The first game of golf was played in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1456, but it took awhile for manufacturers to develop products for the sport. In fact, about 450 years passed before companies noticed its popularity.

Though the the first permanent golf course originated in Scotland, as did the first written rules, and the 18-hole course, it was good ol’ American ingenuity to grab the first slice of the golf industry pie.

The oldest golf companies aren’t off course when they insist on claiming the title of “most innovative.” The firms who invested early on changed the way amateurs and pros play the game today. A 1927 ad stated that “Spalding Discovered That ‘Mild Steel’ Banishes Finger Fatigue.” In 1922, The Wilson Sporting Goods Company added golfer Gene Sarazen to its advisory board, beginning a 75-year relationship. The legendary Dunlop “65″ golf ball was number one for an unprecedented 50 years. And though MacGregor Golf sounds a tad Scottish, the 110-year-old company is based in Albany, Georgia, and has always modeled its products on emerging technology.

Contemporary companies came into the manufacturing game with materials unknown in the 20th century, developing products that the trail blazers couldn’t have imagined. But being one of the firsts has its rewards — how many brands can brag about financially backing legends Patty Berg and Babe Didrickson Zaharis to found the new women’s PGA? (Wilson, 1948.) Or how about working for a company started by a Hall-Of-Fame baseball pitcher, who developed the first dimpled golf ball? (Spalding, raising the bar in golf ball engineering.)

Those first brands continue a mission that still drives the golf market: Stay the course with high standards.

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The Oldest Golf Companies

Being a professional golfer seems like a pretty sweet job. You get to play golf constantly, you play in catered tournaments where everything is taken care of for you, and you make millions of dollars a year in prize winnings and endorsements. That would be true if that was every professional golfer. The fact is that what was just described is a very small percentage of golfers.

Most golfers have to get sponsors to help them pay travel and lodging fees and most golfers are not making millions of dollars a year. That is not to say you cannot make a decent living as a professional golfer because you can, but it is not all the fairy tales people make it out to be.

Let’s look at the final money standings for the 2008 PGA Tour as an example. The top 104 players listed on the money list for 2008 made a million dollars or more. Vijay Singh tops the list at $6,601,094. However the next 158 players listed did not make a million dollars and more than 40 players did not even crack the $100,000 mark for the season. An example of what can happen to a golfer is the 2008 story of Travis Perkins. Travis played in 23 tournaments which is the same as money leader Vijay Singh but Perkins only made $36,583. As you can see it is not always millions of dollars and a life of luxury.

In the world of golf Tiger Woods is always treated as a whole different entity and there are many reasons for that. One reason Woods is regarded so highly by the other players on the PGA Tour is his money results for 2008. Tiger was injured for almost half the season so he did not play as much as he normally does. Tiger finished second to Vijay Singh on the money list with a total of $5,775,000. That is a remarkable number when you consider he was injured but what makes that number so remarkable is that Tiger only played in 6 tournaments all season long. That is just one reason why Tiger Woods is the main attraction in the PGA.

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How Much Money Do Professional Golfers Make?

If you are a golf enthusiast and have an avid love for the game, give yourself bragging rights by saying you’ve visited one or more of the most prestigious golf courses in the United States! Your friends will be envious, and you’ll have an experience of a lifetime.

Clementon, New Jersey, holds the number one spot on Golf Connoisseur’s list, “The Most Prestigious Private Clubs in America”, with the Pine Valley Golf Club. The course is 623 acres of greens and woodland and is one of the most challenging for even the experienced golfer, requiring use of most, if not all, of the clubs in your golf bag for all of the holes. You can play the regular 18-hole course, or a short 10-hole course. Pine Valley features its own police department. Membership into the club comes directly from the board of directors only.

The Burning Tree Club, in Bethesda, Maryland, is 18-holes on 6,400 yards and has played host to several presidents, members of Congress, military leaders, foreign dignitaries, the Department of Defense, and more. An all-male club that has a strict no-women policy and does not allow liquor on the premises, it also has a no-guest policy, so membership is through strict invitation-only approval.

