Why do golf courses have 18 holes?
Because of a decision at St Andrews in 1764. Golfers there merged four short holes into two, which cut a round from 22 holes to 18, and the rest of the golf world eventually followed.
Quick Answer
Golf courses have 18 holes because of St Andrews, the Scottish town known as the home of golf. By the mid-1700s, a round on its Old Course was 22 holes: golfers played most holes twice, once heading out along the shore and once coming back. On October 4, 1764, the Society of St Andrews Golfers, the club that later became the R&A, decided that “the four first holes should be converted into two.” Because those holes were played in both directions, the change cut the round from 22 holes to 18. As St Andrews became golf’s most influential club, other courses followed its lead, and in 1858 the R&A’s rules made 18 holes a standard round. A popular story says 18 holes matches the number of shots in a bottle of Scotch, but it doesn’t even add up: a standard 750-milliliter bottle holds about 17 U.S. shots.
By the Numbers
Key Facts
- Where it started
- The Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland
- The key year
- 1764, when four short holes were merged into two
- The result
- A round went from 22 holes to 18
- Made standard
- The R&A’s rules set 18 holes as a round in 1858
Timeline
- 1754
The Society of St Andrews Golfers is founded. It later becomes the R&A.
- Oct. 4, 1764
The Society decides to merge the first four holes into two, making a round 18 holes.
- 1858
The R&A’s rules make 18 holes a standard round.
- 2014
St Andrews marks 250 years of the 18-hole round.
Out and back
The Old Course runs along a narrow strip of land by the sea. Early golfers played out along the shore and then back toward town, using many of the same holes in both directions. That’s why merging four holes into two removed four holes from a round, not two.
The 1764 decision
The Society’s minutes from October 4, 1764, record the members’ view that “it would be for the improvement of the Links that the four first holes should be converted into two.” The Old Course has had an 18-hole round ever since.
How 18 went worldwide
Early golf courses had all sorts of lengths. As St Andrews and its club became the sport’s leading authority, other courses copied its 18-hole round, and the R&A wrote it into its rules in 1858.
Myth vs. Fact
MythGolf has 18 holes because a bottle of Scotch holds 18 shots.
FactIt doesn’t add up: a standard 750-milliliter bottle holds about 17 U.S. shots. The number comes from the 1764 change at St Andrews.
MythGolf was always played over 18 holes.
FactBefore 1764, a round at St Andrews was 22 holes, and other early courses had different lengths.
The Bottom Line
Golf courses have 18 holes because St Andrews merged four short holes into two in 1764, cutting its round from 22 holes to 18. The rest of the golf world followed.