History of Golf - Part Five: America and Golf

It is not known for certain when golf came to America — only that when it got a toehold in the 20th century, America became the world leader in great players.
 
The earliest known reference to golf in America is a Dutch ordinance at Fort Orange — later Albany, N.Y. — in 1659. “A History of Golf” by Robert Browning gives a translation of the edict:
 
“The Honourable Commissary and Magistrates of Fort Orange and the village of Bererwyck, having heard divers (diverse) complaints from burghers of this place against the practice of playing golf along the streets, which causes great damage to the windows of the houses, and also exposes people to the danger of being injured and is contrary to the freedom of the public streets;
 
“Therefore their honours, wishing to prevent the same, hereby forbid all persons to play golf in the streets, under the penalty of forfeiture of Fl. 25 for each person who shall be found doing so.”
 
There is much belief that what was played was not Scottish golf, however, but the Dutch game of kolven.  Browning writes that, “There is no reason to suppose that kolven as played in the Dutch colony in 1659 differed in any respect from the Dutch kolven already described in Chapter III (a game played on ice, told in the origination of the game of golf.)”
 
Another reference to the game is an advertisement in Rivington’s Royal Gazette, a New York newspaper, in 1779. This ad confirms the tradition of golf being played by Scottish officers in New York during the period of the Revolutionary War.
 
This ad stated: “To the GOLF PLAYERS — The Season for this pleasant and healthy Exercise now advancing, Gentleman may be furnished with excellent CLUBS and the veritable Caledonian BALLS, by enquiring at the Printer’s.”
 
Recent research into records at the port of Leith show that clubs and balls were shipped the colonies as early as 1743. A shipment of 96 clubs and 432 balls were sent to Charleston, S.C., that year. And in 1786 the South Carolina Golf Club was established, followed by the Savannah Golf Club in 1795. In 1811, a Miss Eliza Johnston issued an invitation to her wedding at the Savannah Golf Club.
 
Did they refer to golf as we know it? We don’t know — there is nary a newspaper account in this era that a match was actually played, nor are there golf relics. Golf was the rage in Scotland at this time and some theorize that the people of South Carolina were merely copying names which were European. Others hold firm to the belief that golf was actually being played in America.
 
At any rate, the War of 1812 pitting the U.S. against Britain effectively killed the game in America for decades. Golf was seen as British and would not be in favor in the United States for 80 years or so.
 
The first North American golf club, therefore, was not in the United States. Three-hole courses had sprung up in Montreal and Quebec, brought to the area by a military ship’s officers from Scotland. And on Nov. 4, 1873, the Royal Montreal Golf Club was born. It would be 15 years before a similar golf club was established in the United States.