300BC - Chinese claim a form of golf was played.

1350 - "Chole" played in Flanders, Belgium.

1350 - "Kolfspel" played in Holland.

1400s - Featherie golf ball invented 175-200 yard capable ball, expensive.

1456 - King James of Scotland decree ban on golfe.

1470 - Scotland passes its second decree on golfe.

1491 - Scotland passes its last decree banning golfe.

1501 - King James IV has a set of clubs made.

1504 - First officially documented match between King James IV and Earl of Bothwell.

1553 - Archbishop of St. Andrew gives approval for people of Burgh to play golfe.

1567 - Mary, Queen of the Scots becomes avid golfer.

1620 - Feathery ball introduced replacing the hard wood balls.

1735 - The first Golf Club established - Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh.

1744 - April 2 - first Official Tournament played on the Links of Leith. Winner John Rattray. First 13 rules of golf written by the Gentlemen Golfers of Edinburgh.

1754 - St. Andrews Society of Fife, Scotland adopts rules with the exception of a ball must be dropped instead of teed when in watery lie. St. Andrews Society invents "stroke play" for it's first tournament. Royal and Ancient Golf Club established at St Andrews

1764 - Royal and Ancient reduces the number of hole from 22 to 18 holes, other clubs follow as the R&A becomes the games authority.

1766 - First English club established - Royal Blackheath Club.

1767 - James Durham for the Silver Club shot a record 94 at St. Andrews.

1770 - "Fore" is yelled for the first time by Scottish reformer John Knox as his ball flys toward other players.

1775 - Rule 6, touching of balls was revised to mean within six inches of each other, this created the "Stymie", in which the player furtherest from the hole had to go first even if the other ball was an obstacle in line with the hole.

1786 - The Crail Golfing Society of South Carolina, fails to last.

1829 - Royal Calcutta Club of India is first club outside of Briton.

1836 - Longest drive with a feathery ball recorded of 361 yards, by Monsieur Samuel Messieux, officially recorded on St.Andrews Old Course, Elysian Fields.

1845 - Reverend Robert Paterson invents the "Gutty" the Gutta-Percha ball, 175 yard maximum, can be molded, affordable.

1853 - John Cambell Stewart for the King William IV Gold Medal breaks record of 94 with a 90.

1856 - the Pau Club is the first club on mainland Europe.

1857 - First book on golf written - The Golfer's Manual by H.B Farnie.

1860 - On October 17th, the first Open Championship was played at Prestwick, located at Strathclyde, Scotland was won by Willie Park Sr.

1868 - The first recorded hole-in-one was by Young Tom Morris on Preswicks 8th hole during the Open Championship.

1870 - Australia's first club the Adelaide was formed

1873 - First Club formed in North America, Royal Montreal Club, Montreal, Canada.

1884 - Oakhurst Club in Virginia is formed does not last.

1887 - The Foxberg Golf Club claims to have formed, becoming first Golf Club in United States. First instruction book with photos is published - The Art of Golf by Sir Walter Simpson.

1888 - John Reid and Associates built 6 holes in Yonkers, N.Y. forming the St. Andrews Club claiming to be the first club in the United States.

1890 - First resort golf club opens, The Hotel Champlain in Bluff Point, New York.

1891 - Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, established.

1892 - Shinnecock Hills Golf Club builds the U.S.A's first club house and first club to have a waiting list.

1893 - Chicago Golf Club, U.S.A's first "designed" 18 hole course, by Charles Blair Macdonald.

1894 - U.S.G.A. (United States Golf Association) formed with charter members Newport Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, The Country Club (Brookline, Massachusetts), St. Andrew's Golf Club, and Chicago Golf Club. A.G. Spalding sells the first golf club made in the U.S.A.

1895 - Charles Blair Macdonald becomes U.S.A's first Amateur Champion, the next day the U.S.Open was played. Chicago Golf Club opens as first eighteen-hole golf club in America. First U.S. Open is played on October 4th, at Newport, Rhode Island. Won by Horace Rawlins with a $150 first prize. USGA forbids pool cue to be used by Richard Peters in the U.S. Amateur.Golf in America is the first book to be published in America by James Lee Van Cortlandt Park, opens as America's first public course.

1897 - "Golf" America's first golf magazine is published. Yale wins first collegiate golf championship.

1898 - The term "birdie" is coined by Ab Smith at the Atlantic City Country Club, when he says to a fellow member that was a "bird of a shot" and suggest a double payoff for the hole.

1899 - The Haskell ball is the first rubber cored golf ball invented by Corbin Haskell, Chemist from Cleveland , Ohio. George Grant was issued a patent fot the "golf tee". The Western Open begins, making it the second event in the United States.

