Category: History
The sport of golf is over a thousand years old -- so old, in fact, that its origins are shrouded in mystery. The earliest written record of golf dates to 1497, when King James banned golf in Scotland because it interfered with archery practice. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews was formally recognized in 1754. Names from golf's history come easily to any fan of the game: from Old Tom Morris to Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and, of course, Arnold Palmer.
Top Ten Golfers With One Major
In honor of the passing of George Archer, Sports Illustrated has created a list of the top ten golfers with one major.
Their list: Lanny Wadkins, Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Hal Sutton, Craig Stadler, Ian Woosnam, Paul Azinger, and Mark Calcavecchia.
They also mention Archer, David Toms, Steve Elkington, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk.
There are, of course, others who won only one major, but many of those were flashes in the pan, such as Jack Fleck, but without a string of other victories, they can’t be considered.
Anyone want to add others to consideration?
How The Scots Gave Golf To America
I really like the coverage of golf in The Scotsman. Here’s an article on how the game of golf migrated from Scotland to the United States. Its a really good history piece.
Obituary: Herbert Warren Wind
Herbert Warren Wind, who coined the term “Amen Corner” has died at age 89 in Brockton, Massachusetts.
Wind also cowrote Ben Hogan’s “Five Fundamentals” and served as an associate producer for Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.
The man is gone, but his writing will live forever.
Another Palmer Goodbye
Arnold Palmer has been going through the longest goodbye in history.
The Nine Top Golf Achievements
Scott Wraight from Sports Illustrated dot Com has a list of his top nine golf achievements: Nelson’s 11 Straight Wins, Nicklaus’ 18 Majors, Tiger’s 142 straight cuts, Nelson’s 18 win season, Tiger’s 52 rounds of par or better and so on.
I have only a couple of quibbles. I think that number three—right behind Nicklaus’ 18 majors is Nicklaus’ 19 seconds in Majors. Tiger may get 18, but I don’t see him finishing second 19 times.
The other is that Sam Snead won PGA Tour events in four different decades.
