where does the golfing term "mulligan" originate from?
There is considerable debate about this topic, to say the least. There are several clubs and several people who have staked claims about the origin of the term ‘mulligan.’
The story most widely accepted focuses on a gentleman named David Mulligan who played at the St. Lambert CC in Montreal, Canada during the 1920s. There are several versions of the David Mulligan story.
Mr. Mulligan was a hotelier in the first half of the century, a part-owner and manager of the Biltmore Hotel in New York City, as well as several large Canadian hotels. One story says that the first mulligan was an impulsive sort of event – that one day Mulligan hit a very long drive off the first tee, just not straight, and acting on impulse re-teed and hit again. His partners found it all amusing, and decided that the shot that Mulligan himself called a ‘correction shot’ deserved a better named, so they called it a ‘mulligan.’
Story two: Mulligan played regularly with a group of friends at St. Lambert, and in the morning he drove to pick up his golfing buddies. The road into the club was reportedly bumpy and windy and just sort of generally poor, with bridge of bumpy railroad ties. An extra shot was allotted to Mulligan, the driver of the car, on the first tee because he was jumpy and shaking from the difficult drive.
Story three: this story again identified a specific moment, citing a day when David Mulligan showed up late to the course, having scrambled to get out of bed late and get dressed and get to the course on time. He was frazzled on the first tee, hit a poor shot, and re-teed.
Another version of the ‘mulligan’ story comes from the Essex Fells CC in N.J. This story is one of the latest, and may therefore be less credible. According to this version, the term was named after a locker room attendant at the club named John A. ‘Buddy’ Mulligan, who worked at the club during the 1930s and was known for replaying shots, particularly on the first tee.
February 7th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
David Mulligan, one time manager of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, who played at St. Lambert in Montreal during the 1920s. One version has it that one day after hitting a poor tee shot, Mr. Mulligan re-teed and shot again. He called it a "correction shot," but his friends thought it more fitting to name the practice after him. David Mulligan then brought the concept from Canada to the famous U.S. golf club Winged Foot. A second version has the extra shot given to Mulligan due to his being jumpy and shaky after a difficult drive to the course. The final version of the David Mulligan story gives him an extra shot after having overslept, rushing to get ready to make the tee time.
References :
wikipedia
February 7th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
It started about 60 – 80 years ago, or so the story goes. David Mulligan was golfing with friends and didn’t like the shot he took so he teed off again. Since he was pretty wealthy and no one wanted to ruffle his feathers they allowed him to take the shot again and dubbed it "a mulligan". The term has been explained several different ways over the years and has even been mentioned on shows like Seinfeld.
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February 8th, 2010 at 12:11 am
From an Irish guy who couldn’t golf worth a damn.
References :
February 8th, 2010 at 12:29 am
There is considerable debate about this topic, to say the least. There are several clubs and several people who have staked claims about the origin of the term ‘mulligan.’
The story most widely accepted focuses on a gentleman named David Mulligan who played at the St. Lambert CC in Montreal, Canada during the 1920s. There are several versions of the David Mulligan story.
Mr. Mulligan was a hotelier in the first half of the century, a part-owner and manager of the Biltmore Hotel in New York City, as well as several large Canadian hotels. One story says that the first mulligan was an impulsive sort of event – that one day Mulligan hit a very long drive off the first tee, just not straight, and acting on impulse re-teed and hit again. His partners found it all amusing, and decided that the shot that Mulligan himself called a ‘correction shot’ deserved a better named, so they called it a ‘mulligan.’
Story two: Mulligan played regularly with a group of friends at St. Lambert, and in the morning he drove to pick up his golfing buddies. The road into the club was reportedly bumpy and windy and just sort of generally poor, with bridge of bumpy railroad ties. An extra shot was allotted to Mulligan, the driver of the car, on the first tee because he was jumpy and shaking from the difficult drive.
Story three: this story again identified a specific moment, citing a day when David Mulligan showed up late to the course, having scrambled to get out of bed late and get dressed and get to the course on time. He was frazzled on the first tee, hit a poor shot, and re-teed.
Another version of the ‘mulligan’ story comes from the Essex Fells CC in N.J. This story is one of the latest, and may therefore be less credible. According to this version, the term was named after a locker room attendant at the club named John A. ‘Buddy’ Mulligan, who worked at the club during the 1930s and was known for replaying shots, particularly on the first tee.
References :
http://www.usga.org/questions/faqs/usga_history.html#9
February 8th, 2010 at 12:43 am
a mulligan is a retaken shot after a bad shot, (usually off the tee) mulligans are not allowed in the rules of golf but are sometimes used when friends are just playing socially.
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