The modern game of golf is generally considered to be a Scottish invention and golfing enthusiasts from all over the world flock to Scotland to play on one of the 550 courses! Beautiful links, parkland, heathland, and Championship courses await. The first documented mention of golf in Scotland appears in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, an edict issued by King James II of Scotland prohibiting the playing of the games of “gowf” and football as these were a distraction from archery practice for military purposes.