18 hole course

Question
Help with this rumor, I was told in 1858 at a meeting for club members, a St Andrews senior member decided If he limited himself to 1 shot of scotch per hole, it would take 18 to finish the fifth of scotch. Therefore 18 became the clubs rule for tourneys.

Answer
Rudy:  I've heard this one myself and to save time, went to http://www.snopes.com/sports/golf/18holes.asp and came up with this answer.  
"Origins:   Although this bit of lore about soused Scots limiting themselves to one slurp at the flask per hole has its charm, it does not have history on its side. The number of holes comprising a standard golf course was not determined by the amount of Scotch in a
bottle.

Golf wasn't always as regulated as it is now. Prior to standardization, early courses had any number of holes from five to twenty-four. Games similar to golf have been around since Roman times, but the game as we now know it dates approximately to 1552, when the famed St. Andrews course was constructed. (Earlier Scottish versions, however, were called "golf" even though the game itself was not at that time all it would finally become.)

Because the Old Course at St. Andrews had eighteen holes when the first commonly accepted rules of golf were formulated by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, eighteen holes became the standard.

But couldn't that number still be tied to a hip flask, you say? Not unless the bottle shrank. In the 16th century St. Andrews had eleven fairways extending from the clubhouse, linked by a progression of twelve holes. (Golfers teed off next to the hole that would be their final destination on the trip back in, and they turned around upon reaching the last hole, so the first and last holes were used only once per round.) The course was played out and back: eleven fairways out plus eleven back made for a total of twenty-two holes per round, and it brought golfers right back to the clubhouse.

In 1764, two of the original fairways were judged to be too short and were consequently combined with others. This left nine fairways, and playing them out and back formed what is now considered a standard round of eighteen holes.

So there you have it ?no drunken Scots at all.

Barbara "holey unimaginable" Mikkelson"

I guess Barbara and her husband Dave created and maintain the snopes website and did not identify the sources responsible for the answer to this question.

Hope this helps answer your question.

Fairways and Greens,

John
www.golfnutts.com