Players are only allowed to carry and use 14 clubs during any one round and in addition to the clubs and ball the players normally wear a glove on their left hand (for right-handed players) and also use tees, small pegs, to elevate the ball for the first shot on any given hole.Ĭonfusingly the part of the course the first shot is made from is also called the tee and golf is unusual among ball games in not having a standardised pitch or playing area. Due to the fast pace at which technology is improving this has been a difficult area for the governing body, the R & A, to regulate. The equipment used in golf is highly regulated, with exact specifications for almost everything, from the exact make and model of clubs that are allowed, to the size and shape of the grooves on their face (the surface with which the ball is hit), to the precise weight and aerodynamic capabilities of the ball. In this format 12 players from each side compete in a mixture of singles matches, played one against one, and doubles, two against two. There are also team tournaments, the most notable being the Ryder Cup played between Europe and the USA. Golf is usually played individually, with a professional tournament generally consisting of around 80-160 players playing in groups of three or four, competing against each other. This may be considered one unit of the course, with a standard course consisting of 18 separate holes played in turn. “The hole” refers both to the physical hole marked by a flag into which the ball must be sunk and also the entire area from the tee to the green. The object of the game is simple enough: to get your ball from the tee (the starting point of any hole) to the green and ultimately into the hole in as few shots as possible. Although Musselburgh Links is officially recognised as the world’s oldest course and dates from “just” 1672, there is no doubting golf is a sport with serious history and a seriously intimidating set of rules. Regarded as the home of golf, the Old Course at St Andrews was established in 1552. In 1457 King James II of Scotland outlawed the game as an unwelcome distraction and no doubt many golf widows and widowers wish it had remained so. The game of golf as we know it today originated in the 1400s in Scotland but the first relations of the game go back as far as the first century B.C.
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