The Game called Golf
Golf is an extremely popular sport with millions of players and followers. There are thousands of commercial courses around the world and for almost every one of these courses, business seems to be booming. But what is the game all about really? Why is it that hitting a ball, then walking semi-long distances under a scorching hot sun just so you can hit it again so engaging to golf players?
The game of golf, at its most basic, involves the player or players hitting a ball with a club with the goal of getting it into a hole. The winner of a game is usually the person who takes the least number of strokes to attain the objective. Of course golf enthusiasts will argue that the game is much more complicated than that and it is. But for a person who has no idea about why players carry so many clubs when they play, why the courses are so vast or why golf balls have dimples on them, that simple description will pretty much sum things up.
Golf and all its glory
Now to give justice to the game and to its diehard fans, let's move on to the complicated and also the fun aspects of the game.
The Golf Course
Golf does not have a standard paying field unlike most other sports. There are many courses in existence today and although each one will have a tee area, several holes, a fairway and rough, several hazards and a putting green; they will be situated in different places depending on which golf course you play in. This aspect of the game provides players with a lot of variety and promotes golf course touring.
Driving Ranges
The golf course is normally used for actual games though and for beginners, a driving range will usually suffice. A driving range is much smaller than a full golf course but it will allow players to practice their swings without fear of breaking a window or two. They usually have distance signs set in place so that you can tell how far you can hit the ball and if you're improving or not.
Golf Clubs
Moving on to the golf players gear, most people who don't play don't really know why so many clubs are necessary. You'd think that for a ball hitting game you would need just one trusty club right? Well, golf really isn't just a simple club swinging game. Players use different clubs depending on the distance of the ball from the hole and their particular location in the golf course.
There are three main types of clubs:
Woods are clubs that are designed to cover the most distance. The reason why they're called woods is because they were originally made out of maple or persimmon. However today's clubs are made out of hollow steel or titanium so they're now also known as "Metal Woods." These clubs are the longest type and have a slightly spherical end with a flat face. The Woods club that is used during the tee off is called a "driver" and it usually has the biggest head to pull out the most power from a swing.
Irons are the set of clubs that players use in the middle of the game when the ball is in the fairway or rough. Like the previous type, the clubs are named after the material used to make them. Irons are categorized into muscle backs, cavity backs, blade style and wedges based on the particular purpose they perform on the course.
Putters are the precision clubs of the game. They have short shafts because they aren't designed for distance hits but for close-to-the-hole shots. The purpose of a "put" is to "push" the ball into the hole, not to send it flying through the air.
Saying that golf is just about hitting the ball is an over simplification of the game. It would be the same as saying chess is just about moving the pieces. There's a lot more going on than what you can observe from a distance and you need to know how the game is actually played in order to appreciate it.
Golf is an extremely popular sport with millions of players and followers. There are thousands of commercial courses around the world and for almost every one of these courses, business seems to be booming. But what is the game all about really? Why is it that hitting a ball, then walking semi-long distances under a scorching hot sun just so you can hit it again so engaging to golf players?
The game of golf, at its most basic, involves the player or players hitting a ball with a club with the goal of getting it into a hole. The winner of a game is usually the person who takes the least number of strokes to attain the objective. Of course golf enthusiasts will argue that the game is much more complicated than that and it is. But for a person who has no idea about why players carry so many clubs when they play, why the courses are so vast or why golf balls have dimples on them, that simple description will pretty much sum things up.
Golf and all its glory
Now to give justice to the game and to its diehard fans, let's move on to the complicated and also the fun aspects of the game.
The Golf Course
Golf does not have a standard paying field unlike most other sports. There are many courses in existence today and although each one will have a tee area, several holes, a fairway and rough, several hazards and a putting green; they will be situated in different places depending on which golf course you play in. This aspect of the game provides players with a lot of variety and promotes golf course touring.
Driving Ranges
The golf course is normally used for actual games though and for beginners, a driving range will usually suffice. A driving range is much smaller than a full golf course but it will allow players to practice their swings without fear of breaking a window or two. They usually have distance signs set in place so that you can tell how far you can hit the ball and if you're improving or not.
Golf Clubs
Moving on to the golf players gear, most people who don't play don't really know why so many clubs are necessary. You'd think that for a ball hitting game you would need just one trusty club right? Well, golf really isn't just a simple club swinging game. Players use different clubs depending on the distance of the ball from the hole and their particular location in the golf course.
There are three main types of clubs:
- Woods
- Irons
- and Putters
Woods are clubs that are designed to cover the most distance. The reason why they're called woods is because they were originally made out of maple or persimmon. However today's clubs are made out of hollow steel or titanium so they're now also known as "Metal Woods." These clubs are the longest type and have a slightly spherical end with a flat face. The Woods club that is used during the tee off is called a "driver" and it usually has the biggest head to pull out the most power from a swing.
Irons are the set of clubs that players use in the middle of the game when the ball is in the fairway or rough. Like the previous type, the clubs are named after the material used to make them. Irons are categorized into muscle backs, cavity backs, blade style and wedges based on the particular purpose they perform on the course.
Putters are the precision clubs of the game. They have short shafts because they aren't designed for distance hits but for close-to-the-hole shots. The purpose of a "put" is to "push" the ball into the hole, not to send it flying through the air.
Saying that golf is just about hitting the ball is an over simplification of the game. It would be the same as saying chess is just about moving the pieces. There's a lot more going on than what you can observe from a distance and you need to know how the game is actually played in order to appreciate it.