One of my favourite pasttime is golf, its not just some ordinary perpetual hit-and-walk game as commonly perceived by many.
Unlike any other sports, golf is more of a leisure game which requires patience, strategy, consistency and sportsmanship.
By basic definition, the objective of the game is to play the ball into the 'hole' with the least amount of
strokes. As easy as it sounds, the rules that regulates the game makes it challenging and requires a lot of skill within the player. The term 'hole' has two meanings;
the golf-cup embodied into the green with a flag, or the distance
between the tee-off(starting point) to the green(ending point containing the golf-cup). A golf-course consists of 9 or 18 holes,
and each hole is unique with its own challenges. A hole is classified by its 'PAR', which is the number of strokes that a golfer needs to beat
to complete the hole. For example, PAR 4 simply means that the player must try to get the ball into the hole within 4 strokes or less. Upon completing
each hole, the player then records his/her score on a scorecard;
- four strokes under par, -4 (triple-eagle)
- three strokes under par, -3 (double-eagle)
- two strokes under par, -2 (eagle)
- one stroke under par, -1 (birdie)
- strokes equal to par, +0 (par)
- one stroke more than par, +1 (bogey)
- two strokes above par, +2 (double bogey)
- three strokes above par, +3 (triple bogey)
Furthermore golf-clubs may look similar to the rest, but each of the club are designed for specific distance and use subject to the player's swinging power:
- Driver - used to tee-off. The longest distance among the clubs (average 200-300 yds.)
- Iron - used on the fairway to hit the ball closer to the green. Vary from 100-200 yds according to iron number. Ie.9-iron(80-150 yds),4-iron(180-230 yds) etc.
- Sand wedge - used to chip the ball off from the bunker(sand trap).
- Chipping wedge - similar to sand wedge, but often used to chip or drive the ball onto the green within 50 yds mark.
- Putter - used on the green to 'putt'(roll) the ball into the hole.
There are many more rules that apply onto the game of golf, however those are the basic information a person needs to know before venturing further into the game.
But the most important safety procedure of the game is never to stand anywhere in front of a player trying to hit the ball. A golf-ball on airborne travels at high speed, which may
lead to serious injury or possibly death upon impact if no proper knowledge on golf-etiquette is understood.
