General knowledge golf

• History
• Rules
• Aim of the game
• Par
• Forms of play, counting methods, handicap
• Golf club
• Golf ball
• Trolley and golf bag
• Golf course
• Access to golf

Golf is a ball sport with a centuries-old tradition. The aim is to play a ball into a hole in as few strokes as possible, using a variety of golf clubs. A round of golf usually consists of 9 to 18 holes, which are played one after the other on a golf course.

In Germany, golf, which was developed in Scotland, was long regarded as a predominantly elitist and expensive pastime. In contrast, in the Anglo-Saxon countries, and to some extent also in neighboring European countries, golf is a leisure sport practiced by a large cross-section of society. In Germany, too, this trend has been clearly discernible in recent years. In the dialogue with golf critics, but also through the easier entry into the sport, new impulses have been set that have enabled further growth. The number of players worldwide is estimated at 50 million.

History

Generally, the Scots are considered to be the inventors of golf, but there are also a number of other theories that see the origin in continental Europe. Frequently mentioned are Holland (1297: Colf in Loenen aan de Vecht, now disproved), France (Chole around 1200, Paille-Maille documented from 1416, illustration of a golfer putting on a target stick in the Book of Hours of Adelaïde of Savoy around 1450), Brussels (1360: prohibition of the Colven) and Flanders (illustration of a golfer putting on a hole on ice in a prayer book around 1480). In Gloucester Cathedral, there is a stained glass window from 1340 that is said to show a golfer. But there are also references to a game with a ball and clubs as early as ancient Egypt, ancient Rome (paganica), and early Japan, Korea (tagu, from 1400), and China (chuiwan, from about 1000). Interwoven with the question of the origin of the game is the etymology of the word; especially through the work of the sports historian Heiner Gillmeister, it is considered likely that the Scottish golf, first attested in 1447, is a borrowing of the Dutch kolv ("club").

It is therefore disputed up to which point one must still assume precursors (from which field hockey, croquet, baseball or billiards then also developed) and from when one can actually speak of golf. Ultimately, this depends on the criteria that one defines as indispensable for golf. For example, it is only since Pieter van Afferden's Latin textbook of 1545 that it has been proven beyond doubt that when executing the golf stroke, the player must not be disturbed by the opponent. In this respect, the earliest Scottish documents could also refer to a sport that was called "golf" but corresponded more to the brutal fighting game of soule or soule à la crosse.

In contrast to this, however, is the fact that of all the early or preliminary forms of the game of golf, only the Scottish variant has survived to the present day. All other forms of the game disappeared at some point or developed in a different direction - for example, Colf became the indoor game Kolf or Kolven. The game of golf commonly played today was introduced or reimported into all non-British countries only in the 19th or 20th century.

15. Century

The first written evidence of golf as it is spelled today dates from 1457, when the Scottish Parliament, with King James II as the driving force, bans "ye fut bawe and ye golf" and orders the practice of archery instead. The ban is reaffirmed by Kings James III (1471) and James IV (1491). It falls victim to the peace treaty between Scotland and England in 1502, which makes paramilitary exercises no longer appropriate for the population. Soon after, it became known that James IV himself played golf when an invoice for golf clubs made for him appeared in the court's official budget.

16. Century

Through royal patronage, golf spreads throughout Britain in the 16th century. The first citizen golfer is mentioned in 1527, a certain Sir Robert Maule is said to have played on the Barry Links near modern Carnoustie. The first reference to golf in St Andrews dates from 1552, the following year the Archbishop issues a decree allowing local people to play on the links. Subsequently, Mary Stuart introduces the sport to France. She is also recorded as playing golf in 1567, immediately after the assassination of her husband, for which she was widely criticized.

17. Century

The first golf club maker is documented in 1603, when William Mayne was appointed "Royal Clubmaker" by King James VI. The "Featherie", a leather ball filled with feathers, comes into play in 1618. The first mention of golf in America is a 1659 ban on the game in the streets of Albany, New York, and the first international match takes place in Leith in 1682, when Scotland (represented by the Duke of York and John Paterson) defeats an unnamed English duo. It is in this context that the first caddie is known, one Andrew Dickson carried the clubs of the Duke of York. In 1691, St Andrews is described in a private letter as the "Metropolis of golfing".

19. Nineteenth century

The first documented ladies' tournament is held in Musselburgh (10 km east of Edinburgh) in 1810, and the first ladies' golf club is constituted in St Andrews in 1867. Outside the British mainland, the first club is founded in Bangalore in 1820, continental Europe starts in Pau in 1856. The hickory shaft prevails over other types of wood from 1826, and the steel shaft comes onto the market in 1891. From 1848, the featherie is replaced by the gutta-percha ball, which flies farther and is cheaper to produce, and which in turn gives way to the Haskell ball, a wrapped hard rubber core, in 1898 for the same reasons. The Open Championship, the oldest tournament still played today, celebrated its premiere in Prestwick in 1860. Young Tom Morris achieves the first surviving hole in one in 1867. in 1892, the Darmstadt Golf Club, the first club in Germany, was founded; British spa guests had already been playing in the Bad Homburg spa gardens since 1889, and a group of German youngsters around Philipp Heineken played in the Neckar meadows near Cannstatt from 1890. The USGA was founded in 1894, the Stableford method of counting was invented in 1898, and the wooden tee was patented in 1899.

