Golf has been played in this country since at least 1457. That is at least the first written record we have of it, and so many people played back then that King James II passed a law banning the game. So we can give golf at least another couple of decades. It is fair to say that it is an established pastime.

Golf has changed quite a bit over the centuries and the early pioneers who incurred Jimmy’s displeasure would be amazed to see golf today. Golf is no longer played by just a few hundred, maybe a few thousand archery slackers. It is played by 65 million people around the world.