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GOLF IN SCOTLAND
 It doesn't seem to be the most difficult task in life. Take a high tech designed golf club with a head the size of a small turnip and strike a stationary, perfectly engineered ball. The ball is sitting up on a wooden peg, approximately one and a half inches off the ground. All you have to do is hit it straight over a reasonable distance. What's the problem?
The answer to that question has cost participants millions, and made others fortunes.
Most sports and pastimes present their followers with a mixture of great satisfaction and humbling frustration, but none more so than the ancient game of golf. Those who play the game will know for a fact that it is possible to complete seventeen holes during which they could not have hit a football using a shovel, only to stand on the eighteenth tee and scream the drive of a lifetime right down the middle. Then, using a fairway wood clip the ball into the heart of the green and single putt for a birdie. Yes folks, that's what brings you back to the first tee the next day!
It cannot be definitely proved that the Scots were responsible for inventing the game of golf but, like distilling whisky, they can take the credit for its development.
It is recorded that the Romans played a variation of the game using balls stuffed with feathers and club shaped branches. The Dutch played another form of golf in the 15th century, but their version was played on ice. An early Scottish story claims that local shepherds in the St Andrews area were hitting round stones into rabbit burrows using their wooden crooks.
This may seem a bit fanciful, however it is known for a fact that the Scottish Parliament passed an Act in 1457 banning the playing of golf. It was interfering with archery practice and this was proving detrimental to the nations defenses.
The first formal golf club was formed in Scotland by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1744. The Society of St Andrew's Golfers followed in 1834, they subsequently changed their name to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
As a result of all this early activity means that Scotland is now blessed with an astounding number of top quality golf courses. Muirfield, Gleneagles, Turnberry, Loch Lomond, Royal Troon, Cardnoustie and Prestwick are but seven of the Scottish courses that golfers throughout the world have a burning ambition to play. There are literary hundreds of courses the length and breadth of the country with every one of them offering their own unique challenge. Take the opportunity during your stay in Scotland to sample some of the courses. With prices ranging from as little as £3 you certainly don't need to break the bank to experience playing in the home of golf.
Follow the link below to discover the courses of Scotland or click the links to the right to see a breakdown of courses by region.
Scotland's Courses Specialist Golf Tours
The Donald Ford Gallery is world renowned for its quality and range of photographs showing Scotland landscapes and Scottish golf.
Buy Scottish calendars and diaries, and the golfers log book and many other golf related products from this Web site
www.donaldford.com
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Golf Courses by Region
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Sporting Activities
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