Golf was invented in Scotland, and dates back to at least the 17th century, possibly even earlier – the name is believed to come from an Old German word, ‘gowf’, meaning a club or bat. There are many vary old golf courses in Scotland, most famously St. Andrews, but The oldest golf course in the world is Musselburgh Links . It is believed that the reason golf courses today have 18 holes is that St. Andrews only had room for nine, but the early golfers decided to play the course through twice each time.