The Golf Course
A golf course is divided into 18 sections, called holes.
The standard course is about 5,900 to 6,400 m (about 6,500 to 7,000 yd);
the individual holes may vary in length from 90 to 550 m (from 100 to 600
yd). Each hole has at one end a starting point known as a tee and, imbedded
in the ground at the other end, marked by a flag, a cup or cylindrical
container (also called a hole) into which the ball must be propelled in
order to complete play at each hole. The cup is usually made of metal or
plastic, 10.8 cm (4.2 in) in diameter, and at least 10 cm (4 in) deep.
Play begins at the first tee, a level area of turf, generally
raised slightly above the surrounding terrain. From here each player tries
to drive the ball onto the fairway or main part of the golf course, a carefully
tended strip of land, 27 to 90 m (30 to 100 yd) wide, on which the grass
has been cut to provide a good playing surface for the ball. On either
side of the fairway is the rough, which consists of areas covered with
long grass, bushes, or trees, and which sometimes contains sandy, rough,
or marshy land that compel golfers to use additional skill and judgment
in playing their shots. In the absence of such natural obstacles, artificial
hazards may be constructed. Among these are bunkers, also known as traps,
which are hollows dug in the earth and usually filled with loose sand;
mounds and other earthen embankments; and water hazards, such as ditches,
creeks, ponds, or lakes. At the far end of the fairway from the tee is
the putting green, an area of closely cropped grass surrounding the hole
or cup. The smooth surface of the putting green is designed to facilitate
the progress of the ball into the cup after the ball has been given a tap
or gentle stroke known as a putt.
Golf Strokes and Golf Clubs
In addition to the putt, the specialized stroke used
on the green, two main types of shots are used in playing each hole: the
drive, which is a long shot from the tee onto the fairway; and the approach
shot to the green. Both types demand great accuracy. Shots of various lengths
are played with different clubs, according to the distance to be covered
and the lie (position) of the ball. A standard set of 14 golf clubs (the
maximum that may be carried in tournament play), is divided into two main
types: those known as woods, with heads made of wood or metal; and those
known as irons, with heads made of forged steel, usually chromium plated.
The shafts of both types usually are made of metal and sometimes of fiberglass.
Formerly, each club was known by a distinctive name, but today most are
designated by numbers. The woods are customarily numbered 1 through 5,
the irons 1 through 9. The putter, an iron, has retained its name. In addition
to the numbered irons are the utility clubs, including the sand wedge and
the pitching wedge, used on medium-range shots to loft the ball well into
the air and limit its roll to a short distance after landing.
The clubs are variously used in achieving distance, height,
or accurate placement of the ball; the angle at which the striking surface
is set on the shaft of the club determines the trajectory of the ball.
For making drives and distance shots on the fairway, the woods (No. 1,
or driver; No. 2; No. 3; No. 4; or No. 5) and the "long" irons (No. 1,
No. 2, or No. 3) are used. For the initial drive of each hole, the ball
is teed up-that is, placed on a small wooden, rubber, or plastic peg, known
as a tee, which the players carry with them. This lifts the ball at least
1.3 cm (0.5 in) off the ground, allowing the head of the club to strike
the ball with maximum force. For long, low shots on the fairway, the No.
2 wood is used, and for long, high shots the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 woods
are employed. Other approach shots to the green, generally of a shorter
range, are played with irons. For even shorter approaches, known as chip
shots, the same irons are used but with a shorter swing. The putter normally
is used only on the green or the apron (a fringe of less smooth grass)
of the green.
Forms of Competition
Two basic forms of competition exist in golf: match play
and medal play (also known as stroke play). In match play the player (or,
if more than one player, the team) taking the fewer number of strokes to
sink the ball into any particular hole-called "to hole out"-is the winner
of the hole; the contest is won by the player or team winning the most
holes. If each player or team takes the same number of strokes on any hole,
the hole is said to be halved (tied). A final score of "9 and 8" in match
play means that the winner was 9 holes ahead with only 8 left to play,
sufficient to clinch the match. When the match goes tied until the last
hole, the winning score is "1 up."
In medal play, now the more popular kind of play in major
United States tournaments, the winner of the contest is the team or player
taking the least number of strokes over the total number of holes agreed
upon. Although a round usually consists of 9 or 18 holes, the play in championship
contests covers 18, 36, 54, or 72 holes. In medal play, ties are decided
by play-off rounds.
Par is the term applied to the number of properly played
strokes an expert golfer would be expected to use in completing a particular
hole without mishap; the aggregate for all of the holes is called par for
the course. Par is based primarily on the number of strokes necessary to
reach the green, plus two putts. Par for a single hole varies from three
strokes for a hole of less than 228 m (less than 250 yd) to five strokes
for a hole of more than 428 m (more than 471 yd). Occasionally, on a par-three
hole, a player makes a hole in one-that is, drives the ball from the tee
into the cup in one stroke. It has been calculated that the odds against
any player doing this are 8,606 to 1. A score of one less than par is referred
to as a birdie, and two less than par (for example, a score of three on
a par-five hole) is called an eagle. Three strokes less than par is known
as a double eagle. One stroke over par is called a bogey; two over par
is a double bogey.
