Golf

Golf was supposed to have been invented in Scotland some 400 years ago, where each player has to hit his own small ball into a hole using various types of clubs. The club is swung at the motionless ball on the ground from a side-stance. Score is kept with the smallest score being the best.

Golf is thought to have come from the Dutch word ‘kolf' meaning a club. It is defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules." A favorite theory is that golf was started by bored shepherds knocking stones around with bent sticks. Its popularity was hampered in the early years by requiring close-cropped grass. The lawnmower was not invented until 1831 and not really practical until the machine-tool industry was able to cut steel gears c. 1880's.

Golf is most commonly played on courses consisting of 18 holes, usually consisting of 4 par threes, 4 par fives and 10 par fours. The term par being the number of strokes required by a good golfer to get the ball from the ‘teeing ground' or ‘tee box' into the hole. To enable players of all levels to compete there is a handicap system whereby a lesser golfer is given ‘shots', the fewer shots one has the better golfer one is. The maximum handicap allowable for competitions is 28 for men and 36 for women. Some golfers will be rated with a plus handicap which means that they must add their plus handicaps to their final scores when playing against amateurs.

Golf club is a term for an organization of members usually owning a golf course and clubhouse. Golf club is also the term used to describe the ‘tools' used by golfers to get the ball from the tee, using a tee peg to sit the ball above the ground, along the fairway and onto the green.

Golf has a wonderful history spanning over 400 years of funny names and interesting definitions. From the archaic terms of the Scotts to modern colloquialism, the most common are Birdie, getting the ball into the hole in one stroke less than par. Eagle, getting the ball into the hole in two strokes less than par. Albatross, getting the ball into the hole in three strokes less than par.