Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why can a golfer carry no more than 14 clubs during a round?

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Tiger Woods follows through on his golf swing after teeing off, standing in tall grass with spectators watching in the background at St Andrews Golf Links. — golf American golfer Tiger Woods competing at the British Open (Open Championship) at St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, 2005.

The limitation of 14 clubs was established to curb the excessive use of specialized equipment in the sport. As golf evolved, manufacturers began producing increasingly numerous and finely graduated sets of clubs, and the merchandising of these large, matched sets became common.

To prevent this trend from continuing to an extreme, the United States Golf Association (USGA) implemented a rule in 1938 that limited a player to carrying no more than 14 clubs during a round. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) concurred with this edict the following year.1