The Story Behind the Mulligan
THE MULLIGAN STORY
A Second Chance. A Golfing Tradition. A Name Known Around the World.
Few expressions in golf are as universally recognized as “taking a Mulligan.”
The story traces back to David B. Mulligan, the prominent hotel executive and passionate golfer whose name became forever connected with one of the game’s most enduring traditions.
In the 1920s, while moving between Montreal, New York and the golf clubs that shaped his social and professional world, Mulligan became associated with the practice of replaying an unsatisfactory opening shot — what he described as a “correction shot.”
Over time, “Mulligan” became part of the language of golf itself — a second chance, a fresh start, another opportunity to get it right.
DISCOVER THE MULLIGAN STORY
The Mulligan Story
The tradition began in Montreal in 1924, before finding a larger audience in New York and Westchester.
According to the account later attested by David B. Mulligan and two witnesses from his regular Montreal foursome, an unsatisfactory opening drive led Mulligan to replay the shot and refer to it as a “correction shot.” Among his friends and fellow golfers, the idea of a do-over soon became associated with Mulligan himself.
What began as a light-hearted allowance among companions gradually developed into one of golf’s most enduring and recognizable expressions.
The story followed Mulligan as his life and career moved between Montreal and New York, where golf formed an important part of the private-club culture of the era.
From Montreal in 1924, the Mulligan story began to move with David B. Mulligan himself.
As his hotel career reconnected him with New York in 1925, so too did his golfing life. By 1928, Mulligan had become known within the golfing circles of Westchester County, where many of New York’s leading businessmen, executives and sportsmen spent their leisure time.
The expression that had first been associated with Mulligan among his regular Montreal playing companions began to make its way into this new circle.
At Winged Foot Golf Club, the idea of allowing a player another opening shot was already circulating among members. What became distinctive was the name increasingly attached to that second chance.
A “Mulligan” was no longer simply David’s own correction shot.
It was becoming a term other golfers could use.
As the expression passed from golfer to golfer and from club to club, it became part of the informal language of the game. Its appeal was immediate: every golfer understood the frustration of a poor opening drive, and every golfer understood the value of another chance.
In the decades that followed, the word “Mulligan” moved far beyond the clubs where David B. Mulligan played. It entered the vocabulary of golf across North America and eventually around the world.
Today, a Mulligan represents something larger than a second golf shot.
It means a second chance. A fresh start. Another opportunity to get it right.
And behind that universally recognized expression was a real man whose life connected Montreal, New York City and Westchester during one of the most important eras in the development of modern golf.
David B. Mulligan — The Man Behind the Mulligan.
