Origin of the word "Golf?"

[Jeff_Brauer]

I just got one of those emails with a bunch of trivia.  This one caught my eye:

"Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language."

 I had never heard that one.   Is that possibly true? If not, where did the name come from?

[Tom Huckaby]

Jeff:  I'm not sure how the word originated - and I'm also not sure ANYONE knows with certainty - but I am pretty darn sure that it's not due to that acronym.

See:
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp

TH

[Jim Thompson]

 2 cents from anothr site-

There is no universally accepted derivation for the word 'golf.'  One of the most common misconceptions is that the word GOLF is an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. This at least is definitely not true.

The first documented mention of the word 'golf'  is in Edinburgh on 6th March 1457, when King James II banned ‘ye golf’, in an attempt to encourage archery practice, which was being neglected.

Before the creation of dictionaries, there was no standardised spelling of any given word.  People wrote words phonetically.  Goff, gowf, golf, goif, gof, gowfe, gouff and golve have all been found in documents in Scotland.

Most people believe the old word 'gowfe' was the most common term, pronounced 'gouf'. The Loudon Gowf Club maintains the tradition of this terminology.

A minority of people hold the view that golf is a purely Scottish term, derived from Scots words 'golf', 'golfand' and 'golfing', which mean 'to strike' as in 'to cuff'.

It seems most likely that the terms golf, chole and kolf, which were the names for a variety of medieval stick and ball games in Britain and in continental Europe, are all derived from a common word of a pre-modern European language, following Grimm's grammatical law, which details the clear phonetic similarities of these words.

Golf (and chole and kolf) are all presumed to have originally meant 'club'. Golf has also been associated with the German word for club 'kolbe', (Der Kolben).  It is also probably related to the Dutch word and game 'kolven'.

In 1636, David Wedderburn used the word Baculus, which is Latin for 'club' as the title for his 'Vocabula', listing Latin terms for golf, which supports this derivation. The Vocabula contains the first clear mention of the golf hole, the essential element of modern links golf and is thus the first unambiguous proof of the existence of the game in Scotland.  More details are to be found on the page on Aberdeen.


It is therefore likely that all these terms including golf have a common origin and the Scottish use flowed from there.

Robert Browning and David Hamilton, who both researched this to a great depth, broadly come to the conclusion above in their golf books.

[TaylorA]

It's because all the other four letter words were taken!

I think I hear that one every time I play - I need to diversify my playing partners.

[Phil_the_Author]

Jim,

The staggering amount of incorrect or misinformation on the web is staggering.

You wrote, "2 cents from anothr site... The first documented mention of the word 'golf'  is in Edinburgh on 6th March 1457, when King James II banned ‘ye golf’, in an attempt to encourage archery practice, which was being neglected."

That would be a tad bit difficult as King James II wasn't even born until 1633 in London. In addition, he wasn't named King until his brother Charles, while on his deathbed in 1685, declared that his brother James would succeed him on the throne.

It was a stormy 3-year reign until he fled to France in exile...

The answer to "Golf" as a name lies much further back in the mists of time...

[Dan King]

Philip, don't get overly snooty. You are talking about King James II of England, while Jim, who did an excellent job, is talking about King James II (Fiery Face) of Scotland. I think you owe Jim an apology.

David Hamilton argues the game King James II outlawed wasn't the long, noble  game we associate with golf, but rather a rural game played by the commoners.

Cheers,
Grandan King

It is decreeted and ordianed, that the Weapon-shawinges be halden be the Lordes and Baronnes Spiritual and Temporal, four times in the zeir.  And that the Fute-ball and Golfe be uttlerly cryed downe, and not be sued.  And as tuitching the Fute-ball and the Golfe, to be punished by the Barronniss un-law.
  --James II of Scotland, 1457

[Phil_the_Author]

Dan,

(in typical middle age fashion) I bow before you begging forgiveness for making an assumption that showed both my ignorance and arrogance in challenging your expertise inan area where you have shown yourself far more expert than I.

(in 21st century vernacular) Crap! I was wrong and you were right!  

Of course this also means that Martin Bonner will never share a pint of ale with me if ever I find my way across the pond once again!

[Dan King]

Philip Young writes:
Of course this also means that Martin Bonner will never share a pint of ale with me if ever I find my way across the pond once again!

I've never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bonner, but my guess is that this has zero chance of changing your chances of tilting a pint with him. Anyone who loves Belhaven's Best isn't about to let much of anything get in the way of his himself and a pint.

Cheers,
Grandan King

Man's extremity is God's opportunity.
 --John Hamilton, Lord Belhaven (in the Scottish Parliament, Nov. 2, 1706, protesting against union of England and Scotland)

[Rick Shefchik]

Arnold Palmer pronounces it "goff," possibly from "gowfe," or possibly just the vestiges of his Latrobe, Pa., accent.

Wherever it came from, the game is called "goff" at my house.

[John_Conley]

You are talking about King James II of England, while Jim, who did an excellent job, is talking about King James II (Fiery Face) of Scotland.

It is decreeted and ordianed, that the Weapon-shawinges be halden be the Lordes and Baronnes Spiritual and Temporal, four times in the zeir.  And that the Fute-ball and Golfe be uttlerly cryed downe, and not be sued.  And as tuitching the Fute-ball and the Golfe, to be punished by the Barronniss un-law.
  --James II of Scotland, 1457

Hallelujah, a Dan King post!  Incredibly insightful, as well as pertinent.  You are, if you don't mind me saying, THE MAN.

Great to see you on here.

