Well you know what golf spelled backwards is, right?
The reason for eighteen holes in golf and not 16 or 21, or some other number? Back in 1857 in Scotland it was determined a gentleman golfer should have a shot of ‘fine Scotch’ after completing each hole. In a fifth of Scotland’s best there are precisely eighteen shots ... thus eighteen holes. Now you know the rest of the story.
It’s called “golf” ‘cause all the other four-letter words were taken.