And the game is taking off in former communist countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Slovenia where new courses are under construction to add to the few already in operation. Historically, golf is a thoroughly European game. Scholars say it originated from a game known in eastern Scotland in the fifteenth century and was influenced by similar pastimes practiced in Holland and Belgium. Players using a stick or club would swat a small stone around a course of sand dunes and animal tracks. King Charles I of England helped spread golf around his realm in the sixteenth century, and Mary Queen of Scots introduced it to France.
Scholars say the word caddy evolved from cadet, the term for the queen's assistants.
In 1692, the Leith golf course, near Glasgow, Scotland, hosted the first international match between Scotland and England and, in 1744, was the first club to be organized. They want the history of these places and the challenge of the rougher, less-manicured links layout. And after a round they like a chat with the locals in the clubhouse bar and to sample the ale. Stanley says the rules of some of these historic courses, such as the requirement for coats and ties in the clubhouse and no women allowed on the fairways, may rankle some American visitors, but his clients tell him they like the speed of play in Europe compared to back home. And there are other differences in golf culture, says Nigel Burton, a British executive for a US company, who has played on both sides of the Atlantic and now makes his home in Spain.