As more golf courses were being built, they started to follow the lead of the home of golf. So in 1858 it was set in stone by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews by issuing a rule which stated, “One round of the Links, or 18 holes is reckoned a match, unless otherwise stipulated.”
Why are there 18 holes in golf? Well, it didn’t start out that way. Going back to the mid 1700’s to early 1800’s there was a mixture of layouts on golf courses with differing numbers of holes.
| Leith Links | 5 hole course played twice. Rumored to be the home of the first international golf contest. |
| St. Andrews Old Course | 12 hole course but because holes were laid out in a line, you would play out with 12 holes and play in with 10 holes, for a total of 22 holes. |
| Montrose Links | By the 1860’s was known to have 25 holes. 5th oldest golf course in the world. |
| Royal Blackheath Golf Club | Started as a 5 hole golf course. Known as the oldest golf club in the world going back to 1608. |
| Prestwick Golf Club | 12 hole layout in the mid 1800’s. Home of the first Open Championship. |
Why Are There 18 Holes in Golf?
By 1764, St. Andrews had turned into a course where 18 holes were played. No, not 18 different holes. In that year, the first 4 holes were deemed by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to be too short. So those 4 holes were converted to 2 holes. It was now 10 holes where 8 holes were played twice. To make a long story short, a round at the home of golf had become 18 holes.
Note that we said in 1764 St. Andrews inferred that a round of golf was 18 holes. However, there were golf courses being built at that time and later with their own vision of how many holes should be on a golf course or constitute a round. For example, Prestwick Golf Club played to 12 holes in 1851.
Yes, there is a legend which says it was determined that a round of golf shall be 18 holes because there are 18 shots in a bottle of scotch whiskey. Enough for a shot on each hole. Fortunately or unfortunately there is no truth to that legend.
Although St. Andrews committed to having 18 holes as a round in 1858, it took another 25 years to see approximately 18 golf courses which had an 18 hole golf course. Montrose Links had 25 holes in 1863 but they followed St. Andrews lead by playing contests with 18 holes. Prestwick Golf Club became an 18 hole golf course in 1891.
First 18 Hole Course In The United States?
For those interested in which was the first 18 hole golf course in the United States. Any guesses? Not quite in my backyard but not too far of a drive away. The Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, IL became the first 18 hole golf course in North America. Actually, at that time the course resided in Downers Grove, IL off of Belmont Road. The course initially started off as a 9 hole course but changed over to an 18 hole course in 1893. Only a couple of years later, the Chicago Golf Club moved to Wheaton, IL.
So what happened to the original site of The Chicago Golf Club? Well it was pared down to 9 holes and is known today as the Downers Grove Golf Club. In 2023 it will be re-branded as the Belmont Golf Club. The course is open to the public and has what is called the “Original Six” where holes 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 9 play with only minor modifications to what they looked like in the late 1800’s.
What Was The First 18 Hole Course in Canada?
I’ve been lucky enough to play this course some 30 plus years ago. The Victoria Golf Club in Victoria, B.C. is the oldest 18 hole course in Canada and was founded in 1893. As you play the course and finish the 6th hole, you ring a bell to let the oncoming group know that it is safe to hit. Now I’m told that besides being a historic golf course, it may be haunted as well. I didn’t need to know about that last part.
As an aside, I was lucky enough to visit the old course in St. Andrews on a coach tour in 2018. I remember the coach driver telling us that because it was Sunday the course was closed. My heart dropped. But he followed that up with, “because the course is closed, you are free to walk the course”. I spent an hour walking the course with tears in my eyes.