3,257
edits
Changes
→Modernization of the Game
A key change came with the beginning of the British Open, first called the Open Championship. It was first a 36-hole tournament that later extended to 72 holes, which is what it is today. In 1864, the first prize money was awarded, which led to the development of professional golf players. The tournament began to rotate between St. Andrews and Musselburgh, two of the old golf clubs and grounds that were already popular in the 18th century.
The game did begin to spread to other countries such as Canada during the late 18th and throughout the early 19th centuries. In the United States, while golf has its origins in the late 18th century, it remained largely unpopular for much of the 19th century. Only by the 1880s, a Scottish immigrant by the name of John Reid established a golf course at Yonkers, New York. Soon English and Scottish immigrants spread the sport throughout much of the eastern United States. By the 1890s, the sport's popularity grew rapidly and the first official organization was established in 1894 as the Amateur Golf Association of the United States, which later was called the United States Golf Association (USGA). The US soon developed its own tournaments and the US Open and British Open became the two most prominent tournaments by 1900. Harry Vardon. an English player, was one of the sports first professional stars, dominating in tournaments in the UK and US.
==The Game Today==