Wheaton, Illinois, is home to the Chicago Golf Club, the oldest 18-hole golf course in North America. There are only a little over one hundred total members for this prestigious club, which is the fifth most exclusive in the world. Featuring 6,574 yards of greens on bent grass, the course is designed so both nines work in a clockwise fashion, which is unusual.

Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, has played host to more championships than any other American course, with eight U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, two U.S Women’s Opens, and five U.S. Amateurs under its belt. With 210 bunkers, tight fairways and slick greens, it’s quite possibly the most difficult golf course in North America. Golf great Jack Nicklaus won the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont, which will be hosting the Women’s Open in 2010. Oakmont also requires a dress code that prohibits jeans and requires collared shirts when on the grounds. If you can’t finish a round of golf in under four hours, this may not be the course for you.

Another good private club would be the Fishers Island Club, in Fishers Island, New York. The island is only two miles wide and eight miles long, and being surrounded by water gives every hole a breathtaking view of the watershed. With 6,556 yards of brutal bunkers and rough greens, the only way to play this challenging course is by friending an already-existing member of the Fishers Island Club.

Keep playing, and someday you may be invited to some of these fantastic courses.

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The Most Prestigious Private Golf Courses in America

Next time you meet up with a golfer, it does not matter if they are a pro or a weekend warrior, you should try a little survey to see how they feel about some of their equipment. Ask them if they think they could play a round without their 5 iron and they would probably indicate they could. Ask them if they think they could get by without their 3 wood and they may have to think for a moment but more than likely they will indicate that they could get by without the long fairway wood. Then ask them if they think they could play a round without their golf bag and you would probably get the longest blank stare you ever received in your life.

A golfer’s golf bag is like their office on the golf course. It carries all of their equipment, it is the place they hide the secrets to their game, it is the place where they keep the all important bottle of water, and it can also double as a comfortable seat while you are waiting for your playing partner to finally make contact with their second shot on the fairway of a par 5. The golf bag is what protects their thousand dollar golf club set from the elements and it is also what keeps all of those clubs organized.

Most golfers can look into their bag and tell right away when something is wrong. A quick glance at the golf bag and it can be determined that the putter is not where it is supposed to be and that is because the putter is still sitting on the last green. Every golfer knows the arrangement of his golf bag like he knows the arrangement of his shaving cream, razor, and after shave on the back of the kitchen sink. A golfer cannot golf without his golf bag and you would be hard pressed to find any golfer that would even try such a feat. A golf bag can also become the golfer’s artistic statement as they sometimes have designs stitched into their golf bag to show their allegiance to one company or another or one PGA touring pro or another. A golfer’s golf bag is very essential equipment.

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The Importance of a Golf Bag

If you’re planning a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and are an avid golf enthusiast, then you definitely need to check out some of the hottest places to golf in the Myrtle Beach area. Here’s a rundown of some of the best.

TPC of Myrtle Beach is on of the top courses, with its claim to fame being the host of the Senior Tour Championship. The course itself, with beautifully manicured fairways and greens that wind through the pines and waters of the area, lets people feel the luxury of playing on a course that professionals and stars of the golf have also toured. When you’re done with a day of walking the course, TPC offers a luxury clubhouse for those wishing to relax and feel pampered.

Blackmoor is a wonderfully designed course with breathtaking scenery, designed by Gary Player. The course is built on the Longwood Plantation. right next to the Waccamaw River in Myrtle Beach. The course might be a little more challenging than others because of the greens and natural settings, but is indeed a fun time for everyone that loves the sport of golf. Be sure to check out the clubhouse when you’re finished, the staff is very friendly and recommended highly.

For a truly enjoyable, highly challenging and unique experience, there’s no place like the River Club, which has two holes on the course featured in the book, “The 100 Greatest Holes Along the Grand Strand.” Of the 18 holes, 15 of them feautre water, and the course also boasts over 100 sand traps and bunkers along the way. The River Club course offers bent greens, and is one of the only golf courses in the south strand of the Grand Strand to have this unique feature.

Lastly, don’t forget to try the course at Waterway Hills, where reaching the course itself requires a gondola ride across the Intracoastal Waterway. Featuring 27 beautiful holes amongst the rolling holls and beautifully landscaped terrain leave no wonder to why creator Robert Trent Jones is dubbed the Dean of Golf Architecture. Breathtaking scenery will leave you wanting more, more, more!

