Most people don't consider golf to be a sport, but if you consider the precision it takes to be a pro, you would realize that it's no game of dominoes. It takes skill, intelligence, and some serious grace. So let's examine where golfing came from and what it is today. Here is the History of Golf.
Origins of Golf
It's no surprise that golfing originated in Scotland. All they had to do was combine their two most common activities... swinging clubs and walking long grassy fields. However new evidence shows that the Chinese were playing a mini golf according to this Shang Xi 15th century painting...
Shang Xi GolfingCourtesy of Wikipedia
Rule Rundown
The rules of golf are simple. That's probably why the game is so popular. All you have to do is try and hit a ball into the hole with the least amount of strokes possible. The best part about golfing is all the funny terminology. Here are some examples:
- Par: the number of strokes it should take the average golfer to complete the hole.
- Birdie: Completing a hole with one stroke under par
- Bogey: Completing a hole with one stroke over par
- Eagle: Completing a hole with 2 strokes under par
- Albatross: Completing a hole with 3 strokes under par
- Hole-In-One: Hitting the ball into the hole on the first stroke
PGA Pro
The professional league for golfing is called the PGA Tour (Professional Golfing Association). Every year 125 golfers qualify for the tour. Every golfer will make over $100,000 and the leaders all make in between 3-10 million. Vijay Singh holds the record for winning the most money in one year with 10.9 million in 2004.
PGA LogoCourtesy of the PGA
Fun Facts
- The world's longest golf course is the international golf club which located in Massachusetts. The course has a length of about 7600 meters.
- The first golf balls used in the 16th century are believed to have been made out of wood.
- About 25% of the golfers in the world are women.
- The first official golf rules were established in Edinburgh by the Gentleman Golfers of Leith.
- The first ever recorded hole-in-one was made in 1868 by Tom Morris at the Open Championship in Prestwick, Scotland.
- The longest putt ever was as long as 114 meters.
- The number of dimples on a golf ball is either 336 for an American ball or 330 for a British ball.
- The youngest golfer to shoot a hole-in-one was the five-year-old Coby Orr. It happened in Littleton, Colorado, in 1975.
- The chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf are one in 67 million.
- The word caddy comes from the French word for student, cadet, which is pronounced cad-DAY.
Have your say...
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