Author: Matthias Gräf

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Golf History: The 13 Very First Rules of Golf

In the beginning, there were only 13 rules, but now there are a few more. (Photo: Getty)

Rules of golf have been around since the very beginning of golf. Just what those very first rules of golf were, no one can quite say today. One thing is certain: The first written rules of golf date back to the middle of the 18th century. They were drawn up in 1744 by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith (today known as the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers of Muirfield), one of the oldest golf clubs in the world.

It all started with 13 rules of golf

Many of the initial 13 rules of golf still exist today, albeit in modified form:

  1. You must tee up the golf ball within one club length (tees now measure two club lengths in depth).
  2. Your tee must be on the ground (tee used to mean small pyramids of sand).
  3. You are not allowed to change the ball with which you tee off (the one-ball rule goes back to a long tradition – currently the rule can be found in Golf Rule 15 with a few modifications).
  4. You are not allowed to remove stones, bones or broken club parts to play the ball. The fairway is an exception. There, you are allowed to remove small obstructions within a radius of one club length from the ball (bones may sound strange – today, small obstructions are summarized as loose obstructive natural materials in Golf Rule 23).
  5. If your ball lands in water or any type of watery debris, you are free to pick it up and re-putt behind the hazard. You may then play the ball with any club, but you will incur a penalty stroke against your opponent (origin of the penalty stroke rule for water hazards – Golf Rule 26).
  6. If your ball interferes with your opponent’s ball(s), you may pick it up until the last ball is played (Rule of Golf 22-2).
  7. When putting your golf ball in the hole, you should honestly hit the ball only in the direction of the hole and not in the direction of the opponent’s balls in order to play them out.
  8. If you lose your ball because you gave it up or for any other reason, you must return to the point from which you last teed off. You will receive a penalty stroke for this (Golf Rule 27-1).
  9. No one is allowed to mark the ideal line to the hole with their club or anything else while putting (embedded in Golf Rule 8-2).
  10. If a ball is stopped by a person, horse, dog, or anything else, the stopped ball must be played from the position where it came to rest (“play it as it lies”; per Golf Rule 19-1).
  11. If you swing your club to tee off, but you lower it again, even without actually hitting the ball, the movement is counted as a stroke played (definition of a stroke).
  12. During the game, the ball that is farthest from the hole is always played (almost unchanged after all this time: golf rule 10).
  13. Neither ditches, streams or dams built to protect and delimit the golf course, nor construction sites located on the course should be seen as obstacles. The ball is to be picked up, re-putted and played with any club.

The Rules of Golf have evolved over time, taking a giant leap in 1897 when the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) formed a Rules Committee. Since 1952, the R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) have met every two years.

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The Open – the very first staging in Prestwick

The 5th hole of Prestwick Golf Club, one of the first venues of the British Open. (Photo: Getty)

The history of the British Open dates back to 1860, at a time when America is on the verge of a drastic civil war and makes Abraham Lincoln its president in November, things are much more leisurely in Great Britain. In Scotland, a society of golfers comes together to play the first Open Championship on a twelve-hole round on the grounds of Prestwick Golf Club on October 17, 1860.

The Open Tournament Page | News, Leaderboard & Tee Times

First venue of the British Open: Built by a genius
The course at Prestwick Golf Club had been designed by golf’s all-round genius Old Tom Morris, the host club’s greenkeeper at the time, whose son managed the first hole-in-one at the tournament just seven years later. Both dominated the tournament for several years in the beginning.

Later, the competition was held on three different courses, always in alternation, after Young Tom Morris had won the tournament on his father’s course three times in a row. Because the early contests were played on a twelve-hole course, the round was played three times in just one day to reach a total of 36 holes.

Golf on the move
When the first British Open took place, golf was in the midst of a flurry of change. Outside of Great Britain, golf was still barely established at the time – the first German golf club (the Royal Homburger Golf Club and the Wiesbadener Golf-Club are in dispute over the designation of the first German golf club) did not open its doors until the end of the century.

The first ladies’ golf club was founded seven years after the Open premiere, although half a century had passed since the first ladies’ golf tournament at the time of the first Open Championship. Played at Musselburgh – a course that would also host the British Open on a few occasions – it was the first documented ladies’ tournament in the history of golf.

Dynamic period of golf technology
But the sport also underwent some technological changes in the period before and after the first British Open. While hickory shafts were still common at the first Open, by the end of the century experiments would be made with the steel shaft that would later revolutionize the game. Similarly, in 1898, the Haskell ball with a wrapped hard rubber core replaced the gutta-percha ball established in 1848, which had been common at the first and subsequent tournaments.

In 1894, the USGA was founded, which meant that for the first time there was also a regulating institution in golf in the United States. Four years later, the Stableford method of counting was invented and the wooden tee was patented the following year. At the first British Open, moreover, professional golfers were still rare, but participation by amateurs was nevertheless prohibited – so it came about that the first field of participants consisted of only eight golfers.

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The Open Rota, the venues of the British Open

2012 at Royal Lytham & St Anne's, Lytham: The Open Rota is a selection of nine links courses that alternate in hosting the British Open. (Photo: Getty)

The British Open is traditionally played on links courses, alternating between Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. The venues are selected according to a fixed Open Rota principle, in which nine fixed courses (all links courses) alternate.

The Open Rota includes the following courses:

  • The Old Course at St Andrews
  • Carnoustie
  • Royal St George’s
  • Royal Lytham & St Annes
  • Royal Birkdale
  • Turnberry
  • Royal Liverpool
  • Royal Portrush
  • Royal Troon


The only constant in this constant change is: The Old Course. The golf course is part of the British Open every five years. It’s easy to remember: All years ending in 0 and 5 like 2000, 2005, 2010 lead the participants to the course in St Andrews.

Open Rota without clear order or rhythm
The organizer, Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), selects the Open Rota to fit together as harmoniously as possible – without any clear order or rhythm. In doing so, they coordinate their selections with the clubs’ schedules and construction or renovation plans, for example, or pay attention to the course’s requirements for players.

For example, Royal Birkdale was the venue in 1983, then eight years later in 1991, again seven years later in 1998, and then not again for another ten years in 2008. Royal Liverpool, on the other hand, was the venue for the British Open in 1967 and then not again until almost 40 years later in 2006. With the next venue in 2014, the break was not even close to that long. In 2017, it’s Royal Birkdale’s turn for the tenth time.

Back to The Open Golf – Everything you need to know

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The Open – Everything you need to know

The claret jug is the trophy for the Championship Golfer of the year (Photo: Getty)

Every year in July, the world’s golfing elite gather in Great Britain for the The Open. The Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments and the only one held in Europe. The Open was first played in 1860, and today the Claret Jug is one of the most coveted trophies in golf. All the special features, the long history and all the facts about the tournament can be found in this overview.

From the history of the British Open

The special features of the tournament

  • British Open – Cut rule
  • British Open – Qualifying criteria
  • British Open – “Claret Jug” victory award
  • Historic British Open – The most important events