Golf 

is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on

a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping with
the varied terrains encountered on different courses is a key part of the game. Courses typically
have either 18 or 9 holes, regions of terrain that each contain a cup, the hole that receives the ball.
Each hole on a course contains a teeing ground to start from, and a putting green containing the
cup. There are several standard forms of terrain between the tee and the green, such as the fairway,
rough (tall grass), and various hazards such as water, rocks, or sand-filled bunkers. Each hole on a
course is unique in its specific layout.
Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play, or the lowest
score on the most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known as match
play. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels, especially at the elite level.
The modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland. The 18-hole round was created at
the Old Course at St Andrews in 1764. Golf's first major, and the world's oldest golf tournament,
is The Open Championship, also known as the British Open, which was first played in 1860 at
the Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. This is one of the four major championships in men's
professional golf, the other three being played in the United States: The Masters, the U.S. Open, and
the PGA Championship.

Origin and history

Main article: History of golf

The Xuande Emperor of the Ming dynasty playing chuiwan

While the modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland, the game's ancient origins are
unclear and much debated.
Some historians[3] trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, in which participants used a
bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as
the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and eventually evolved
into the modern game.[4]
Others cite chuiwan (捶丸; "chui" means striking and "wan" means small ball)[5] as the progenitor,
a Chinese game played between the eighth and fourteenth centuries.[6] A Ming Dynasty scroll by the
artist Youqiu dating back to 1368 entitled "The Autumn Banquet" shows a member of the Chinese
Imperial court swinging what appears to be a golf club at a small ball with the aim of sinking it into a
hole.[5] The game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages.[7]
The MacDonald boys playing golf, attributed to William Mosman. 18th century, National Galleries of Scotland.

Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England and chambot in
France.[7] The Persian game chowkan is another possible ancient origin, albeit being more polo-like.
In addition, kolven (a game involving a ball and curved bats) was played annually in Loenen,
Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year
earlier.
The modern game originated in Scotland, where the first written record of golf is James II's banning
of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery.[8] James IV lifted the ban in
1502 when he became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first recorded in 1503–1504: "For golf clubbes
and balles to the King that he playit with".[9] To many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, a links
course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage.[10] In 1764, the standard 18-
hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes.
[11]
 Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2
March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records.[12]
[13]
 The oldest surviving rules of golf were compiled in March 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen
Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which was played at Leith,
Scotland.[14] The world's oldest golf tournament in existence, and golf's first major, is The Open
Championship, which was first played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire,
Scotland, with Scottish golfers winning the earliest majors.[15] Two Scotsmen from Dunfermline, John
Reid and Robert Lockhart, first demonstrated golf in the U.S. by setting up a hole in an orchard in
1888, with Reid setting up America's first golf club the same year, Saint Andrew's Golf Club in
Yonkers, New York.[16]

Golf course
Aerial view of the Golfplatz  Wittenbeck in Mecklenburg, Germany

The Tammer Golf Course in the Ruotula district of Tampere, Finland

Main article: Golf course

A golf course consists of either 9 or 18 holes, each with a teeing ground or "tee box" that is set off by
two markers showing the bounds of the legal tee area, fairway, rough and other hazards, and
the putting green surrounded by the fringe with the pin (normally a flagstick) and cup.
The levels of grass are varied to increase difficulty, or to allow for putting in the case of the green.
While many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the teeing area to the green, some
holes may bend either to the left or to the right. This is commonly called a "dogleg", in reference to a
dog's knee. The hole is called a "dogleg left" if the hole angles leftwards and "dogleg right" if it bends
right. Sometimes, a hole's direction may bend twice; this is called a "double dogleg".
A regular golf course consists of 18 holes, but nine-hole courses are common and can be played
twice through for a full round of 18 holes.[17][18]
Early Scottish golf courses were primarily laid out on links land, soil-covered sand dunes directly
inland from beaches. The word "links" derives from the Scots language and the Old English
word hlinc ("rising ground, ridge"): traditionally these are coastal sand dunes but sometimes open
parkland.[19] This gave rise to the term "golf links", particularly applied to seaside courses and those
built on naturally sandy soil inland.[20]
The first 18-hole golf course in the United States was on a sheep farm in Downers Grove, Illinois, in
1892. The course is still there today.[21]

Play of the game

1=teeing ground, 2=water hazard, 3=rough, 4=out of bounds, 5=sand bunker, 6=water hazard, 7=fairway,
8=putting green, 9=flagstick, 10=hole

Every round of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A "round" typically
consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. Each hole is
played once in the round on a standard course of 18 holes. The game can be played by any number
of people, although a typical group will have 1–4 people playing the round. The typical amount of
time required for pace of play is two hours for a 9-hole round and four hours for an 18-hole round.
[citation needed]

Playing a hole on a golf course is initiated by putting a ball into play by striking it with a club on
the teeing ground (also called the tee box, or simply the tee). For this first shot on each hole, it is
allowed but not required for the golfer to place the ball on a tee prior to striking it. A tee is a small
peg that can be used to elevate the ball slightly above the ground up to a few centimetres high. Tees
are commonly made of wood but may be constructed of any material, including plastic. Traditionally,
golfers used mounds of sand to elevate the ball, and containers of sand were provided for the
purpose.[citation needed] A few courses still require sand to be used instead of peg tees, to reduce litter and
reduce damage to the teeing ground. Tees help reduce the interference of the ground or grass on
the movement of the club making the ball easier to hit, and also places the ball in the very centre of
the striking face of the club (the "sweet spot") for better distance.[citation needed]
When the initial shot on a hole is intended to move the ball a long distance, typically more than 225
yards (210 m), the shot is commonly called a "drive" and is generally made with a long-shafted,
large-headed wood club called a "driver".[citation needed] Shorter holes may be initiated with other clubs,
such as higher-numbered woods or irons. Once the ball comes to rest, the golfer strikes it again as
many times as necessary using shots that are variously known as a "lay-up", an "approach", a
"pitch", or a "chip", until the ball reaches the green, where the golfer then "putts" the ball into the hole
(commonly called "sinking the putt" or "holing out"). The goal of getting the ball into the hole ("holing"
the ball) in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by obstacles such as areas of longer grass
called "rough" (usually found alongside fairways), which both slows any ball that contacts it and
makes it harder to advance a ball that has stopped on it; "doglegs", which are changes in the
direction of the fairway that often require shorter shots to play around them; bunkers (or sand traps);
and water hazards such as ponds or streams.[17]