The history of the emergence and development of golf

The history of golf, according to historical evidence, has more than 600 years. This ingenious prestigious game was given to the world by Scotland in the fifteenth century. From the annals it is known that this sport and its rules began to develop so rapidly that in 1457 King James II of Scotland was forced to issue a special decree on golf. This pleasant pastime has become fashionable so rapidly, capturing new supporters, that it was necessary to establish certain restrictions on its distribution.

However, then the desired effect was not achieved. Despite the will of the authorities, the aristocracy continued to swing clubs throughout the country with increasing passion. And subsequently, King Jacob the Fourth of Scotland had no choice but to finally and unconditionally recognize this sport as an official sport.

Briefly about rules of golf

The point of playing it is to drive a small ball into the hole while moving along a grassy lawn, hitting it with a special club in a certain way. It is desirable to reach the goal with the least number of hits on the ball. Golf is played outdoors, against the backdrop of a picturesque natural landscape, on a special natural lawn. The rules must be observed regardless of the time of year or the age of the participants. Golf can hardly be overestimated in terms of beneficial effects on the physical health of a person and his psyche.

This game, in the process of development over the centuries, has become a harmonious sports load on all muscle groups, a preventive training of vision, intuition, motor subconscious functions of the brain and a natural therapy for the nervous system. And all this – in the fresh air!

A session consists of long, up to 5-7 kilometers, walking tours. Some golf courses can reach 30 hectares in total area. For people of middle and old age, burdened with managerial work, golf becomes a true panacea. They prefer endless courses to a stuffy office with endless stress. In a pleasant natural environment, the powers that be can politely discuss their difficult issues without haste, distractions and “extra ears”.

An introduction into the golf course and rules

A course must meet a number of requirements, namely, it must consist of a series of holes, each of the holes must have its own starting area. There are two marks on the starting area that show the permissible boundaries of the zone for placing a peg for the ball. In addition to the launch pad, there are: a smooth field, an uneven field and other obstacles on the field.

The final part of the site is the hole, which is marked with a flag for ease of orientation. The hole is placed in an area with a minimum height of grass, which is called the “green”. In other areas, the height of the grass fluctuates, this is done in order to make it difficult for players to pass through the site. As a rule, the holes are located in the line of sight from the starting area to the green.

But this is not always the case, if the holes deviate to the left or to the right, then such holes are called “left dogleg” and “right dogleg”, respectively. If the direction curves twice, then the hole is called a “double dogleg”. By rules, courts consist of 18 holes, but there are courses with 9 holes, in this situation they are played twice, which in total is the same 18 holes.

Inventory and equipment for golf

Let’s start the review of equipment with clubs. A player can take no more than 14 clubs with him to the game, each of them is designed to perform a certain stroke.

clubs are divided into two types:

  1. “Wood” – sticks designed to make hits at maximum distances, as a rule, these are the first hits. They are called “wood” (from the English “tree”) because of the wooden head, although modern woods are made from metal alloys based on titanium.
  2. “Iron” – sticks designed to perform strokes at various distances, depending on the position of the ball. Sticks are so named because their heads are made of metal.

In addition to the material, clubs differ in the shape of the heads. So for strikes over short distances and with a high trajectory, pitching wedge clubs (wedge) are used, the angle of inclination for such clubs is 50-60 degrees. If the shot needs to be made from a sand bin, then a sand wedge stick is suitable for this, it has a heavier sole and a special shape. For finishing shots, players use a club called a “putter”, which is designed specifically for hitting on a flat surface with great accuracy.

In the “wood” and “iron” groups, clubs are numbered depending on the angle between the shaft and the face of the head. The lower the number, the longer the potential impact trajectory. The difference in the length of strokes with clubs of neighboring numbers is about 10 meters.

The main golf tournaments

Among the most prestigious and popular professional tournaments are:

  • The Olympic Games. Golf was included in the program of the 2016 Olympic Games, before that golf was at the Olympics only 2 times (1900, 1904).
  • Masters (The Masters Tournament) is one of four tournaments in the major golf series (analogous to the Grand Slam tournaments in tennis).
  • The US Open is an annual open golf championship held in the United States.
  • The Open Championship of Britain (The Open Championship) is the oldest golf competition, one of the four major tournaments.
  • The Professional Golf Association (PGA) Championship is an annual tournament run by the Professional Golfers Association of America.