The origin of golf in Scotland differed from that in the United States. The extended daylight in the highlands of Scotland provided sufficient me for working men as well as upper class gentlemen to enjoy a round of golf, even after a full workday. While the US doesn’t enjoy the extended daylight found in northern climes, the Industrial Revolution resulted in a wealthy class that could enjoy leisure time.
In the early 1890s, while golf was enjoying dramatic growth in such cities as New York, Boston, and Chicago, Philadelphia’s elite were busy with its traditional pastimes such as cricket and equestrian sports. In the middle of the 1890s however, the seeds of golf began to take hold in the wealthy western and northern suburbs of Philadelphia. As in the UK, the growth of golf in the US followed the expansion of rail lines, In Philadelphia, the all-powerful Pennsylvania Railroad along the “Main Line” and the Reading Railroad to the north developed residential communities with amenities including golf and country clubs.
Competency in golf is difficult to attain, even in the modern era. In the Victorian era, with its hickory shafts and gutta percha balls and novice golfers had difficulty in simply getting the balls airborne. These early golf courses were rudimentary and hardly recognizable to us today – even more so than the equipment of the day.
Tee Box
Merion Cricket Club, 1890s
Once golf finally took hold in Philadelphia, the Lesley Cup, an intercity competition inaugurated in 1905 between Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston spurred a birth of creativity in golf course architecture. Philadelphians, being late to embrace golf had only rudimentary golf courses on which to hone their games and were soundly beaten by their rivals. The Philadelphia Country Club course, for example was played over steeple chase grounds with many of the obstacles in play. The results led the leading golfers in Philadelphia to determine that in order to develop golfers who could compete with the champions from Boston and New York, Philadelphia needed to develop modern championship golf courses and began to do so, first at the Merion Cricket Club and shortly thereafter at Pine Valley Golf Club.
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