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Golf in Scotland was first recorded in the 15th century, and the modern game of golf was first developed and established in the country. The game plays a key role in the national sporting consciousness. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, known as the R&A, is the world governing body for the game (except in the United States and Mexico). The Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association was founded in 1904 and the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) in 1920. They merged in 2015 into a new organization, Scottish Golf. To many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, an ancient links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage.〔Cochrane, Alistair (ed) ''Science and Golf IV: proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf''. Page 849. Routledge.〕 There are many other famous golf courses in Scotland, including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Muirfield, Balcomie and Royal Troon. The world's first Open Championship was held at Prestwick in 1860, and Scots golfers have the most victories at the Open at 42 wins, one ahead of the United States. Although golf is often seen as an elitist sport elsewhere in the world, in the land of its birth it enjoys widespread appeal across the social spectrum, in line with the country's egalitarian tradition. For example, the Old Course at St Andrews and Musselburgh Links are public courses. Council-owned courses, with low fees and easy access, are common throughout the country wherever demography and geography allow. Therefore, golf courses, whether public or private, are far more common in the Lowlands than in the Highlands and Islands, where shinty (a game which may share a common ancestry with golf)〔 〕 is often the traditional sport. Scotland is widely promoted as the Scotland has 578 courses () which are liberally divided among its ten regions. The highest concentrations are around Glasgow (94 courses) and Edinburgh (67 courses), since these two cities and their environs account for the bulk of the population. But the other districts still average about 40 courses each. Even the distant northern islands have 14 options. Such largesse is possible because Scotland boasts more courses per head of population than any other country.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Scottish Golf )〕 ==Etymology== The word ''golf'' was first recorded in the 15th century, appearing twice in an Act of the Scots Parliament of 6 March 1457, in the reign of James II. The Act, which ordered the holding of ''wappenschaws'' ((英語:musterings)) four times a year for the purpose of archery practice, stated that "the fut bal ande the golf" (football and golf) were to be "vtterly criyt done" (''condemned''; lit. "cried down") and "nocht vsyt" (''not engaged in''; lit. "not used"). Offenders were to be punished by the barony courts, otherwise they were "to be tane be the kingis officiaris" (''arrested by the king's officers''). Football (see Football in Scotland) and golf are again both explicitly named and forbidden in two further 15th century Scottish statutes encouraging archery practice, in 1470 and 1491. The 1470 Act, in the reign of James III, again uses the spelling ''golf'', but the 1491 Act, in the reign of James IV, spells it ''gouff'';〔(James IV: Manuscript, 1491, 28 April, Edinburgh, Parliament, Parliamentary Register, 18 May 1491 )〕 and variants such as ''gowf'', ''gowff'', ''gouf'' became the usual spellings during the Early Modern Period. The Scottish National Dictionary states that "''golf'' represents a revival of the Middle Scots form; Loudoun Gowf Club, Newmilns, retains the old form in its title";〔(Gowf ), Dictionary of the Scots Language, accessed 2008-12-05〕 i.e. the spelling changed from Medieval ''golf'' to Early Modern ''gowf'', and then back again. The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue gives the etymology of the word ''golf'' or ''gouf'' (with many alternative spellings) as probably from the Dutch ''kolf'' (see Kolven, a Dutch indoor ballgame); although the dictionary also records the noun ''golf'' (with alternative spellings ''golfe'' or ''golph'') as deriving from Middle English ''golf'' or ''goulf'' or Old French ''golfe'', meaning "a deep pool or hollow; an abyss"; a cognate of modern English ''gulf''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Golf in Scotland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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