Golf is a sport that is played by over 4 million people across the British Isles, but how did it all begin and grow to become the tremendously popular game that it is today?

While Scotland is widely associated as the home and birthplace of golf, there is great debate about the earliest origins of the game. Some believe that it started in ancient Rome. Roman emperors allegedly played a relaxing game called paganica, using a bent stick to drive a soft, feather-stuffed ball. This game was then brought by them to Britain.

Over the next 5 centuries the game developed on several continents and eventually evolved into the popular Scottish game known as golfe. Various European countries had games resembling paganica - cambuca in England, jeu de mail in France, and in the Netherlands het kolven, which was played in the American colonies as early as 1657.

Golf's status and popularity quickly spread throughout the 16th century due to its royal endorsement. King Charles I popularised the game in England and Mary Queen of Scots introduced the game to France while she studied there. The term 'caddie' stems from the name given to her helpers who were the French Military, known in french as cadets.

It is in Scotland, however, that golf really took off. The first formal golf club, the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, now the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, was established in Edinburgh in 1744.

It's probably fair to say that golf is now played, to a lesser or greater degree, in most countries of the world. In Japan, for instance, golf is sometimes regarded as the national pastime. In China, golf's popularity is ever increasing and there are even golf courses being built in Kazakhstan. It's for this reason that you can now go on holidays which are specifically geared towards playing golf.