Ch'ui Wan
Literally meaning "hitting ball", the first reference to it can be traced back to 943 A.D. The game is believed to have involved hitting a ball into a series of pits. It was apparently the favourite sport of the Emperor Huizong. One theory suggests that it was imported into Europe by tradesmen doing business in the Orient and it eventually evolved into colf.
Cambuca
A later derivative of paganica, it was a popular pastime around the 12th century A.D. in Britain. The ball was made of wood and it was played in very much the same way as modern golf.
Paganica
An early Roman game brought to Britain in around the 3rd century B.C.by invading Roman legions. The ball in paganica consisted of leather and feathers, and it was played with a bent stick similar to the ones used in early golf.
Chole
An ancient Flemish game that could possibly the genuine forerunner to golf. The ball is made of beechwood and is struck with clubs forged from rigid shafts and with iron heads. Still played occasionally in southern Belgium, it is a field game played by two rival teams. One of the team's objective will be to hit the ball towards a distant target which can be anything from a door to a tree. The team has three strokes to make progress before standing aside while the opposing team, known as the decholeurs, have a strike with which they attempt to dispatch the ball as far backwards as they possibly can. So the process goes on, three steps forward, one back.
Jeu de mail
A game with it's origins in Italy, it was taken up by the French and became especially widespread in the early 17th century. It went out of fashion some 100 years later but until 50 years ago, it remained a regular activity in southern France as jeu de mail à la chicane, a cross-country version of the game. The game has techniques very similar to golf and it was played on a court prepared specifically for it's play. It eventually arrived in England from France and it's name was translated into pall mall. The original course in London was laid out in what is now the busy thoroughfare of that name.
Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers
The distinction of being recongnized as the oldest golf club in the world falls to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, now based at Muirfeld on the Firth of Forth to the east of Ediburgh. It was however located at Leith in 1744, just outside the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. The club has maintained continuous records since it's inception, although the scene of it's activities was moved from Leith in 1831 to Musselburgh in 1836 and eventually to Muirfeld in 1891. In 1744, to mark the creation of the club, Edinburgh Town Council presented the Honourable Company with a silver club to be contested by the members. Thus the first club competition was born. John Rattray was the winner and hence became it's first captain.