History

           Golf originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife during the 15th century. Players would hit a pebble around a course of sand dunes, and tracks using a stick or primitive club. No one knows the actual origin of golf or the first inventor; we just know that it was first played by the Scottish.

            The first real record of a club maker was recorded in 1603.These club makers were said to be skilled craftsmen who produced bows and arrows and other implements of war! These clubs featured carved wooden heads of beech, holly, dogwood, pear or apple and spliced into shafts of ash or hazel to give the club more whip. The clubs were improved by filling the back of the head with lead and by putting inserts of leather, horn or bone into the club face.

            The earliest balls were hand stitched leather, stuffed with boiled feathers! The first balls were smooth however the players soon found out that balls flew farther after being scarred and worn out. Therefore players started to pit the balls themselves and eventually the dimpled ball we use today was invented in 1905

            For many years the game was played on rough terrain without proper greens, just crude holes cut into the ground where the surface was flat! Now days we play on different surface levels of grass with proper greens and 18 holes. The first 18 hole golf course in America was located on a sheep farm in Downers Grove, Illinois in 1892.

Rules of Golf

1. General Rules

The Game of Golf consists of clubbing a ball from the teeing ground into the hole with the fewest strokes possible.

2. A player or caddie must not take any action to influence the position or the movement of a ball besides the normal golf swing.

3. Golf is played in a match play or stroke play. Match play consists of head to head competition where the player with the fewer strokes in each hole is awarded a point. Who ever has the most points at the end of eighteen holes, is the winner. In stroke play you keep track of all of the strokes through out the game. Whoever has the least amount of strokes through out eighteen holes is the winner.

4. A hole is halved meaning you tied that hole, if each side holes out in the same number of strokes.

5.While playing a game whoever’s ball is furthest away from the hole, swings first on the next hit.

6. If a ball is hit out of the playing area you are penalized a stroke.

7. If the ball is hit into water you are also penalized a stroke.

8. You must play the ball as it lies, and not interfere with its surroundings unless it is an obstructed object.

9. Regulated clubs and balls must be used at all times.

10.  A ball is unfit for play if it is visibly cut, cracked or out of shape. A ball is not unfit for play solely because mud or other materials adhere to it, its surface is scratched or scraped or its paint is damaged or discolored.

 11. If a competitor plays out of turn, there is no penalty and the ball is played as it lies. If, however, the Committee determines that competitors have agreed to play out of turn to give one of them an advantage, they are disqualified.

12. All players must know and follow all of he rules during game play

Terminology

Stroke- The act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it
Tee- a short peg put into the ground to hold a golf ball off the ground
Putting green- The area of a golf course nearest the hole, with a smoother surface to make putting easier

Rough- The areas outside of fairways that generally features higher, thicker, grass or naturally growing unkept and ungrown grass.

Bunker- a hazard consisting of a prepared area of ground, often a hollow, from which turf or soil has been removed and replaced with sand

Approach Shot- A shot which aims to place your ball on the green area.

Birdie-   when you sink your ball in one less shot than the par for a specific hole. 

Bogey- when you sink your ball in one more shot than the par for a specific hole

Double Bogey-when you sink your ball in two more shots than the par for a specific hole.

Drive- The drive is the initial shot on each hole which is taken from the tee.

fairway- The fairway is the entire in-bounds distance which runs from the tee to the green and which is kept neatly trimmed.

Eagle-when you sink your ball in two less shots than the par for a specific hole. 

Out-of-Bounds- This is the area which is outside of the course and which is often marked with white stakes.

Penalty Stroke- A penalty stroke is one which is added to the score of a player or side as specified within the rules. 

Water Hazard- A water hazard is any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface drainage ditch or other open water course (whether or not it contains water) and anything of a similar nature on the course.

Court dimensions

In the game of golf there are no specific court dimensions or sizes. There are hundred of different golf courses that consist of 18 holes, none being the same. Below are a few general things that are found in  all golf courses.

There is no set size for a tee box. They can be as small as 4
yards long and 8 yards wide or even get up to 50 yards long. The size
of the tee box depends on the the hole which is different every time. Usually the higher the par is for that hole, the  bigger the tee box is.

Different sizes and shapes of the sand bunkers provide visual interest throughout the golf round as well as facilitate many functions.Bunkers evolve or change over a period of time. The average lifespan of a bunker is twenty to twenty-five years, depending on climatic conditions, original construction and maintenance practices.  

Hazards should be placed on natural highs or lows of the site and should be visible from the approaching shot for tactical decisions. They also should be a physical and psychological landmark. Depth, height and width should vary and be in proper accordance with the desired severity of punishment for the mis-hit shot. An alternate safer path to the hole is important, as average golfers cannot consistently maneuver a golf shot over hazards.

The putting greens also vary in size and shape in just about every hole of golf. A rule was put into place for the putting green to start 20 yards from the hole but has since been changed several times. The size of the hole in the green is 4 1/4 inches with a depth of not more than four inches.