Chandigarh : The origin of the game of golf is unclear and remains a much debated subject. However, it is generally accepted that modern golf developed in Scotland around the Middle Ages. The game did not find international popularity until the late 19th century, when it spread into the rest of the United Kingdom and then to the commonwealth countries.
The weather in Scotland is very unpredictable and changes very quickly from hot to cold. At times one can experience all four seasons of the year during the course of just one day. However, there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes to beat the weather ! Every one always dresses up formally.
Scotland has beautiful small localities with aristocratic bungalows and lot of free space in between them. There are huge lush green meadows with palm trees. Since the distance from one house to other house is considerable, it involved long lone walks and people would play with little bent wooden sticks to hit the pebbles in the way. This gained popularity and gradually everyone tried to master with his pebble and stick .
It's common to find beautiful small pebbles almost of same size even today from holes close to palm trees though small round balls have replaced the pebbles. Evidently this was the beginning of golf with people hitting the pebbles to reach the holes. This also explains differently angled sticks to put the pebbles in holes at particular distances.
Obviously some times the grass was rough, or some obstacle gave idea to give angle to the hitting part of the stick. This developed into a variety of sticks for different distances.
It slowly evolved into the delightful game of golf today with more scientifically designed shafts and balls. No wonder golfers get addicted to the game.