In one form or another, the variant games
of present day golf were clearly enjoyed
throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The
game persisted over the centuries and the
form that it took and rules that were applied
varied as widely as the terrain the game was
played over.
So widespread was the game of "Gowf", as
it was known in Scotland, that an Act of
Parliament was passed to prevent the playing
of the game on Sundays and thus preserve
the skills of Archery. The citizens of
Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Leith on
Scotland's East Coast were the principal
"gowfing" miscreants and it was no coincidence
that rolling sandy links land was commonplace
here. On this very terrain, a game
that started with a cleek and a ball took on a
form that started an evolutionary process
that continues to this day.
The question of how it all began may be of
pressing concern to some, but to the Scot, it
is sufficient to know that the game was born
on the links land of eastern Scotland. Here,
the game has been nurtured for over five
hundred years and from here, it has been
raised to the great game played and loved
by millions throughout the world.
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