1900 - Olympic games in Paris, Americans Charles Sands and Margaret Abbot win gold medals. Walter J. Travis only playing golf for three years wins the U.S.Amateur at age of 40.

1901 - First play-off in the U.S.A., between Willie Anderson and Alex Smith. Anderson won 85-86 in the 18 hole play-off. Walter J. Travis wins his second U.S.Amateur, becoming the first player to win a major using the Haskell ball. Over 1000 courses are now open in the U.S.A.

1902 - Alex Herd wins the British Open using a Haskell ball, wide acceptance follows.

1903 - Pinehurst opens its number 2 course, designed by Donald Ross.

1904 - Golf is played as an Olympic sport for the second time.

1905 - Willie Anderson wins is 3rd consecutive U.S. Open the only player to do so.

1908 - Because of a dispute an following boycott, their was only one entrant in the Olympics, Canadian George Lyons, golf never listed again as event.

1909 - William Howard Taft becomes U.S.A's first President to love golf.

1916 - Bobby Jones at age 14 plays in his first record tournament, U.S.Amateur.

1917 - Bobby Jones wins the Southern Open.

1920 - Alexa Stirling wins her third straight Women's Amateur.

1922 - Walter Hagen becomes the first professional to start a golf equipment company.

1923 - United States Professional Golfers Association approves steel golf shafts for play. Walter Hagen wins The Texas Open, golfs largest purse at $6,000.

1926 - Bobby Jones is the first the British Open and U.S. Open in the same year.

1927 - Walter Hagen wins his fourth consecutive PGA Championship. The first Ryder Cup match is held, the U.S. wins against Great Britain, 9-1/2 to 2-1/2, at Worcester Country Club, Massachusetts.

1928 - Cypress Point Golf Club opens in Pebble Beach, California.

1929 - The 20 year old Horton Smith enters professional golf, winning a sweep of four tournaments and a total of eight for the season.

1930 - Royal & Ancient approves steel golf shafts for play. Bobby Jones achieves the Grand Slam, with hickory shafts, and retires at the age of twenty eight. Modern golf ball era begins, 2-piece and 3- piece balls created.

1931 - U.S.G.A rules on the "big ball" 1.68" diameter.

1932 - Gene Sarazen invents and introduces the world to the "sand wedge." Gene wins the British Open and the U.S. Open with record score of 283 and 286, with a record 66 final round in the U.S.

1933 - Johnny Goodman is the fifth amateur to win the U.S.Open.

1934 - The Augusta National Invitational is played for first time, Horton Smith winner, Bobby Jones came out of retirement to play, the name change to the Masters Tournament the following year.

1935 - Gene Sarazen completed the first modern day Grand Slam, winning the Masters.

1937 - The first Bing Crosby national Pro-Am is held at Ranco Santa Fe in San Diego, moves to Pebble Beach in 1947.

1938 - Patty Berg wins the U.S. Women's Amateur at age twenty, after being runner up twice.

1943 - The effects of World War II reduces the PGA Tour down to three tournaments, the USGA cancels all championships and The Masters Tournament.

1944 - LPGA - Ladies Professional Golers Association is formed from the WPGA in the U.S.A.

1945 - Byron Nelson wins a record eleven straight tournaments from March through August. And a total of eighteen for the year.

1946 - Ben Hogan wins thirteen PGA Tour events, including the PGA Championships, loses The Masters and the U.S.Open by one stroke. The first U.S. Women's Open is held, the only one to be played under match play.

1947 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias is the first American to win the Ladies' British Open Amateur. Golf World magazine begins publishing. Bobby Locke wins six victories on his first year onn the PGA.

1949 - Sam Snead wins The Masters and the PGA Championship.

1951 - The Stymie was outlawed by the R&A and the U.S.G.A.

1952 - President Dwight D, Eisenhower plays often at Augusta National, his cottage is nicknamed "Little White House."

1953 - Ben Hogan wins The Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open. The U.S.Open is his fourth.

1954 - The U.S. Open is televised for the first time. Babe Zaharias wins the U.S. Women's Open by 12 strokes.

1955 - Arnold Palmer breaks through, winning his first professional victory, the Canadian Open. Mike Souchak wins the Texas Open with a 72 hole PGA record total of 257. Life Magazine pays Ben Hogan $20,000 for his "secret" of how he eliminated his hook.

1956 - Jack Burke, Jr wins the PGA Championship and The Masters, which he made a 8 shot decicit to overcome amateur Ken Venturi.

1957 - Bobby Locke wins his fourth British Open with a 279 tying the record.

1958 - Arnold Palmer wins his first Masters.

