Golf was the most popular stick and ball game throughout the 1800s in the UK, but it wasn't the golf played in Scotland. It was 'poor man's golf' as played throughout all the former Danelaw area of England and more properly called knur and spell.
This game was played by thousands of players, in hundreds or even thousands of locations, across a very wide area. It was played for centuries in all the northern counties of England including the ones which border on Scotland. It was even played in Scotland itself and was also played in Australia and the USA.
Strangely enough, the Scots rarely give this game a mention when they talk about the origins of golf. How does that work?