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Discover Why 18 Holes Golf Became the Standard
How did golf become 18 holes? The standard golf course length of 18 holes today comes from a key change made at the famous St. Andrews Old Course in Scotland back in 1764. Before that, golf courses had different numbers of holes. But the change at St. Andrews, and the club’s growing importance, led others to copy this new layout. Over time, playing 18 holes became the common way to play golf all around the world. This is the simple answer to How golf became 18 holes.
A Look Back: How Golf Began
Golf has a long and interesting past. The History of golf starts many years ago in Scotland. People were hitting pebbles with sticks, trying to get them into rabbit holes in the ground. This simple game slowly grew into the golf we know today.
The Very Start of the Game
Nobody knows exactly when golf started. But we know it was played in Scotland a very long time ago. Records show people were playing something like golf in the 1400s. King James II of Scotland even banned the game in 1457. He thought men were spending too much time playing golf instead of practicing their archery skills for war.
This Early golf history shows the game was popular enough to be a distraction, even in those old times. It was played on linksland, which is the sandy, coastal land between the sea and the farming ground. This land was not good for growing food, but it was perfect for a rough game of golf.
Early Courses Had No Set Number of Holes
In the beginning, golf courses were not built like they are today. People just found suitable land and decided where to hit the ball.
- There were no rules about how many holes a course should have.
- Some courses had five holes.
- Some had seven holes.
- Some had 11 holes.
- Some had even more!
Players would just decide how many holes they wanted to play that day. They would often play a set number of strokes or just play until sunset. The idea of a fixed number of holes for a full game did not exist yet in early golf history.
For example, the Course at Leith near Edinburgh had only five holes. Players would play these five holes twice to go out, and then play them twice again to come back. This made a round of 22 holes in total.
The course design was simple. It was often a long strip of land. Players would hit the ball away from the starting point (the club house). Then they would turn around and hit the ball back towards the start. The same holes were used for the outward and inward journey, sometimes with different flags or markers.
St. Andrews: Where the Magic Happened
The town of St. Andrews in Scotland is very important to golf history. It is home to the St. Andrews Old Course, which is thought to be the oldest golf course in the world. What happened here greatly shaped the game.
The First Rules and the Old Course Layout
As golf became more popular, people wanted to set down some rules. This helped make the game fair for everyone. The first written rules of golf came from the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith in 1744. They wrote 13 rules for their annual competition.
Around the same time, golf was being played at St. Andrews. The course there was different from Leith. The St. Andrews Old Course was laid out on a narrow strip of linksland. Instead of just 5 holes, it had a series of holes going out and then coming back along the same strip.
The 1744 Rules: 22 Holes?
At St. Andrews, the course originally had 11 holes stretching from the clubhouse out to the far end of the links. Golfers would play each of these 11 holes going out. Then, they would turn around and play the same 11 holes coming back.
This meant a full round at St. Andrews originally had 22 holes (11 out + 11 back). The holes were often just simple cups dug into the ground. The greens were not perfectly smooth areas like today. They were just the ground around the hole.
Players would hit the ball out to the last hole, turn around, and come back. This design used the long shape of the land well. But over time, golfers noticed something about the course.
The Big Change in 1764: Making It 18 Holes
The really big moment for the Origins of 18 holes happened at St. Andrews in 1764. The golfers at St. Andrews were playing the 11 holes out and 11 holes back, for a total of 22 holes.
But some of the holes were very short. The golfers decided that these short holes should be combined. They looked at the first four holes on the way out. They thought these were too small and easy. So, they combined the first two holes into one. They also combined the next two holes into another one. This reduced the number of holes at the start of the course.
They did this at the start of the outward journey and also at the start of the inward journey.
Here is how the change worked:
* The original course had 11 holes going out.
* The golfers combined the first four short holes into just two holes.
* This meant there were now 9 holes going out (the new 2 holes plus the remaining 7 original holes).
* They did the same thing coming back. The 11 holes coming back became 9 holes coming back.
So, the St. Andrews Old Course changed from 11 holes out and 11 holes back (22 total) to 9 holes out and 9 holes back. Playing these 9 holes out and 9 holes back made a full round of 18 holes.
This change was made by the Society of St. Andrews Golfers, which would later become the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (the R&A).
Why St. Andrews Became the Model
The change at St. Andrews in 1764 was a very important step. It created the 18-hole layout. But why did this become the standard everywhere else?
The Influence of the Old Course
The St. Andrews Old Course was already a very famous and respected place to play golf. Golfers from other areas knew about it and admired it. It was seen as the home of golf.
When St. Andrews made the change to 18 holes, other clubs started to pay attention. They saw that the most important club was playing 18 holes. This gave the 18-hole number a special status.
It wasn’t an official rule yet that everyone had to play 18 holes. But because St. Andrews was so important, others started to copy what they did. It was like saying, “If the best place plays 18 holes, then 18 holes must be the right number.”