History
Some historians feel that golf originated in the Netherlands
(the Dutch word kolf means "club"), but the Romans had a game played with
a bent stick and a ball made of feathers that may have been the original
source of the game. It has been fairly well established, however, that
the game actually was devised by the Scots in the 14th or 15th century.
The game became so popular in Scotland that in order to keep people from
playing golf and football during time that should have been employed in
practicing archery, a military necessity, the Scottish parliament in 1457
passed a law prohibiting both games. The Scottish people, however, largely
ignored this and similar laws, and early in the 16th century James IV,
king of Scotland, took up the game of golf. His granddaughter Mary, later
Mary, queen of Scots, took the game to France, where she was educated.
The young men who attended her on the golf links were known as cadets ("pupils");
the term was adopted later in Scotland and England and became caddy or
caddie. (Caddies, once an integral feature of the game, have now been largely
superseded by golf carts and buggies.) In England the game was made popular
by the attention given it by James VI of Scotland, later James I of England,
and his son Charles I.
In the 18th century the first golf associations were
established; they included the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers
(1744); the St. Andrews Society of Golfers (1754), which in 1834 took its
present name, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews; and the Royal
Blackheath (1766), near London, where according to tradition golf was introduced
to England in 1608. The first clubs established outside Great Britain were
the Calcutta Golf Club of East India (1829) and the Royal Bombay Club (1842).
The first golf club established in the western hemisphere was Canada's
Royal Montréal Golf Club, founded in 1873. It is believed that golf
was played in America during the colonial period, but no documented proof
of this has been advanced. In 1888 the St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers,
New York, was established. Some authorities say this is the oldest continuously
existing golf club in the United States. The popularity of the game in
the United States and Great Britain reached great heights by the 1920s
and steadily increased over the years, fostered by television. In the United
States alone, more than 12,400 golf courses serve over 20 million people
who play golf at least once a year.
Golf is also popular in Canada, South Africa, and Australia
and underwent phenomenal growth in Japan following the end of World War
II in 1945.
Rules and Regulations
The rules of play for golf are numerous and complex and
include a code of etiquette for behavior on the green.
The game was originally played with a ball made of feathers
tightly packed in a leather cover. About 1850 a ball made of gutta-percha
came into use. Gutta-percha is a milky liquid, derived principally from
Malaysian trees, that hardens after being boiled and cooled. About 1901
a ball with a rubber core enclosed in gutta-percha, similar to the ball
in use today, was developed. The pitted surface of modern golf balls acts
to stabilize flight. Golf balls used in the United States have a diameter
of no less than 4.27 cm (1.68 in) and weigh not more than 45.93 g (1.62
oz). The British have traditionally used balls of this same weight but
with a diameter of not less than 4.11 cm (1.62 in). In 1968 experiments
were undertaken to investigate the possibility of establishing a single
set of specifications for golf balls.
Governing Bodies
The organizations that establish golf rules for the world
are the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the United States
Golf Association (USGA), founded in 1894. Before 1913, golf in America
was played chiefly by people of wealth. In 1913, however, after the American
former caddie Francis Ouimet won a victory over two outstanding British
professionals in the U.S. open championship tournament (open to amateurs
and professionals), golf came to the attention of the American public in
general. The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) was organized
in 1916, and annual tournaments were started during the same year. Currently,
some 8,500 members of the PGA assist amateur players, mostly as club or
resort instructors; and each year several hundred professionals tour the
country playing in major tournaments. The Ladies Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) numbers about 550 club instructors and tournament players. Major
tours include the PGA (for men), the LPGA (for women), and the Seniors
tour (for men over the age of 50).
Tournaments
Each year many golf championship tournaments take place.
The most important of these for men are the U.S. Open (for professionals),
the U.S. Amateur, the Masters (an invitational match for professionals),
the PGA Championship, the British Open, and the British Amateur. For women
the important tournaments are the British Ladies Amateur Championship,
the U.S. Women's Amateur, and the U.S. Women's Open. International matches
are also played, notably between teams from the United States and Great
Britain. The Walker Cup Match (amateur) and the Ryder Cup Match (professional)
are for men; the Curtis Cup Match (amateur) is for women. World competition
tournaments for men include the Eisenhower Cup (amateur), the Ryder Cup
and the World Cup (professional), and the Shun Nomura Trophy and the Francis
H. I. Brown International Team Match Trophy (seniors). World competition
tournaments for women include the Espirito Santo Trophy.
The most famous feat in the history of golf was achieved
by the American amateur player Bobby Jones, who in 1930 achieved the grand
slam of golf by winning the British Open, the British Amateur, the U.S.
Open, and the U.S. Amateur. One of the greatest women players of all time
was Babe Didrikson Zaharias, an American who competed both as an amateur
and as a professional.
Other Forms of Golf
Because it is more a participant than a spectator game,
variations of golf, many of which can be played at night under lights,
are developed from time to time. Miniature golf, a putting game on fancifully
designed courses, became popular in the 1930s. Special putting greens and
driving ranges combine practice and recreation. Pitch and putt is a shorter
version of the long game.
Contributed by:
Joseph C. Dey, Jr.
"Golf," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. All rights reserved.
From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary at www.Merriam-Webster.com by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
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