Golf is a game in which a player, using many types of clubs including a driver, a putter, and irons, hits a ball into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a standardized playing area; rather, the game is played on golf “courses”, consisting of either 9 or 18 holes.

In other words, it is a game in which a ball is struck with a club from a prepared area, known as the “teeing ground”, across fairway and rough to a second prepared area, which has a hole in it, known as the “putting green”. The object of the game is to complete what is known as a hole by playing a ball from the teeing ground into the hole on the putting green in the fewest possible number of strokes.

There is general agreement that the Scots were the earliest of golf addicts but who actually invented the game is open to debate. Various forms of games resembling golf were played as early as the fourteenth century by sportsmen in Holland, Belgium and France as well as in Scotland.

Basic rules:

• Be considerate of your fellow players. Don’t talk, move, or distract a player in any other way during his swing.

• On the first tee the honor is determined by the order of the draw or, in the absence of a draw, by lot.

• It is the responsibility of a player to ensure that he plays his own ball and, to this end, each player should mark his ball if necessary.

• In match play, the ball farther from the hole is played first. The winner of a hole tees off first on the next hole. If a player plays out of turn anywhere on the course, his opponent may require him to replay.

• In stroke play, the ball farthest from the hole is played first. The competitor with the lowest score on a hole tees off first on the next hole. There is generally no penalty for playing out of turn.

• When on the green, never walk across another player’s line of putt. The imprint that your feet leave on the green can alter the path of the ball. Always step over the line of the putt or around it.

• A player may not use any artificial device or unusual equipment.

• If you hit your ball into a water hazard, you may play it or with a one-stroke penalty, play another ball from where you just hit. Another option is to drop another ball where the original ball entered the hazard, incur a one-stroke penalty and play on.

Since now you are well acquainted with golf and its rules. Go play! Have fun!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Golf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.