Georgia has the Masters Tournament, but South Carolina was the birthplace of American golf.
The first shipment of golf clubs and golf balls to this country was sent from Scotland to Charleston in 1739, said Dr. Faye Jensen during her talk at the Aiken County Historical Museum on Wednesday.
In addition, the United States' first organized golf club, the Carolina Golf Club, was founded in Charleston in 1786.
"The physical aspects of the game were much different back then," said Jensen, who is the executive director of the South Carolina Historical Society. "There were no tees, there was no defined number of holes, and there were no putting surfaces."
Clubs were made of wood, and balls were made of leather and stuffed with boiled feathers.
Men played golf in parks, sharing the space with picnickers, frolicking children, and couples strolling arm in arm.
"One of the players - or, more frequently, a servant - would be designated as the finder," Jensen said. "His job was to locate the holes. Among his other duties, he had to tell non-golfers that they needed to be careful because a bunch of guys were coming with clubs and balls. He would do this by saying, 'You are forewarned,' and that was shortened later to 'fore.'"
In 1916, the Highland Park Hotel's golf course in Aiken became the first in America to install tees for women. That facility is now known as The Aiken Golf Club.
Jensen also mentioned Aiken's Palmetto Golf Club.
Research indicates it is the oldest continuously operated 18-hole golf course still in its original location in the Southeast, according to the club's website. It also is probably the second oldest in the United States.
Before and after Jensen's speech, people could visit the museum's special exhibit, Spring into Golf, which includes Masters memorabilia.
On display are tableware once used at the Augusta National Golf Club; a Masters-themed green golf bag; and a flag signed by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
There also are photographs of famous golfers, collections of vintage Masters badges and old copies of Sports Illustrated magazine with Masters covers.
One exhibit is devoted to a history of women's golf attire, and another provides information about Augusta National's first female members, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore.
The exhibit is in the museum's parlor and is scheduled to remain there through mid-May.
"The Arts and Heritage Center of North Augusta provided the bulk of the material for Spring into Golf, but there also are some items from private collectors," said the museum's executive director, Brenda Baratto. "We have a permanent golf exhibit upstairs."
The museum is at 433 Newberry St. S.W.
Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013.