How golf is played

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The game of golf was first played in Scotland some 400 yrs ago. Players are required to hit a ball, using a wooden or iron club, from a smooth level point or “teeing ground”, down the “fairway”, and on to a putting green where the target hole is located. The fairway is a strip of clear land along which there are Natural hazards- Such as ponds and streams,
Man-made hazards– such as bunkers (sandpits), and rough (areas of uncut grass). Championship golf courses have 18 holes. The object of the game is to hit the ball into each hole in turn, and to complete the “round” using as few strokes as possible. Playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke of successive strokes in accordance with the rules. To play this game efficiently good Golf equipments are a must.

How golf is played:

The land on which the game is played on is called course. This course consists of series of holes. Mostly it is 18. There are 2 meanings for the word hole.
• The hole in the ground into which the Golf ball has to be put in.
• The total distance from the tee (the pre-determined from when the ball is first hit) to green.

Tee:
• The first stroke is always done from the tee, while doing so a tee is used. It’s a wooden or a plastic peg. It makes it easier for the shot. Mostly the courses offer a range of tee boxes which have names associated with degree of competence (e.g.: professional and amateur) or by the sex, age. Many hazards can be escaped if the tee is used.
The player next hits the ball towards the green again from the place where the ball comes to rest from the previous shot; this is done ignorant of where the ball is, i.e. on the rough or the fairway. There are advantages if the ball is on the fairway as it is smooth and the ball can just slide, but if it is on the rough then it Is a disadvantage as it is very rough and it will take a great effort to get the ball on the green. Once the ball is on the green, the ball is struck with a flat faced club which in turn makes the ball roll along the ground towards the hole until the ball comes to rest in the cup.

There special rules which apply to playing balls that come to rest in a hazard. For example, a player must not touch the ground with his club before playing a ball, not even for a practice swing. A ball can be played even when it is in a hazard. If suppose it can not be played due to any reason then the ball is picked by hand and dropped outside the hazard. within two club lengths of its original position. doing so calls for a penalty of one stroke. If the ball cannot be taken out from the hazard, then another ball may be dropped into the same hazard along the same plane from wher it went in earlier, but no closer to the hole, again at the cost of a one stroke penalty. A golf school is often associated with a course or club.

The green part of the course is cut very short. Because the Golf ball has to roll easily over distances of several yards. The direction of growth of individual blades of grass often affects the roll of a golf ball and is called the grain. The slope of the gree is called break. The flag and pole combination is often called the pin. the finest quality greens are well kept so that a ball will roll smoothly over the closely mowed grass. The borders of a course are marked, and beyond them is out of bounds, that is, ground from which a ball must not be played. ground under repair: a ball coming to rest in them may be lifted and then played from outside such ground without penalty.

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