[Jim Thompson]

This really is a pretty good site:
http://www.scottishgolfhistory.net/

[Adam Clayman]

Didn't Judge Smails touched on the origins of the word/game? Gawf  

[Matthew Hunt]

It comes from the Dutch game Kolf which is like golf but with all courses are a Daly signature(Mile long holes!)

[Jon Wiggett]

I have always found it amusing to think that the name GOLF comes from a play on words in this case a reversing of the order of the letters  

[Rick Shefchik]

It comes from the dutch came Kolf which in golf but with all courses are a Daly signature.

Matthew,

Please try that again. What's the drinking age in the U.K?

[Matthew Hunt]

It comes from the dutch came Kolf which in golf but with all courses are a Daly signature.

Matthew,

Please try that again. What's the drinking age in the U.K?

I meant to say "It comes from the Dutch game Kolf which is like golf but with all courses are a Daly signature(Mile long holes!)"

I was under the influence of my dad wanting to use the computer, no drink at my age!  

[Edwin Roald]

Jeff,

The only thing that makes sence to me is in fact that the word "golf" derives from "kolf", "kolven" and the like. There are a number of references to games with names like these, played by the Dutch amongst others. One example included hitting a stationary ball with a club, but to different targets than holes in the ground. There were countless varieties. At least one of these games was played on ice.

I am not an expert in linguistics, but I have opened a book or two on the subject because I have become interested in the role of my native language (Icelandic) which is perhaps the least changed active language in Northern Europe for the last 1000 years. It is the closest we have today to Old Norse, that was spoken by the Vikings. They were extremely influential in the British Isles from, say, 1100 to 1300 and beyond in places. For example, if you walked the streets of Dublin in 1100, chances are you'd be hearing Old Norse on the streets.

At least in Icelandic, a "club" is "kylfa". Therefore, I feel that the game of kolven was given a name based on the instrument used to strike the ball.

Now, St. Andrews and the East coast was the site of quite active commerce between the Dutch (simplifying it of course) and the Scots. I am going all over the place here, but I have for long been under the impression that the trade between these two groups led to some kind of a game involving a club and a stationary ball being played on available land (the poor soils of the links, in which farmers were not interested) on the East coast of Scotland, but the tricky thing is that we do not have a written reference of a stationary ball being played into a hole until 1687, in Kincaid's Diary. So is that golf? What was the golf that James I referred to? Nobody seems to know?

[Dan King]

I don't know why I've never thought of this before, but in other parts of my life, when curious about the etymology of a word I go to The Oxford:

[Of obscure origin.
  Commonly supposed to be an adoption of Du. kolf, kolv- (= G. kolbe, ON. kólfr, etc.), ‘club’, the name of the stick, club, or bat, used in several games of the nature of tennis, croquet, hockey, etc. But none of the Dutch games have been convincingly identified with golf, nor is it certain that kolf was ever used to denote the game as well as the implement, though the game was and is called kolven (the infinitive of the derived vb.). Additional difficulty is caused by the absence of any Scottish forms with initial c or k, and by the fact that golf is mentioned much earlier than any of the Dutch sports. Some mod. Sc. dialects have gowf ‘a blow with the open hand’, also vb. to strike.

Edwin Roald writes:
What was the golf that James I referred to? Nobody seems to know?

Check out David Hamilton's theory in Scotland's Game -- Golf. While there is nothing that tells us what the game is James I forbid, Hamilton's theory of a common game of golf makes some sense.

Cheers,
Grandan King

If you have a big enough dictionary, just about everything is a word.
 --Dave Barry

[Rich Goodale]

I agree with Dan and Hamilton re: the theory that golf was a "common" game in the 15th century.  There were very few noblemen who would have played "futbol" or be required by the King to do archery practice.  Those were the avocations and vocations of the proles.

[archie_struthers]

 

Readings suggest that the Dutch "kolven" slang "kolf" was a starting point.

Perhaps better to look at the juxtaposed anagram backwards  

FLOG   !   LOL

[Forrest Richardson]

There is nothing but coincidence between "kolf" and "golf" in my opinon. Linguistics and other factors — spelling for example — pretty much divorce the two, although I admit the two modern spellings and pronunciations are very close.

In Routing the Golf Course, I cover the subject as follows:

While many believe the connection between the words golf and kolf to be compelling, the spellings of golf through medieval times varied widely. It was not uncommon for words to have significant spelling differences, even within the same document. Gowffe, gouffe, and golfe are but a few of the many examples.

In The Story of Golf, From Its Origins to the Present Day (1972), author Tom Scott offers some interesting thoughts on where the Scots may have come up with gouffe. Besides discussing its possible roots in kolf, Scott points out an old Scottish word, howffe, which meant “meeting place.” He makes an excellent case that in a country of varied dialects, such as Scotland, such a progression involving the sounds of “h” and “g,” would not be too unordinary. Golfers, after all, had to have places to meet, and golf links could very well have been named for this big-picture need. Interestingly, Scott does not connect howffe to the Dutch word hof, a word for “courtyard.” Perhaps this would only add fuel to the Dutch argument that golf might have come from their game kolven. It is also quite thought-provoking of Scott to call attention to the Scottish word gulfe, which means “bay.” Could there be a connection between these words? It would have been quite logical for the word golf to have roots in a word that describes land along the coast where golf had become popular.

[Adam Clayman]

but the tricky thing is that we do not have a written reference of a stationary ball being played into a hole until 1687, in Kincaid's Diary. So is that golf? What was the golf that James I referred to? Nobody seems to know?

Edwin,
 This is not a challenge of the above. The lore that I've heard was the original sport was played to specific objects, like a tree or a bush, with a rock.
Which leads to me asking you this...

I'm seeking confirmation on whether Thomas Klatt was the first recorded death from a golf ball in 1647.