1959 - Golf magazine begins publishing. Jack Nicklaus wins the U.S. Amateur.

1960 - Arnold Palmer wins his second Masters.

1961 - Jack Nicklaus wins the U.S. Amateur and NCAA Championship, turns professional. Mickey Wright wins three majors - the U.S. Women's Open, LPGA Championship, and the Titleholders, she wins ten total events in all.

1962 - Jack Nicklaus wins his first tournament, the U.S. Open, first of four times ('62 '67 '72 '80)

1963 - Bob Charles becomes first "leftie" to win a major, claiming the British Open. Jack Nicklaus wins his first of six Masters championships ('63 '65 '66 '72 '75 '86) and wins the PGA Championship his first of five PGAs ('63 '71 '73 '75 '80)

1964 - Mickey Wright wins her fourth U.S. Women's Open, and a total of eleven tournaments for the year. She also plays a LPGA eighteen hole record of 62.

1965 - Sam Snead wins his 81st and final PGA Tour victory. in the Greensboro Open, also with the victory becomes the oldest winner ever at 52 years, ten months. Peter Thomson wins his fifth British Open.

1966 - Jack Nicklaus winning the British Open becomes the fourth player to Grand Slam all four majors. Jack also wins back-to-back Masters, for a total of three Masters.

1968 - Lee Trevino is the first player to break seventy on all four rounds in the U.S. Open, scoring a 275. Arnold Palmer becomes the first player to reach the 1 million in earnings mark.

1969 - JoAnne Carner is the last amateur to win an LPGA Tour event.

1971 - European PGA Tour begins. Jack Nicklaus winning the PGA Championship becomes first player to win all the majors twice!

1972 - Jack Nicklaus winning The Masters and U.S.Open is stop by Lee Trevino in winning the British Open, thus fails to achieve the Grand Slam.

1973 - Tom Weiskopf wins five tournaments including the British Open in a two-month stretch.

1974 - "Big ball" ( 1.68" diameter) became mandatory ruling by the R&A for the Open Championship.

1975 - Amy Alcott wins her third tour event at the age of 19. Jack Nicklaus wins his fifth Masters and fourth PGA Championship. Lee Elder becomes the first African-American to play in The Masters.

1976 - Jerry Pate plays in his first U.S. Open and wins!

1977 - Tom Watson outshoots Jack Nicklaus in the British Open and Masters, with a record 268 for the Open.

1978 - Nancy Lopez wins five tournaments in a row, and nine in all in her first season. Legends of Golf introduced leading to formation of Senior Tour.

1979 - Sam Snead at 67 years of age shoots a 66 during the Quad Cities Open. Taylor Made introduces its first metal wood.

1979 - Fuzzy Zoeller plays in his first Masters, and wins!

1980 - The USGA adds the U.S. Senior Open the its list of championships. Jack Nicklaus wins his fourth U.S.Open and fifth PGA Championship at the age of 40.

1981 - Kathy Whitworth is first LPGA player to reach the 1 million dollar mark in earnings.

1982 - Tom Watson wins his only U.S.Open beating Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach.

1986 - Jack Nicklaus wins his sixth Masters at 46, Ray Floyd wins the U.S. Open at 43. Nick Price arrives on the scene breaking the Masters 18 hole record with a 63.

1988 - Seve Ballesteros wins his third British Open, one of seven victories in seven different countries.

1989 - First golf course opened in the former Soviet Union.

1990 - Hale Irwin, at forty five years old, becomes the oldest U.S. Open winner. He is the first player to take the U.S. Open into sudden death after he ties Mike Donald in an eighteen hole playoff. Nick Faldo become first player since Nicklaus ('65-'66 victories) to win back to back Masters. R&A outlawed smaller 1.62 diameter ball, making the 1.68 ball the standard for the world. Phil Mickelson wins the U.S. Amateur and NCAA Championship, accomplished last by Jack Nicklaus in 1961.

1991 - John Daly plays in his first PGA Championship and wins! Phil Mickelson wins the his first tour event at the age of twenty. Oversized metal woods hit the market, with the Callaway Big Bertha as number one. Chip Beck ties Al Geiberger's PGA Tour record of 59 at the Las Vegas Invitational.

1993 - Greg Norman wins his second British Open with a 267 record. Berhard Langer win his second Masters. Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Junior Amateur for the third straight time.

1994 - Ernie Els plays in his first U.S. Open, and wins!

1997 - Tiger Woods wins the Masters, his first Major as a professional.

1998 - Mark O'Meara wins both, the Masters and the British Open. Se Ri Pak wins 2 majors, best LPGA rookie start in 15 years.