Sharing Ideas and Rules
Golf clubs in Scotland were starting to communicate with each other. They shared ideas about rules and how to play the game. St. Andrews, being a leading club, had a big voice in these discussions.
As new golf courses were built, or old ones were changed, builders looked to St. Andrews as an example. The Golf course architecture history began to be shaped by the St. Andrews layout. Designers started thinking about how to create courses with 18 distinct holes.
- The 9-hole out, 9-hole back structure became popular.
- Even if a course wasn’t on a narrow strip, the idea of 18 holes stuck.
The Rules Catch Up
For many years after 1764, golf clubs still had their own rules. Some clubs kept playing different numbers of holes. But the influence of St. Andrews kept growing.
How Rules Changed Over Time
The Evolution of golf rules happened slowly. Different clubs would agree on certain rules, and others would adopt them. But there was no single set of rules for everyone for a long time.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (the R&A) started to become the most important group for making and keeping the rules. They were based at the place where golf’s defining moment (the change to 18 holes) happened.
As the R&A’s power grew, their rules became the most accepted rules in the world (outside of the United States, where the USGA later became the rule-making body).
The R&A’s Important Role
The R&A golf history is closely linked to the story of 18 holes. The R&A officially adopted the rules that were used at St. Andrews. While their main focus was on rules of play (like how to drop a ball or what happens if you hit the wrong ball), their home course having 18 holes was significant.
The R&A didn’t immediately make a rule saying “all golf courses must have 18 holes.” But by promoting the game and its rules from the famous 18-hole course, they helped make 18 holes the normal and expected number.
Think of it like this:
* St. Andrews changed to 18 holes in 1764.
* St. Andrews’ club (later the R&A) became very important.
* Other clubs copied St. Andrews, including the 18-hole layout.
* The R&A published rules, which were linked to play over a full round, usually assumed to be 18 holes.
This process made 18 holes the Standard golf course length by common agreement and practice, driven by the example of St. Andrews.
Making 18 Holes the Normal Number
The period after the 1764 change at St. Andrews saw golf courses slowly start to move towards 18 holes.
Clubs Start Copying St. Andrews
As golf spread from Scotland to England and then other parts of the world, new courses were built. Many of the people building these courses had learned about golf from Scotland. They knew about the St. Andrews Old Course and its history.
When they planned their own courses, they often used St. Andrews as their guide. Creating 18 holes became the goal. This meant finding enough land and designing holes that fit together to make a full 18-hole round (9 out and 9 back, or sometimes two loops of 9).
- Prestwick Golf Club, founded in 1851, was one of the first major clubs to adopt the 18-hole standard from the start.
- Other influential clubs followed suit.
This trend solidified the origins of 18 holes as being firmly rooted in the St. Andrews tradition. It wasn’t a rule imposed from the top down, but rather a standard adopted because the most important club used it.
Why 18 Stuck Around
There are a few reasons why 18 holes became so popular and stayed the standard.
- Tradition: It started at the home of golf. This gave it a special place in the game’s history and culture. Golfers are often traditional people.
- Good Timing: As golf grew in the 1800s, the 18-hole model was already there as a strong example. It was easier for new clubs to copy an existing model than to invent their own.
- Length of Play: An 18-hole round typically takes about 3.5 to 4.5 hours for a group of four players. This length of time seemed to be a good balance – long enough for a satisfying game, but not so long that it took up the whole day.
- Course Design: Architects found that 18 holes allowed for a good mix of different types of holes (long, short, difficult, easy). This made for a more interesting and challenging game compared to shorter courses.
- The R&A’s Influence: As mentioned before, the R&A’s role in setting rules implicitly supported the 18-hole round as the normal way to play. Major competitions were played over 18 or 36 holes (two rounds of 18).
The Evolution of golf rules and the spread of the game went hand in hand with the adoption of the 18-hole format.
Shaping the Fairways: Course Design Follows Suit
The Golf course architecture history is also tied to the rise of the 18-hole standard. In the early days, course design was very simple. It was often just about finding land and marking where the holes should be.
Early Course Building
The first golf courses were built on natural linksland. The land itself provided the challenges – bumps, hollows, sandy areas (bunkers), and long grass. Designers didn’t have to do much earth moving.
At St. Andrews, the narrow strip meant holes went out and back. This led to wide fairways and shared greens. The shared greens meant players hitting out might be aiming for the same green used by players coming back on a different hole number. This is still a feature of the St. Andrews Old Course today.
Designers Follow the 18-Hole Plan
As golf spread and courses were built on different types of land (not just linksland), designers started to think more about how to create interesting holes. But the goal was almost always to create 18 of them.
- Famous early golf course architects like Old Tom Morris (who worked at St. Andrews) helped define what an 18-hole course could be.
- They designed holes with different lengths and challenges.
- They used natural features or created new ones (like bunkers) to test golfers.
The idea of 18 holes became the canvas for golf course designers. They had to fit 18 different challenges onto a piece of land. This is a key part of Golf course architecture history. The Standard golf course length dictated the task for course builders.
