Historic Rules of Golf Editions Now Available Online


The USGA Museum and USGA Rules Department have made a collection of Rules of Golf booklets dating back to 1895 available as part of the Seagle Electronic Golf Library.

The library will allow visitors to download a specific year's Rules book, as well as search across the entire collection of Rules books.

"We are excited to make this collection available to those with an interest in the history of the Rules of Golf," said Jim Bunch, chairman of the USGA Rules of Golf Committee. "Each year we see an increased interest in the Rules and we believe this resource will be a benefit to Rules enthusiasts and to anyone doing research on the history of the game."

Since the publication of the 1952 Rules of Golf, the Rules have been written jointly by the USGA and R&A Rules Limited. Currently, the Rules of Golf are revised on a four-year cycle. The USGA is the governing body of golf in the United States, its possessions and Mexico, while the R&A is the governing body in all other parts of the world.

The Seagle Electronic Golf Library was established in 2004 to honor the USGA Museum's first full-time curator, Janet Seagle, and to allow greater access to the USGA's rare and fragile Library collections. With more than 70 rare books dating back to 1743, early golf periodicals from 1898-1934, and every Rules of Golf book published by the USGA, SEGL is the largest digital golf library in the world.

For more information, visit www.usgamuseum.com/researchers/usga_segl/.