Thursday, January 19, 2006

Chinese Discovered Golf -- Holy Scot!!

According to Professor Ling Hongling of Lanzhou University, the Chinese invented the game of golf more than 500 years before the Scots. Then, Mongolian travellers took the game to Europe.

The game was written about in the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) and was called chuiwan - 'chui' meaning to hit and 'wan' meaning ball. Players used ten clubs, including a 'cuanbang' (known today as a driver), and a 'shaobang' (a three wood). Chinese royalty inlaid their clubs with jade, edged them with gold and decorated the shafts elaborately.

The next time I tee it up, I'll pay reverence to my ancestors for the game, but wished I had their clubs instead.

1 comment:

Suzanne Woo said...

Whether the Scots or Chinese, the game was surely invented by nobility with time and land to spare.