![\"golf](\"https:\/\/www.davison.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/golf-course.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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As summer winds down and temperatures begin to cool, we\u2019d like to take a minute to recognize one of America\u2019s favorite summer pastimes, the game of golf.\u00a0 After all, August is National Golf Month, so why not take a minute to \u201cdrive\u201d home a few of the game\u2019s firsts?<\/p>\n
We begin with the origin of the game itself, which actually was about as hard to track down as playing 18 holes on a PGA championship course!\u00a0 However, it seems the modern version of the game began in 15th-century Scotland.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, history shows the first written record of the game was actually a document outlawing it!<\/p>\n
![\"sports](\"https:\/\/www.davison.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/golf-equipment.jpg\")
So, what did 15th century golfers whack around?\u00a0 Well, at first, pebbles (OUCH!).\u00a0 Next up, were thin leather bags, stuffed with feathers \u2013 which made a hole in one impossible!\u00a0 Finally, in 1858, Reverend Adam Paterson was credited with making a \u201cgutta-percha\u201d ball from tree sap that could fly about 225 yards.\u00a0 Enhancing Paterson\u2019s invention and the distance the ball would travel, Coburn Haskell introduced a rubber-cored ball in 1898 that soared to an impressive 430 yards.\u00a0 The ball\u2019s dimpled pattern was added in 1905 by William Taylor and well, that pretty much brings them up to modern speed!<\/p>\n
The earliest golf clubs were wooden and are attributed to Scottish makers Tom Morris and Willie Park.\u00a0 Just before the 20th century, Thomas Horsburgh, a blacksmith, began experimenting with steel-shafted clubs.\u00a0 After that, club-makers used graphite and titanium to craft clubs.<\/p>\n
![\"inventions](\"https:\/\/www.davison.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/golf-cart.jpg\")
While we\u2019re not too sure how golfers originally toted their clubs around, golf bags came into use in the 1880s and Merlin Halvorson is credited with inventing the first cart in 1962.<\/p>\n
Last, but not least, as we certainly wouldn\u2019t want to \u201ctee\u201d anyone off, in 1889, Scottish golfers William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas patented the first portable golf tee.\u00a0 Percy Ellis was granted a Brittish patent just three years later for his \u201cPerfectum\u201d tee, made of rubber and metal.\u00a0 The cup-shape was added to the top of the tee and patented by PM Matthews in 1897.\u00a0 Americans Prosper Senat and George Grant also received patents for various tee improvements.<\/p>\n
If your weekend round is rained out, learn more about the history of golf and other inventors who helped improve the tools of the trade at http:\/\/www.golf-club-revue.com\/golf-club-history.html and http:\/\/inventors.about.com\/od\/gstartinventions\/a\/golf.htm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As summer winds down and temperatures begin to cool, we\u2019d like to take a minute to recognize one of America\u2019s favorite summer pastimes, the game of golf.\u00a0 After all, August is National Golf Month, so why not take a minute to \u201cdrive\u201d home a few of the game\u2019s firsts? We begin with the origin of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,66],"tags":[154,8,119,155],"class_list":["post-5074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-invention","category-inventor-stories","tag-history","tag-invention","tag-product-evolution","tag-sport-inventions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n