best player of the pre-war era was the American born Bobby Jones. Amongst his countless successes was the original Grand Slam; he won US and British Amateurs and the US and British Opens in 1931. Other luminaries were Sir Henry Cotton who won a third repeated British Open in 1936 and Walter Hagen who won four British Opens. Hagen was noted for his colorful behavior which included hiring a Rolls Royce as a changing room and generously giving his prize money as winner of the British Open to his caddie.

Great women golfers of the moment were Joyce Wethered who won her fifth uninterrupted English Ladies Championship in 1924 and Glenna Collett Vare who won her sixth US Women's Amateur in 1935. In 1933, Augusta opened. The first US Masters was played there in 1934 and won by Horton Smith. Gary Player from South Africa broke the American monopoly of the event in 1961. Several British players have won since the 1980s. When World War II broke out in 1939, competition in England was largely suspended. The War Ministry diverted all rubber and metal resources into the war effort and drafted men of fighting age into the services. The Americans followed suite when they entered the war in 1942.

The Ladies PGA was formed in 1951 (European version in 1988) and replaced the Women's Professional Golf Association. The first Women's Open was held in 1946 and won by Patty Berg. Perhaps the best lady golfer of the time was Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias. She won the US Women's Amateur in 1946, the Women's British Amateur in 1947 and the US Women's Open in 1948, 1950 and 1954. If that wasn't sufficient, she only picked up golf after retiring from an athletics career which included three Olympic gold medals and world records.

After the war, most professionals, with the exception of the great Ben Hogan, chose to compete exclusively in America because of the sizeable prize money it offered. In recognition of this fact, the R&A raised the prize money for the British Open which helped to bring the top players back to Europe.

The 1960s brought with it something special in the guise of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player - the Modern Triumvirate. They conquered the game into 1970s winning almost every major event around the world and playing in the prestigious international matches. Nicklaus for example, can claim an unbeaten record of four US Open, five US PGA Championships and six US Masters titles.

While the pre-war period might be measured as the age of women's liberation both socially and golf wise, the 1960s brought with it the struggle against bigotry. In 1961, the PGA withdrew its 'whites-only' rule from its constitution. Charlie Sifford became the first black golfer to challenge a PGA event and Lee Elder the first to challenge the Masters in 1975. However even in 1990, when the PGA introduced additional actions to end racial discrimination, more clubs notably, Cypress Point, withdrew from the Tour. Perhaps Tiger Woods' outstanding victory in the 1997 US Master has finally changed attitudes.

The most famous golf shot ever must surely be Alan Shephard hitting a ball on the moon in 1971, watched by an audience of millions around the world. Does this make golf the first sport in space? The club he used can be viewed in USGA museum.

The Americans and South African Gary Player conquered world golf during the 1970s. Only when Severiano Ballesteros won the British Open in 1979 and the US Masters in 1980, did the pendulum swing back in favor of the Europeans. Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie re-established Britain's aggressive presence in world golf.

Individual success was matched with team success when the Europeans, captained by Tony Jacklin, won the Ryder Cup in 1985 - ending a 28 year American dominance. The Solheim Cup, the women's version of the Ryder Cup, was launched in 1990. By 1991, Europeans were at the top of the Sony World Rankings with Ian Woosnam hitting the top spot.