20. Century

Golf is an Olympic sport at the 1900 and 1904 Games. in 1902 grooves appear on the club face, in 1905 dimples on the golf ball, but in 1910 the center-shafted putter and in 1911 steel shafts are taken out of play again by the R&A. The German Golf Association begins operations in 1907. In 1916, the PGA of America became the first lobby group for professional golfers. Steel shafts are again permitted everywhere from 1929 onwards and now finally replace hickory shafts. The upper limit of 14 clubs per player and round is applied for the first time in 1938. In 1951, the R&A and USGA agree on a common set of rules, and at the same time stymies are abolished and center-shafted putters are allowed again. In 1963, the rubber grip (previously leather) and cast irons (previously forged) make their debut, followed in 1969 by the graphite shaft and cavity back irons. The only two golf shots on the moon to date are made by astronaut Alan Shepard in 1971. The first metal driver heads are released in 1979, displacing persimmon woods. Titanium is introduced to the American market as a material for woods in 1994 and subsequently gains acceptance.

21. Century

in 2009, the IOC decides that golf should once again be an Olympic sport starting in 2016: A decision based on the worldwide grassroots and elite sports work, the association structures, which are considered exemplary, and the many golf game variants as well as entry-level options such as cross golf. Especially the culture of "downsizing" - characteristic for every mass sport - was an essential aspect in the determination as a future Olympic sport.

Rules

The first written rules date back to 1744 by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith. The modern Rules of Golf, however, originated with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), founded in 1754. Today, they are published jointly by the R&A and the USGA. The current version is valid from January 1, 2012 until the end of 2014 and introduced a number of changes, mainly for clarification and standardization.

A special feature of golf is the very large and largely natural playing field (the so-called golf course), so that the rules must cover a wide range of conceivable situations. For this reason, the rulebook, with its 34 rules, is more extensive in detail than that of most other sports, and even experienced players are occasionally unsure which rule to apply in a particular case.

Each national golf association (in Germany, the DGV) maintains an expert commission for this purpose, which answers disputed rule questions if it considers the facts to be clear. If this is not the case, the R&A or the USGA is ultimately asked for a so-called "decision", i.e. an official interpretation of the rules. Like the Rules of Golf themselves, the Decisions are published (on more than 800 pages by now) and are part of the Rules in a broader sense.

Furthermore, the additional appendices in the rulebook, in which topics such as "shape of clubs" or "condition of the ball" are defined, are also part of the rules. In addition, the above-mentioned "general" golf rules for betting games are concretized in the "betting game conditions" (defining modalities for the execution of the betting games) or by "course rules" (regulating golf course-specific peculiarities).

Aim of the game

The object of the game is to play a ball (minimum diameter 42.67 mm, maximum weight 45.93 grams) in as few golf strokes as possible from a surface designated as a tee in accordance with the Rules of Golf into a circular hole 10.8 cm in diameter and usually several hundred meters away. The golf course usually includes 9 to 18 holes, which may be over 7,000 yards in total.

If the ball cannot be played according to the rules (for example, because it can no longer be found or has sunk into a pond), the rules of golf provide for certain possibilities of recovery, but mostly with the addition of penalty strokes. The sum of the strokes until the ball is holed (golf strokes + penalty strokes) is called the score and is recorded on a pre-made score sheet, the so-called score card.

Par

A par is defined for each hole. This value stands for the number of strokes that a very good player (a scratch golfer playing handicap 0) needs on average to play the ball from the tee into the hole. When calculating the par for a hole, it is always assumed that two putts are made on the green. To this is then added a certain number of strokes to play from the tee to the green. This number varies with the length of the hole, not with its difficulty, which is additionally given by bunkers, hills, water, etc., and is given separately as course and slope ratings.

The R&A's Rules of Golf use the term "par" but do not prescribe how exactly the par of a hole is determined; this is left to the national associations. The DGV currently (as of July 2010) uses the following length ratings:

In justified individual cases, a classification deviating from this scheme is also possible (e.g. in the case of particularly steep slopes), but this must be applied for separately by the respective golf club and approved by the DGV.

If a player's ball lies on the green with "par minus 2" strokes, this is referred to as a "green in regulation". An 18-hole course often has four par-3 holes, ten par 4s and four par 5s. This usually results in a par of 72 for the entire round. For 9-hole courses, these numbers are halved accordingly, although among the 9-hole courses in particular there are many short courses that consist mainly of par-3 holes.

