The popularity of the game of golf has increased tremendously over the past forty-five years, giving us great champions like Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods and world-renowned courses like Pinehurst, St. Andrews, Augusta National and the Blue Monster at Doral.
Why has golf become so popular these days? Its the opportunity to be outside, to get a good whole body workout, network with friends or business colleagues at a leisurely pace, and to play a game that you can never play perfectly.
Your achievements are tallied on your scorecard for all time and the desire to improve your game can encourage you to play again and again.
Here follows an elementary lesson for those who know nothing about golf.
A round of golf is usually played on an eighteen hole course. Each hole has its ‘par’, which is the total number of tee shots (drives), fairway shots, chips (short shots near the ‘green’) and putts on the green, it should take to sink the golfball in the hole.
This ‘par’ value is based on the length and difficulty of the hole in question. Pars range from three to six, so if you get the ball into the hole in four shots on a ‘par four’ hole, you made ‘par’. However, if you took three shots, it’s called a ‘birdie’ or five shots a ‘bogie’.
All the holes on a golf course will have at least one ‘hazard’ to make the game more challenging and therefore more interesting. These hazards are usually: sand traps, trees and bodies of water, which are set up in such a way as to be obstructive. A beginner at golf should seek out a course which has fewer and less obstructive hazards so it is easier to play.
Players mark their own scorecard with the cumalative total of shots taken for each hole. After playing all the holes, the players add up their own scorecards and the one with the lowest score is the winner.
It is vital that beginners to golfing should not take the game too seriously, because it takes a very long time to play golf proficiently, even if the professionals on TV make it look so easy.
It makes very good sense to take a few lessons from the course pro, when you are just beginning to learn to play golf, because then you will learn how to stand and swing the golf club correctly.
Are you new to golf? We have some great tips for the beginner golfer at Golfing Tips for Beginners Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.
