First Rules of Golf

In honor of the (British) Open, we thought it might be interesting to dig up what the first rules of golf were way back in 1744.

Articles & Laws in Playing at Golf

1. You must Tee your Ball within a Club's length of the Hole.

2. Your Tee must be upon the Ground.

3. You are not to change the Ball which you Strike off the Tee.

4. You are not to remove Stones, Bones or any Break Club, for the sake of playing your Ball, Except upon the fair Green and that only within a Club's length of your Ball.

5. If your Ball comes among watter, or any wattery filth, you are at liberty to take out your Ball & bringing it behind the hazard and Teeing it, you may play it with any Club and allow your Adversary a Stroke for so getting out your Ball.

6. If your Balls be found any where touching one another, You are to lift the first Ball, till you play the last.

7. At Holling, you are to play your Ball honestly for the Hole, and not to play upon your Adversary’s Ball, not lying in your way to the Hole.

8. If you should lose your Ball, by it's being taken up, or any other way, you are to go back to the Spot, where you struck last, & drop another Ball, And allow your adversary a Stroke for the misfortune.

9. No man at Holling his Ball, is to be allowed, to mark his way to the Hole with his Club, or anything else.

10. If a Ball be stopp’d by any Person, Horse, Dog or anything else, The Ball so stop’d must be play’d where it lyes.

11. If you draw your Club in Order to Strike, & proceed so far in the Stroke as to be bringing down your Club; If then, your Club shall break, in any way, it is to be Accounted a Stroke.

12. He whose Ball lyes farthest from the Hole is obliged to play first.

13. Neither Trench, Ditch or Dyke, made for the preservation of the Links, nor the Scholar's Holes, or the Soldier's Lines, Shall be accounted a Hazard; But the Ball is to be taken out teed and play’d with any Iron Club.

John Rattray, Capt
 

Source: http://www.scottishgolfhistory.net/rules_of_golf.htm

Golf Poem

In my hand I hold a ball,
white and dimpled, and rather small.
oh, how bland it does appear,
this harmless looking little sphere.

By its size I could not guess
the awesome strength it does possess.
but since I fell beneath its spell,
I've wandered through the fires of hell.

My life has not been quite the same
since I chose to play this stupid game.
It rules my mind for hours on end;
a fortune it has made me spend.

It has made me curse and made me cry,
and hate myself and want to die.
It promises me a thing called par,
if I hit it straight and far.

To master such a tiny ball,
should not be very hard at all,
but my desires the ball refuses,
and does exactly as it chooses.

It hooks and slices, dribbles and dies,
and disappears before my eyes.
Often it will have a whim,
to hit a tree or take a swim.

With miles of grass on which to land,
it finds a tiny patch of sand.
Then has me offering up my soul,
if only it would find the hole.

It's made me whimper like a pup,
and swear that I will give it up,
and take to drink to ease my sorrow,
but the ball knows…. I'll be back tomorrow.

Author Unknown
Found somewhere out on the internet

Interesting Reading

Interesting articles of interest…

The Secret History of Tiger Woods, ESPN.com, April 2016


The Masters: Making Big Bucks, Spending Big Bucks, Golf Digest, April 2015

The Masters: Land Grab, Golf Digest, April 2014

Whatever happened to Michael Campbell, 2005 US Open Champion?, Golf.com, May 2014

Brandel Chamblee's job is to opine — and he should be allowed to do so, Golf World, Dec 2013

Yips, the Bane of Golfers, May be Muscular, New York Times, June 2011

How I’ve Redefined Victory, Tiger Woods, Newsweek, November 2010

What the Hell Happened to David Duval? And Why is He So Happy?, Men's Journal, June 2010