The first Rules of Golf were published in 1744, when the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith wrote 13 articles for a competition at Leith Links in Scotland.
The rules were created for a challenge for the Silver Club, presented by the City of Edinburgh. They addressed practical matters such as teeing off, playing the ball, hazards, and the order of play. The document is an early written attempt to standardize a game that had previously relied heavily on local custom.
These 1744 articles were not the modern rulebook. Golf’s rules developed through later revisions by clubs, especially the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The R&A and USGA now jointly govern the modern Rules of Golf.
A frequent confusion is the year 1754, when the St Andrews club adopted its own rules. That date marks an important later milestone, but 1744 is generally recognized as the publication date of the first written Rules of Golf.