Putting It All Together: The Standard Is Set
The journey from early, varied golf courses to the worldwide standard of 18 holes took many years. It wasn’t one single decision, but rather a process driven by tradition, influence, and practicality.
From Local Game to World Sport
Golf started as a local game in Scotland. But as the British Empire grew, golf traveled around the world. British soldiers, sailors, and traders took the game with them to places like India, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
When they introduced golf in these new places, they brought the rules and customs they knew. And by the late 1800s, the most common custom was playing 18 holes.
The Origins of 18 holes at St. Andrews had led to a global standard. Major tournaments like The Open Championship (which started in 1860) were played on courses like Prestwick and St. Andrews, which had adopted the 18-hole length. This reinforced the standard for everyone watching and playing.
18 Holes Today
Today, almost all regulation golf courses around the world have 18 holes.
- This includes famous championship courses.
- It includes local public courses.
- It includes resort courses.
There are still shorter courses, like 9-hole courses or par-3 courses. These are popular for quick rounds or for learning the game. But a “full round” of golf is almost always understood to mean 18 holes.
The Standard golf course length is one of the most basic facts about the game today. And it all goes back to that decision made at St. Andrews Old Course in 1764 to combine some short holes and end up with 9 out and 9 back.
The History of golf is a long story of change and tradition. The Evolution of golf rules, the Golf course architecture history, and the spread of the game all contributed to making 18 holes the permanent standard. The influence of St. Andrews and the R&A golf history were central to this process.
Wrapping Up Our Golf Story
The story of How golf became 18 holes is a fascinating look at how a standard can develop. It wasn’t a king or a parliament that made a rule. It was a group of golfers on a specific course in Scotland who decided to make their game a little better by combining some holes.
That simple change at St. Andrews Old Course in 1764 had a massive impact. Because St. Andrews was so respected, other clubs copied it. Over many years, 18 holes became the expected length for a golf course.
This piece of Early golf history shows how traditions are made. The Origins of 18 holes are found on that sandy strip of land in St. Andrews. This decision shaped the Standard golf course length and became a fundamental part of the game for centuries to come. The Evolution of golf rules and the path of Golf course architecture history followed this lead, making 18 holes the heart of golf as we play it today.
Questions People Ask (FAQ)
Here are some common questions about the 18-hole standard in golf.
h4: Was 18 Holes Chosen for a Special Reason, Like Walk Distance?
No, the number 18 was not chosen because it’s the perfect distance to walk or any scientific reason like that. As we learned, it happened because the golfers at St. Andrews decided to combine some of their shorter holes. They had 11 holes going out and 11 coming back (22 total). When they combined the short ones, they ended up with 9 holes going out and 9 coming back. 9 + 9 equals 18. It was simply the result of changing the course layout to make the game better on that specific piece of land.
h4: Did the R&A Make a Rule Saying Courses Must Have 18 Holes?
The R&A didn’t make a strict rule demanding all courses have exactly 18 holes. However, by the time the R&A became the main rule-making body, the 18-hole round was already widely accepted because of St. Andrews’ influence. Their rules were written assuming a standard round of play, which by then meant 18 holes. Major competitions they ran were played over 18 or 36 holes. This strongly supported and locked in the 18-hole standard without needing a specific “must have 18 holes” rule.
h4: Are There Still Golf Courses With More or Less Than 18 Holes?
Yes, there are! While 18 holes is the standard for a full-size, regulation course, many courses have fewer holes. 9-hole courses are very common, especially for quick play or beginners. There are also par-3 courses, which have shorter holes and can have any number of holes, often 9 or 18. Very old courses might have had different numbers, but most have either been changed to 18 or are played in multiple loops to make an 18-hole round.
h4: How Long Does It Usually Take to Play 18 Holes?
The time it takes to play 18 holes can vary a lot. It depends on:
* How fast the players are.
* How many people are in the group (a twosome vs. a foursome).
* How busy the course is (waiting for groups ahead).
* How difficult the course is (more time spent looking for balls or hitting extra shots).
Generally, a group of four players can expect to take about 3.5 to 4.5 hours to play 18 holes. Faster groups might finish in 3 hours, while slow play on a busy course could take 5 hours or even longer.
h4: Did Other Sports Influence the Number of Holes?
No, the number 18 in golf is unique to golf’s history. It wasn’t based on rules or layouts from other sports. As we’ve seen, the origins of 18 holes are specific to the changes made at the St. Andrews Old Course in 1764 based on that course’s layout.
h4: Why is St. Andrews Called the “Home of Golf”?
St. Andrews is called the “Home of Golf” because it is believed to be where the game was first widely played and developed significant rules and traditions. The St. Andrews Old Course is the oldest golf course in the world. The club based there, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, became the leading authority for the rules of golf for most of the world. The key event of standardizing the number of holes to 18 also happened there. All these things together make St. Andrews the most historic and important place in the History of golf. Its role in St. Andrews history golf is unmatched.