Drawn from golf’s long history of fascinating stories, traditions, and little-known trivia, we highlight a selection you may not know, taking a closer look at the history behind each one. Visit our Facebook and Instagram pages for more facts from the fairways, and read on for our picks from the month of December.
Golf balls travel further on hot days
In hot, humid weather, a golf ball’s materials become more elastic and rebound off the clubface with greater speed, and the warmer, less-dense air creates less drag. Higher temperatures can also slightly increase clubhead speed as muscles loosen. The result is tee shots and long drives that can fly several extra yards, enough to change club selection and scoring during summer rounds. It’s no wonder golf is at its best in the heat.
Golf courses have 18 holes because of a layout change at St. Andrews
Common legend will tell you a golf course has 18 holes because that’s how many shots are in a fifth of Scotch whiskey, allowing the bottle to be emptied by the end of the round. But the truth isn’t as fun, and the number instead comes from a simple layout change St. Andrews made in 1764. The historic “home of golf” combined several short holes, reducing its layout from 22 to 18, and as the sport grew, other courses adopted the St. Andrews standard.
The longest playoff in pro golf history lasted 14 holes!
In 1976, at the Pepsi-Wilson Tournament on the Japan Tour, golfer Peter Thomson outlasted three challengers – Graham Marsh, Brian Jones and Shozo Miyamoto – after an epic 14-hole playoff to claim the title. Rain had reduced the course to 54 holes, and the five-time Open champion Thomson held his own throughout the long extra holes to set the record.
Shadow Creek in Las Vegas is the world’s most expensive golf course
Hidden in the Las Vegas desert, Shadow Creek is a Tom Fazio-designed course reserved for MGM Resort hotel guests only, costing around $1,250 per round. Players arrive by limousine before stepping onto a course featuring lush fairways, waterfalls, and mountain views. With limited tee times and unmatched privacy, Shadow Creek has built a reputation for luxury, exclusivity, and a truly elite golf experience unlike anywhere else in the world.
Before the invention of the golf tee, players built tees from piles of wet sand
Prior to 1899, when the modern golf tee first came about, courses supplied each hole with a box of wet sand from which golfers fashioned small raised mounds, either by hand or with a cone-shaped mold. This practice gave rise to the term “tee box.” It was an inconvenient and messy method that led to a desire for a better solution, which was found in the first patented wooden golf tees.
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