| Ok, so I had to go to the library and dig it out of the books
myself,... the 'old fashion' way. Anyway, I thought I would share my
findings, one of them should be good for a cold one on the 19th.
**************
Historical Points of interest
on the game of golf
Golf was once outlawed by King James II because it's popularity was
interfering with the practice of archery which was necessary for
the defense of the realm.
When Mary, Queen of Scotts took up the game she had an Army cadet
carry her clubs for her. The French pronunciation of the word cadet
is "cad-day" which is the origin on the term "caddie".
Robert Reid is credited with bringing the game of golf into the
United States in 1880 when he settled in the U.S. from Scotland.
Early golf balls were known as "featheries" which were made of goose
feathers stuffed into a leather shell which was hand sewn
together. Even this primitive golf ball could be hit up to 200
yards. Around 1848 the "featheries" were replaced by balls which were
constructed of "gutta percha" which is a hard, resilient, molded
substance derived from the sap of several Malaysian trees.
As golf clubs evolved from their origin of being carved from tree
limbs to what they are today, each developed a specific name. The
following is a list of the current numerical reference and their
original name:
Woods
W1 - Driver W3 - Spoon
W2 - Brassie W4 - Cleek
Irons
1 - Driving Iron 6 - Spade Mashie
2 - Mid Iron 7 - Mashie Niblick
3 - Mid Mashie 8 - Lofting Iron
4 - Mashie Iron 9 - Niblick
5 - Mashie 10 - Putter
The following definitions are taken from the Davies' Dictionary of
Golfing Terms by Peter Davies.
Birdie - In the 1800's the U.S. slang term "bird", which
meant anyone or anything excellent or wonderful, is
considered the root of the golfing term "birdie", one under
par.
Eagle - origin: by analogy with the term "birdie",
2 under par. In 1926, W. Hastings Webling is credited with
coining the term "eagle".
Albatross - more commonly referred to as a "double eagle",
is a score which is 3 under par.
|