Early Golf Societies and Early Women’s Golf

This chapter reviews the emergence of golf societies in the mid-eighteenth century and discusses the contentious issue of the relative antiquity of early Scottish and English golf societies. In addition, the emergence of women's golf is discussed. There is very little evidence of golf having been played by women prior to the nineteenth century and the earliest identified evidence of women playing golf in the eighteenth century is a newspaper article from 1738 concerning women playing golf on Bruntsfield Links. In contrast, claims relating to golf being played by Catherine of Aragon (1513) and the Countess of Mar (1638) can be dismissed and claims relating to Mary Queen of Scots (1542–87) have been shown to be either incorrect or questionable.