Golf Is Not an Acronym

Golf is a game in which players strike a ball into a series of holes with clubs. The widely repeated claim that the name stands for *gentlemen only, ladies forbidden* is false. Acronyms of that kind barely existed before the twentieth century, and the word is recorded in Scotland in 1457, in an act of parliament banning it because men were playing instead of practising archery. The likeliest source is Middle Dutch *colf*, a club or bat.

• A club and ball game. *A round of golf.*
• To play golf. *They golfed all day.*
• Golfer — the player. *A golfer.*
• First recorded 1457. *In Scotland.*
• Middle Dutch — *colf*, a club. *A likely source.*

Word forms

• They played eighteen holes of golf.Game.
• It was banned in 1457.History.
• The acronym story is false.Correction.

False acronym stories

• Golf — recorded in 1457, long before such acronyms existed
• Posh — not port out, starboard home
• Tip — not to insure promptness
• News — not north, east, west, south
• Backronyms are invented explanations fitted to a word afterwards

Scots, recorded from 1457, probably from Middle Dutch *colf*, a club or bat.