What does the game of g.o.l.f. actually stand for?

GOLF is short for:

Meaning & Category
Game Of Life First Community->Educational

Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden Miscellaneous->Funnies
Community->Sports

Global Oscillations at Low Frequency Governmental->NASA

Go Out Laugh Frequently Miscellaneous->Funnies
S2Golf, Inc. Business->NASDAQ Symbols

http://www.answers.com/topic/golf-abbreviation

Apparently it stands for 'Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden'. don't know whether this is true though?

No, it doesn't, sorry. It's one of those legend things that we fight against here. Virtually none of these explanations involving acronyms are correct. The name golf for the hitting of little balls with clubs goes way back before acronyms came into use. There is a possible claim from Dutch to the origin of the word, but the Scots dispute that vehemently. There must be people sitting there with nothing better to do than make up these things - like the ones in Victorian times that made up the names for groups of rhinoceroses (which are solitary and only ever get into pairs for certain purposes...) and other things that there is no need for a group name for.

GOLF Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden *****
GOLF Geometrically Oriented Linear Force ***
GOLF Gents Only Ladies Forbidden ***
GOLF Gentleman Only Ladies Forbidden **
GOLF Gentlemens Only Ladies Forbidden **
GOLF Gentlemen Only Ladies Forrbidden *
GOLF God Offers Love Forgiveness *
GOLF Green Oxygen Light and Foot *
GOLF Ground Ordinance Launch Facility

GOLF God Offers Love and Forgiveness
GOLF God Our Loving Father
GOLF Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies (SOHO experiment)
GOLF Goal-Oriented Leadership Function
GOLF General Officer Logistic Forum
GOLF Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden (urban legend about origin of golf game)

http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=GOLF&Find=Find