There have been ball and stick games since ancient times. According to some historians, during the Roman Empire, there was a game called paganica (first recorded in 30 BC), which involved hitting a leather ball with a bent stick. It is possible that this game spread throughout Europe and evolved into its modern form.
Other researchers claim that the origins of golf can be traced to China, where between the 7th and 14th centuries a game called Chuiwan was popular, where “chui” means hitting and “wan” means small ball. A scroll from the Ming Dynasty period (1368-1644) has survived that depicts a member of the Chinese imperial court hitting a small ball with something resembling a golf club to place it in a hole. A suggestion has been made that the game was brought to Europe in the Middle Ages.
Cambuca was played in medieval England, chambot in France, and kolven in the Netherlands. Each of these games used a ball and sticks.
