GOLF (Dutch kolf; a club), a well-known game, played with ball and club. It is said to be of Scottish origin; and it is certainly of very ancient date in Scotland, since there exist statutes prohibiting the game as early as the year 1457, lest it should interfere with the practice of archery. It is
commonly played over links or commons with smooth grass and broken surfaces, by parties of one or more on each side, each party playing a separate ball; and the skill of a player consists in landing the ball in a given series of holes with the fewest strokes of the club. The balls were formerly made of thick leather, filled with feathers, but those generally in present use are of solid gutta percha. The clubs are of various shapes and materials to suit the position of the ball on the green, and its distance from the hole. To place the ball in a fit position for striking off is called teeing, and the green in the neighbourhood of each hole is called the putting ground.