Sports similar to golf have existed in the past. The first example recognizable to modern players is from 14th century Scotland. Before modern golf was formed, similar games, like that in the Netherlands during the 13th century, involved players throwing a ball at a target from a distance. The fewer throws required to reach the target, the better the player scored.
In Scotland, rather than use of a target, players aimed to put the ball in a hole from a distance. Golf simultaneously removed aspects of prior games, such as opposing players blocking the ball from the hole. After being outlawed in Scotland from 1452 to 1502, golf gained popularity across England. France was the next country to adopt golf.
Golf equipment arrived in the United States around 1739, and New York publications mentioned the sport for the first time in 1779. However, only by 1894, when the American Golf Association was founded, did golf cement its place as a fixture of American culture.