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The Best Myrtle Beach Golf Courses

Riding around on the golf cart sure does make playing 18 in the hot sun a lot easier. But when did these wonderful creations enter the world of golf?

The golf cart has its origins in the gas rationing of World War II and the technology that started to be developed because of gas rationing. During World War II the United States government instituted a policy of gas rationing so that there could be more fuel available for the armed forces. This necessitated the creation of electronically powered vehicles but the technology was never totally perfected during the war years. Immediately following the war a gentleman named Merle Williams was able to perfect the technology and began to introduce the first electronic golf cart.

Williams and his Markateer Company put out the first electronic golf cart in 1951 out of his company’s Redlands, California headquarters. The terminology is actually a bit off center as these are actually golf cars. Carts are devices that are pulled by some other source of propulsion and cars are self propelled vehicles. After years of marketing and sales confusion the term golf cart has continued to stick and even though most golf cars are marked as such.

One of the more popular names in the golf cart industry is E-Z-Go. The E-Z-Go company got into the golf cart game early with the introduction of their first electronic golf cart in 1954. Subsequently companies such as Cushman and Harley Davidson also entered the fray and suddenly there was a competitive and booming golf cart market.

Electronic golf carts, while easy to maintain and recharge, lacked some of the power needed to navigate some of the golf courses of the world so in the early 1970’s the gas powered golf cart was introduced and the gas powered cart has come to be the more popular of the two types.

Golf carts are now found in more places than just golf courses. As their popularity grows the uses of the golf cart are becoming endless. Businesses ranging from gated communities to large football stadiums own a fleet of golf carts and it looks like their popularity has no end in sight.

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The History of the Golf Cart

There has been plenty of controversy over steroids in some of the other major sports. Are golfers using too?

The game of golf has been around for at least 500 years but reached great popularity in the United States in the early 1920’s. Golf is a game where special clubs are used to hit a small ball from a starting point through a series of holes in as few strokes as possible.

As with any physically taxing sport, the question of steroid use will arise. Although there are no substantiated cases of steroid use in Professional Golf, many players say it is a very real possibility. Use of steroids in other sports and the insistence of medical experts that steroids enhance performance, have many believing that steroids will inevitably reach pro golf.

Although golf is considered a sport of mental endurance it requires a certain amount of physical ability. Let’s face it, the stronger the individual, the more power they could put into a swing. Steroids, being performance enhancing drugs and muscle builders, could in fact give any athlete an advantage in a sport where power and stamina was needed.

Mark Twain defined golf as “A good walk spoiled”. Golf requires a person to walk in start stop periods through a course of at least 9 holes and this walk can be very taxing on the knees and back of the athlete. Building stamina through steroid use could be said to help with this but then again, this would require the athlete to seek medical attention and the doctor would have to prescribe legal steroids. These steroids however are not to be prescribed for muscle enhancement.

In all actuality, steroid use in golf is about as likely as steroid use in chess. Golf is still considered a gentleman’s sport and although some rumors have found their way into locker rooms and country clubs, there is no known steroid use in golf. It is also highly unlikely that a professional golfer would resort to the use of steroids, not only because of the Doping Law in sports but also because steroid use does not improve agility or skill, the 2 most important factors in golf.

While some athletes persist in taking steroids, believing that they provide a competitive advantage, the fact is that steroid use in sports is illegal can cause serious life threatening physical and psychological side effects.

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Steroids in Golf

Unsure of what it really means to wear that green jacket? Read on for more info about one of the most prestigious events in all of sports.

The Masters golf tournament is considered to be the most historically significant major tournament in the history of the PGA. The Masters started in 1934. At the time there were fewer players in the field of course. Now there are seventeen different ways you can now qualify for the tournament. You have upset stories like a kid from Cedar Rapids, Iowa in Zach Johnson or you have two legends like Palmer and Nicklaus winning championships year after year to further cement their supremacy among the pantheon of great golfers. Nicklaus was the oldest golf to ever win the Masters of course at age 46. Nicklaus has now ostensibly retired from competitive golf, occasionally playing in a Skins game.

