Morris on what is actually true

Golf facts with a source, and five without

Golf collects 'facts' the way a bag collects tees. Here are the ones a document supports, grouped by what they are about, and at the end the five everyone repeats that no source does.

Short answer: 1457, banned for distracting archers. 14 clubs, 48 inches, 460 cc, a putter under 10 degrees. 18 holes because St Andrews cut 22 down. Handicap Index: the lowest 8 of your last 20. Tour driver: 282 yards of carry at 115 mph. Two golf balls hit on the Moon in 1971. And no, Mark Twain did not say golf is a good walk spoiled.

By Morris, by Badgie Golf · Updated 9 October 2026

History

Fact	Source
Golf's first written mention is a ban: the Scottish Parliament of 1457, because it distracted men from archery.	National Library of Scotland
The ban was restated in 1471 and 1491, and by 1502 the king himself was buying clubs.	National Library of Scotland
The St Andrews links were reserved for golf by a charter of 1552.	National Library of Scotland; The R&A
The first written rules were 13 articles for a competition at Leith in 1744.	National Library of Scotland
The R&A's club was founded on 14 May 1754; 'Royal and Ancient' came with William IV in 1834.	The R&A
18 holes: St Andrews reduced its course from 22 and everyone followed.	The R&A
A bystander was killed by a golf ball at Kelso in 1632: the oldest reason to shout fore.	National Library of Scotland
The first printed book entirely about golf is a poem, 'The Goff', of 1743.	National Library of Scotland

Rules and equipment

Fact	Source
You may carry 14 clubs; a 15th costs two strokes a hole in stroke play, four at most.	R&A Rule 4.1b
A club (except a putter) is at most 48 inches long and at least 18.	Equipment Rules 2.1c
A driver head may not exceed 460 cc (plus 10 cc tolerance).	Equipment Rules 2.4b
A putter is a club with loft of at most 10 degrees.	Equipment Rules 2.1a
Grooves have a maximum width (0.035 in) and depth (0.020 in): a worn wedge spins less, not more.	Equipment Rules 2.5c
Your Handicap Index is the average of the lowest 8 of your most recent 20 Score Differentials.	Rules of Handicapping 5.2b
Course Handicap = Index × (Slope ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − par).	Rules of Handicapping 6.1
In Stableford, a net albatross is worth 5 points and a net double bogey 0.	Rules of Golf 21.1b

Words

Fact	Source
'Birdie' is American slang from Atlantic City around 1903, when a 'bird' was anything excellent.	Scottish Golf History
'Bogey' was first the score a good golfer should make, a fictional opponent named after a music-hall 'Bogey man' in the 1890s.	Scottish Golf History
'Par' was first used in golf in 1870 for the score that would win the Open at Prestwick.	Scottish Golf History
'Albatross' is a British term from around 1929; Americans say double eagle.	Scottish Golf History

Numbers

Fact	Source
PGA Tour players carried the driver 282 yards on average in 2023, at 115 mph club speed and 171 mph ball speed.	TrackMan
LPGA Tour players: 223 yards at 96 mph.	TrackMan
A tour 7-iron carries 176 yards (PGA) and 143 (LPGA).	TrackMan
Strokes gained scores every shot against the tour average from that spot; 'around the green' is within 30 yards of the edge.	PGA TOUR
In 1971 Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the Moon with a 6-iron head on a sampling tool, one-handed in his suit.	NASA

Five 'facts' with no source

The claim	What the record says
18 holes because a bottle of whisky has 18 measures	St Andrews cut 22 holes to 18; the whisky is a joke.
Mark Twain said golf is a good walk spoiled	Earliest version 1897, anonymous; first linked to Twain in 1948, after his death.
Mary, Queen of Scots, coined 'caddie'	An accusation of 1567 about her playing, no record of the word; 'caddie' is from 'cadet', an 18th-century errand boy.
Gary Player coined 'the harder I practice, the luckier I get'	Player himself credited Jerry Barber in 1962; the saying is older than both.
Churchill defined golf as hitting a small ball into a smaller hole with ill-designed weapons	Printed in Punch in 1892 by an anonymous 'duffer'; the Churchill link is a 1974 radio broadcast.

More of the game’s story with its documents: the history of golf, famous quotes and who said them and the trivia quiz.

Sources

National Library of Scotland — Early moments in Scottish golf — Read 9 October 2026.
The R&A — Rules of Golf, Rule 4 — 14 clubs. Read 9 October 2026.
The R&A — Equipment Rules, Part 2 — 48 inches, 460 cc, putter loft, grooves. Read 9 October 2026.
The R&A — Rules of Handicapping, Rule 5 — Lowest 8 of 20. Read 9 October 2026.
The R&A — Playing golf in St Andrews — 22 holes to 18. Read 9 October 2026.
Scottish Golf History — origin of golf terms — Birdie, bogey, par, albatross. Read 9 October 2026.
TrackMan — 2023 PGA and LPGA Tour averages — Read 9 October 2026.
Quote Investigator — A good walk spoiled — Read 9 October 2026.
NASA — Apollo 14 — Read 9 October 2026.
PGA TOUR — Strokes gained: how it works — Read 9 October 2026.

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Fact questions

What are some fun facts about golf?

Golf was banned in Scotland in 1457 for distracting archers; a driver head may not exceed 460 cc and a shaft 48 inches; you may carry 14 clubs; a Handicap Index is the lowest 8 of your last 20 rounds; PGA Tour players carry the driver 282 yards on average at 115 mph; and in 1971 Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the Moon with a 6-iron head on a sampling tool.

Is it true that 18 holes come from a bottle of whisky?

No. St Andrews reduced its course from 22 holes to 18 and the rest of the world copied the home of golf. The whisky story (18 measures in a bottle, one per hole) is a joke that became a 'fact'.

Did Mark Twain say golf is a good walk spoiled?

Almost certainly not. The earliest known version is in a London paper of 1897, attributed to no one in particular, and the first link to Twain appears in 1948, thirty-eight years after he died.

Did Mary, Queen of Scots, invent the word caddie?

No source supports it. The word comes from 'cadet' and was used in 18th-century Scottish towns for a porter or errand boy; the caddies of Edinburgh had a society with rules and fees by 1711. The 1567 story about Mary playing golf is an accusation by her enemies, not a record.

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