How Did the Word “Mulligan” Acquire Its Golf Meaning?
“Mulligan,” in its golf sense, is a relatively new word, but was in common use on golf courses by at least the 1940s. And there are many, many stories about the birth of the golf term “mulligan” … and it’s quite possible that none of them are true. Because nobody really knows how mulligan acquired its golf meaning (a mulligan, of course, is a “do-over” – hit a bad shot, take a mulligan and try again). All we have are … those stories. And we’ll tell a few of them here. The USGA Museum offers several possible explanations. In one, a fellow by the name of David Mulligan frequented St. Lambert Country Club in Montreal, Quebec, during the 1920s. Mulligan let it rip off the tee one day, wasn’t happy with the results, re-teed, and hit again.
