Chuiwan

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Chuiwan (Chinese: 捶丸; Pinyin: Chuíwán) was a game in ancient China and is claimed by some to be the origin of golf.

In January 2006, new evidence re-invigorated the debate concerning the origins of golf. Recent evidence unearthed by Prof. Ling Hongling of Lanzhou University suggests that a game similar to modern-day golf was played in China since Southern Tang Dynasty, 500 years before golf was first mentioned in Scotland.[1]

Dongxuan Records (Chinese:東軒錄) from the Song Dynasty describe a game called chuiwan and also include drawings.[2] It was played with 10 clubs including a cuanbang, pubang, and shaobang, which are comparable to a driver, two-wood, and three-wood. Clubs were inlaid with jade and gold, suggesting golf was for the wealthy. Chinese archive includes references to a Southern Tang official who asked his daughter to dig holes as a target.[3] Ling suggested golf was exported to Europe and then Scotland by Mongolian travellers in the late Middle Ages.[4]

A spokesman for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, one of the oldest Scotland golf organization, said "Stick and ball games have been around for many centuries, but golf as we know it today, played over 18 holes, clearly originated in Scotland." [5] [6]