Many term
it as a sport of the high and mighty in the society. Reasons being, a large
number of people do not understand the game from how it's played to its rules.
Golf is the greatest game of all to have ever been invented by man. Golf is not
meant to be played against other people, it is a game that is meant to
challenge an individual; challenges the mind, body and soul of an individual.
 |
| Prestwick Golf Club |
The origin of golf sport lies in the ball and stick games
during the ancient times. The modern golf game, however, goes way back into the
1400s in Britain, Scotland to be specific. However, King James II banned
the game in 1457 arguing that the popularity of the game interfered with
military training. This ban was later lifted by King James IV , when he himself
became a golfer in 1502. This saw the first golf clubs being recorded in
1503-1504. In as early as 1672, 2 March to be precise, golf was documented to
be played on Mussel Burgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland and this is certified
worldwide as the most erstwhile golf course in the Guinness World Records.The
Open Championships were the first golf's major and the world's first golf
tournament, were held on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire in Scotland
with the Scottish golfers emerging as winners in the earliest majors (Browning,
1990).
The spread of golf was made possible by the colonies of the
British settlers, civil servants and merchants who carried golf with them.
India was the first country outside Britain to endorse golf when the Royal
Calcutta Golf Club was founded in 1829. Golf later spread to other countries
like; Japan (Tokyo Golf Club, 1890) , Australia (Royal Adelaide Golf
Club,1870), New Zealand (Christchurch Golf Club, 1873), South Africa Maritz
burg Golf Club in Natal, 1884) , France (1856), Germany (Berlin Golf Club,
1859) and Switzerland (1895) to name but a few (Darwin, 1952).
.jpg)
A typical golf course is made up of eighteen holes,
although nine hole courses are also common and are played twice through a
full round of eighteen holes. Each of the holes consists of a tee that is
brought out by two marks revealing the limit of the legal area, rough,
fairway and other hazards. The ‘putting green’ is covered by the fringe that
has a pin, usually a flag stick and a cup. The grass levels usually vary so as
to either make the game harder or to leave room for putting into the green.
Most of the holes are usually made with an undeviating line of view beginning
at the tee to the green, but others may bend to the right or to the
left, commonly known as 'dogleg'. At times the holes’ direction bend twice a
term referred to as 'double dogleg' (McCarty, 2011).
All round of golf is established on playing a count of
holes in a particular manner. In a course of eighteen holes, every hole is only
played once off in a round while in a course of nine holes, each hole may
be played twice on a full round or each hole can be played once in a
short game.Playing a hole on the golf course is usually triggered by setting a
sphere inside play by hitting it with the bar club on the tee box. The teeing
ground at times is simply referred to as the tee or tee box. A tee (commonly
made of wood or plastic) is a tiny peg that is used to raise the ball somewhat
above the ground a few centimeters high that minimizes the meddling of the
floor with the club making it easy to hit the ball. The drive is a
term used to refer to a shot that is made to move the ball on a long distance,
more than 206 meters that are made possible by a lengthy - shaft, large
-head wood known as driver. Smaller holes are initiated with other clubs like
higher-numbered woods that enable the golfer to make shots once the ball rests
on the ground, usually known as lay-up until the ball gets into the green
(Plumridge, 1979).
Almost every other game that we know of has rules and golf
is no exception. The basic rules of golf are; on the teeing ground, a player
must play their first shot on every hole from the tee. The ball should be
played from anyplace between the two tee indicators and up to two club lengths
back from an imaginary line passing between them. A player can stand with his
or her feet on the exterior of the imaginary box so as the ball is within the
imaginary box. In stroke fool around, if you are found to have participated
from the outer surface of the tee area you have got to add two shots
to your score. In counterpart play, your challenger can order you to
participate the stroke another time without penalty. If you are banging the
ball off the tee whereas deal with it, you may swap it and engage in recreation
of your stroke without punishment. The ball is not well thought-out to be 'in
play' until after a team member has teed off.
On the rules of the ball; playing the wrong ball can result
in a two shot penalty, thus one is allowed to pick up the ball during the
course of the play in order to check if it's yours or not. On the club rules; a
player is not allowed to have more than fourteen clubs in his or her bag. If a
player smashes a club during a round, one is allowed to get a new one provided
the club is brought to them to avoid delaying the play. All manufacturers of
the club must present their clubs to the R&A for endorsement before being
used in professional tournaments (Newell, 1995).
On scoring, there are different terms used to refer to
different scores or pars made. The condor is when one has made four strokes,
albatross/double eagle is when one has made three strokes, eagle refers to two
strokes, birdie is for one stroke, bogey is one stroke over the par, double
bogey is two strokes above the par and triple bogey is three stokes above the
par (Plumridge, 1979).
There are several forms of golf with the basics being:
Match play - this is a game played by two players, each playing a hole as a
singled out contest against one another. Stroke play, is usually played by
professional golf players. Other forms of golf are; bogey
competition, skins, 9-points, stable ford, team play, which is divided into
two: fourball and foursome. Another form is the unofficial team variations that
includes; better ball, champagne scramble, champagne, green some and the wolf.
 |
| Japan Golf Tour |
Golf Championships are divided into men's championship,
women's championships, senior championship and the junior championships. There
are twenty professional golf tours which are each run by the PGA (Professional
Golfers Association) or any other independent organizations. It is the
accountability of these unions to go looking for sponsors, arranging events and
regulating the tours. Each tour has members that are authorized to participate
at the events and at times they (members) invites non-members to take part in
some of them. The most acknowledged tour is the Professional Golfers
Association tour that attracts the strongest fields. Other tours to name but a
few are the; Japan Golf Tour, Asian, Tour European Tour, and the Canadian
Tour (Newell et al. 2008).
Golf too, like other sports has its governing bodies that
are responsible for encouraging new players into the sport and also help in the
development of talented players. These bodies include; The Royal & Ancient
Golf Club of St Andrews that works jointly with the United States Golf
Association, The English Golf Union, The Scottish Golf Union and The Ladies
Professional Golf Association.
From the above study it's now clear that the golf is not as
complicated as people deem it to be. Not only the high and mighty can play
golf, even the ordinary citizens too can play it too, provided they join a
registered golf club. Understanding any given game starts with learning and
familiarizing oneself with the ground rules of that particular game. Now let us
all go out and have fun playing this mind, body and soul challenging game, a
nice way to unwind after a long, stressful week of loads of paperwork. Head out
and go get refreshed and challenged as well.
References
Browning, R. H. (1990).
A history of golf: the royal and ancient game. A. & C. Black.
Darwin, B. (1952). A
history of golf in Britain. Cassell.
McCarty, L. B. (2011).
Best golf course management practices.
Newell, S. (1995). Golf
rules. London: Blandford.
Newell, S., Carr, S.,
& Farrell, A. (2008). The golf book: The players, the gear, the strokes,
the courses, the championships. London: DK.
Plumridge, C. (1979).
How to play golf. Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books.