The majestic feeling that people get when they walk the course at Augusta National is something that you can realize at the Masters. Jim Nantz of CBS Sports often talks about the magic of walking up the eighteenth green for a guy who is about to put on that green jacket. Nantz also often talks about how exciting it is for him to call that final put as a broadcaster in a close final round on Sunday.

Augusta National has a lot of great and tragic in the golf world sense moments. Tiger Woods winning his first Masters and continuing his meteoric rise to be one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. The opposite side of the coin is of course Greg Norman’s epic collapse in the final round during the 1986 Masters. Turning a six shot lead into a five hole deficit shows how quickly your fortunes can turn at the Masters. I don’t know if Norman will come back to play again this year, given his schedule as a successful real estate investor. The Masters brass would probably let him play under some sort of exemption.

You can see great players who have struggled to win majors like Phil Mickelson finally reach the mountain top and get that first major win. Putting that green jacket on had Phil looking like a one thousand pound gorilla had just been lifted off his shoulders. The green jackets were actually not awarded until 1949. Sam Snead won the tournament that year. Last year the tournament provided to be a David versus Goliath situation as Trevor Immelman held off Tiger Woods.

Several past champions who will not be participating this year are Nick Faldo and Doug Ford. Faldo in particular can still play some pretty competitive golf so it is a shame he won’t be participating. Nick Faldo has won the Master three times which is quite an impressive feat, given that he has only nine PGA Tour wins in his career. That number of wins sounds like a little bit deflated because of his 27 wins on the European Tour over the span of his career.

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What Is The Masters?

A lot goes into the design and build of a high quality golf club. What goes into the process of making one of our trusty clubs? Read on for more.

Golf clubs can be made of many different kinds of materials, such as wood, metal or plastic. The shaft of a golf club is generally made from steel or titanium, but can also be made with aluminum or epoxy. The head of a golf club is typically made from steel or titanium as well, but some club heads still use real wood. The process for making golf clubs varies according to manufacturer, but all use either machine-tools or hand-tools to craft a quality club.

First, a tree needs to be formed for the club head, and this is done with hot wax poured into a die mold the size and shape of the club head. When this is finished, the die is opened and the wax is taken out, and the process repeats itself. Several of the wax patterns inside of the die are attached to a column to make a tree, which is then submerged in a solution of chemicals and gelling compounds and set aside to harden.

Once the die mold of the club head is hardened, it’s heated to extreme temperatures to melt the wax, which then runs out of the mold until the residue dissipates. The mold is then turned inside-out, and hot, melted steel (or whatever material is preferred) is poured in and allowed to harden. Once cooled, the mold is broken off the tree and ready to be sanded and finished.

Next, the shaft is made by pouring molten metal through tubing until the desired shape and length is formed. It’s then attached to the club head by either pins inserted through the socket on the head and the shaft, or by adhesive bonding the two together. A rubber grip is then molded around the other end of the shaft, and logos applied, if necessary.

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How A Golf Club Is Made

Why are some golf clubs called woods when they are clearly not made of wood? There is a simple answer to this. Read on to find out.

Progress and change sometimes collide with tradition to create confusion in today’s world. Such is the case with the terminology used to describe golf clubs. Golf clubs have had several changes in terminology and some of those changes have made things easier and others have made things a bit confusing. For example, the question continually comes up as to why some golf clubs are called woods when they are clearly not made of wood?

In sports equipment evolves and changes all the time and what was the old way of doing things usually gets replaced with a new way. Wooden sports equipment no matter how sturdy and well built decays and becomes useless over time. That is why college baseball bats are made of metal now as opposed to wood. Hockey sticks from the pee wee divisions all the way up to the National Hockey League now consist of metal shafts with replaceable wooden blades. The same has happened to golf.

When golf clubs were first created and started to become more refined in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s the shorter range clubs like the pitching wedge had heads made of iron and the longer range clubs like the driver had heads made of wood. When golfers referred to their clubs they referred to them as irons or woods. Over the years the heads of the longer range clubs started to get made mostly of metal but, because golf is a game of tradition, the name woods has stuck and remained after all of these years.

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Why is a Golf Club Called a Wood When its Not Made of Wood!?