Ever wondered why a standard round of golf involves eighteen holes? It feels like an arbitrary number, doesn’t it? Well, the answer takes us back centuries to the birthplace of golf: Scotland!
In the early days, golf courses weren’t standardized at all. Some had five, some seven, others as many as twenty-two holes! The legendary Old Course at St Andrews, widely considered the “Home of Golf,” originally featured twenty-two holes in the mid-1700s. Players would play eleven holes going out and then return on the same eleven holes coming back in.
But then, in 1764, the golfers at St Andrews, part of the Society of St Andrews Golfers – now known as the Royal & Ancient Golf Club – decided to make a change. They felt that the first four holes on their course were too short. So, they combined them into just two! This simple decision transformed their twenty-two-hole layout into one with ten holes played out and eight played back, totaling a neat eighteen.
While it took many years for other courses to adopt this format, St Andrews’ prominence gradually made the eighteen-hole round the universal standard we know today. It provided a balanced test of skill and endurance, making for a comprehensive and enjoyable game that could still be completed within a reasonable timeframe. The official rules of golf even stipulated the 18-hole round in 1950.
So, the next time you step onto the course, remember you’re following a tradition born from a practical decision made over two and a half centuries ago in Scotland. The eighteen holes aren’t just a number; they’re a legacy of golf’s rich history!