Are you interested in Golf? Here are some basic rules

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In playing golf, all you need to do is to hit a golf ball into a hole with the fewest possible strokes, which is 18 times. If you are capable of doing that you are a great golf player. While you play golf, your opponent is not necessarily your enemy, but you are importantly the. This game of golf is one of those games where, even in its highest level, the opponents remain united through-out their battle against the odds presented in the course as much as each other. The sections below briefly introduces you to the basics of golf no matter whether you are a player or just a mere spectator.

The golf course:

The golf course is not the same at every place. The courses have different layout and is unique. What is common is that every course has 18 holes, and the first shot in every game is played from a teeing area, which is generally known as ‘tee’. The ball is placed on a plastic or wooden peg holder, the back of which goes into the ground with a cup like shape on top where the ball is placed. This plastic or wooden peg is also called a ‘tee’.

The game area consists of plain fields, with patches of long grasses called ‘roughs’. There are spots where the grass is closely mown and these areas are called ‘fairway’ which leads to the green. The hole is situated within this green. Along with, there are ditches which are called ‘bunkers’ and there are streams as well. The hole is identified by a yellow flag stick which sits on the first 9 holes, and red on the rest. This is kept there for a golfer to identify where the hole is, and these flags help him to target that area. The area in which golf is played is generally 6,000 yards long, and usually the golfers take around three to four hours to play all the 18 holes. This involves walking for about a little over 8 kilometers (5 miles).

The scoring pattern:

The scoring pattern is made up of the number of shots you take to finish the game and the penalties which you accrue during the course of the game. The game score goes like this – if you take 75 shots to finish all 18 holes and if your opponent takes more than that, you are declared the winner.

The terms used in golf scoring are as follows -

• Albatross: Three shots less than par
• Eagle: Two shots less
• Birdie: One shot less
• Bogey: One shot more
• Double bogey: Two shots more
• Triple bogey: Three shots more

‘Par’ is a term used in golf which is the number of strokes a top class golfer would be expecting to take to play each hole at the length and breadth of a golf course, after having faced the difficulties presented in field. In other words ‘par’ is the total number of shots that the golfer would be taking for the complete game as he goes through all the 18 holes. ‘Par’ is usually rated betweenm 70 to 72 strokes which are hardly met by a golfer.

There are other aspects in the scoring method. If you are a good golfer and manage to score five of a ‘par’ four hole, this will be termed as ‘one par over the hole’. More-over, golf rules allow you to play extra strokes when you are pitted against a good player, a kind of head-start for you. This is termed as ‘handicap’.

We find that in many other sports there are umpires or referees. As far as a game of golf is concerned, unless it is a tournament there is no need for a referee or an umpire. In a friendly game the players would themselves need to know the rules of golf and should be able to keep tag on their scores.

As for the ball, though there are exceptions in certain cases, the ball cannot be moved from the place where it is in. If you should have played the ball into a lake or hit it in such a way so as to lose it, you are allowed to play on. Here some common sense prevails. Never-the-less you got to add strokes in order to score.

The above are basic rules for you to get introduced to a golf game. There are more and you would need to learn them all in order to take up golf as a hobby or a career.

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