On beautiful Sunday summer afternoons you can't help but enter the game of golf into any discussions. And when we speak of golf, exactly what are we talking about. It's a wondrous game played outdoors where the object of the game is to knock a small dimpled ball into a series of 18 holes where the low score wins. 18 holes of golf consist of a "round" of golf and you begin playing each hole from a designated mound of grass called a tee-box. This is the only area you can put your ball on a "tee" so as to elevate it up off the ground to make it easier to hit.
Each hole varies in distance from tee-box to "green" which is where the designated hole is placed. A pre-determined score is given for each hole for the number of strokes it should take the average person to get the ball from tee-box to hole and this score is called a "par." A typical round of golf will usually consist of a par of 72, but 70 and 71 are also common. The area between the tee-box and green is called the "fairway" which is mowed pretty short. The longer grass alongside the fairway is called the rough. Many golf courses also have impediments to getting the ball to the green called bunkers which are basically sand boxes. Also one cannot forget the water hazards many courses have incorporated either man-made or naturally occurring.
It is pretty much accepted that golf got its origin in Scotland where it began as a gentlemen's game. There are some exclusive country clubs today that still do not allow women. Augusta National where The Masters at Augusta, GA is played is one of them. Golf started getting more attention the latter part of the 19th century in Scotland and then made a leap for the better the latter part of the 20th century with the manufacture of more and more equipment.
Golf began as a game for the wealthy, but there are now thousands of courses around the world for the average man or woman to enjoy the game on. Many business schools teach golf as part of their curriculum, because it has become an important part of the business landscape. Many deals have been culminated on a golf course or in a club house. It also helps one's climb up the corporate ladder in many companies, if you can swing the club with the top executives.
Golf can be played alone or in groups of 4. Sometimes a course will allow 5 players in a group, but that is rare and only on a very slow day. As in any game there are rules that apply. You must play the ball as it lies. Some courses have "winter rules" that allow you to better position the ball on the ground so as to make it "easier to hit" if you will. Courses usually do this to better protect the course from "hackers" who take big "divots" when they try to hit the ball that is not sitting on top of the grass thus knocking big holes in the turf.
Another rule is the one farthest from the hole plays first and the other players just get out of the way so an errant shot will not hit them. There is an entire book of rules published by the United States Golf Association (U.S.G.A.) that goes into great detail on what you can and cannot do. Most of us average players have never read it so we all just play by the rules we've been told about. Of course professional golfers do play by the book and know it pretty much from cover to cover.
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