Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden

Answer 1

No. Acronyms such as gentlemen only, ladies forbiddendidn't enter our language until the 20th century. Golf is much, much older than that.

The word golf first appeared in our written language in a 1457 Act of Scottish Parliament, banning football and golf pastimes as they interfered with the more serious business of Archery:

1457 Sc. Acts Jas. II (1814) II. 48/2 And at e fut bal ande e golf be vtterly cryt downe and nocht vsyt.

Obviously, in order to ban something it must first exist, so the word golf must pre-date this Act, but it is not known exactly when the term first came into use. However, we do know that golf originates from the Scottish word gowf, which means "to strike", or "cuff" (with various spellings such as gowff, goiff, goff, and so on). Many Scots, including non-golfers, still use the word gowf today.