The following terms have become established for the various possible scores on a hole:

Forms of play, counting methods, handicap

There are two basic forms of play in betting games, namely counting and hole play, with several variations in each case. In the counting game, the score is important in comparison to the rest of the field. Since there is no direct opponent, this is often referred to as playing against the course. In hole play, however, the objective is to beat a particular opponent by winning more holes (i.e. finishing the hole with a lower score) than the opponent.

For both types of game, there are two ways of counting: gross (the score actually played is decisive) and net (the score played is adjusted to compensate for the different playing strengths of the participants). Thus, the gross tableau results in the absolute best golfer and the net counting method determines the relatively best player, i.e. the one who was most successful in comparison to his personal playing strength.

A widespread variant of the counting game in Germany is the counting game according to Stableford. This form of play is also used to determine the handicaps of the golfers organized in the German Golf Association (DGV). The handicap indicates the factor by which the score actually played is adjusted in a net score and is intended to enable exciting competition even between opponents of different playing strengths. In other countries the handicaps are determined by the local golf associations partly according to other methods, in this respect sometimes only a very rough comparability is given. All over the world, however, a "bogey golfer" is understood to be an advanced amateur who scores on average one stroke over par, whereas the "scratch golfer" plays around par and is considered a professional, at least in terms of playing strength. A novice golfer is commonly referred to as a "rabbit".

Playing equipment: Golf clubs

According to current golf rules, up to 14 clubs can be taken by the player on a round of golf. The clubs differ in the length of the shaft (measured in inches in golf), loft, design and material. Basically, the trajectory of the ball is controlled by the loft and shaft length: the more loft, the higher and shorter the trajectory; the longer the club, the more it can be accelerated and the farther the ball flies.

The woods are used for the tee shot and the long shots (range from 180 m) on the fairway. They are the longest clubs and have the largest club head, which is hollow and, despite its name, is no longer made of wood today. Most players have a wood 1 (also called driver) in their bag and one to three more woods for shorter distances (wood 3, 5, 7).

For the mid-length shots (70-180 yards), clubs called irons are used, which allow more accurate shots compared to the woods. Irons are the most flexible clubs to use. It is quite possible to play a round of golf with only half a set of irons.

Hybrid or salvage clubs are a mixture of irons and woods, offering a compromise between the length of a wood and the accuracy of an iron. Typically, a player will have no more than one or two hybrid clubs. These then serve mostly as a substitute for a long irons.

For the short shots around the green (less than 100 m) or for very difficult locations (bunkers, ditches, high grass) the wedges are used. They are similar to irons, but shorter and have more loft. A standard set includes at least the pitching wedge and the sand wedge. In addition, there are the gap wedge and the lob wedge.

The putter is used to hole the ball on the green. Playing with this club is called putting. The ball does not fly through the air as with the other clubs, but rolls over the green. The putter is especially important because it is used more often than any other club (the par standard assumes two putts per hole), yet in almost every golf bag there is only one putter.

Golf ball: characteristics and construction

The size and composition of a golf ball are defined in the Rules of Golf. The diameter of a golf ball is at least 42.67 mm, the maximum weight is 45.93 g. The surface of the ball has about 300 to 500 dimples (small dents). Almost every manufacturer has a different arrangement of dimples to optimize the trajectory.

A golf ball consists of a hard plastic shell (gutta-percha was used in the past) with different cores. In addition to hard rubber cores, multilayer cores made of various flexible materials are increasingly being used. Depending on the number of different layers, one speaks of 2-piece, 3-piece, 4-piece (and so on) balls. Most golf balls have a number printed on them. This is used to distinguish the ball from balls of other players when they use a ball of the same brand and type.

The trajectory of a golf ball is determined by gravitational force and aerodynamic forces.

The angle of the club head causes the ball to rotate during impact, which contributes to the necessary directional stability during flight. Every golf shot triggers a backward spin as far as the ball is hit with the clubface. The different trajectories are triggered by additional lateral rotations.

The so-called dimples on the surface reduce the flow resistance coefficient by lowering the pressure resistance and reduce the air resistance by up to 50%. Depending on the player's hitting technique, a golf ball can fly up to four times farther. Hundreds of different dimple patterns exist, which are developed by the respective manufacturers of the golf balls.
Golf balls are elastic. Due to the so-called smash, they store energy on contact with the club, which they release again on the tee shot. Without smash, the tee-off speed would be limited to the speed of the club. With smash, it increases to a maximum of 1.5 times. Good golfers reach ball speeds of 250 km/h, the record is 328 km/h.

Trolley and golf bag

A trolley is used to comfortably transport a golf bag containing the golf club set and other utensils useful during the golf game (balls, rainwear, drinks, food, etc.) around the golf course. A golf trolley usually also has an umbrella holder and a scorecard holder.
A distinction is made between:

• Unmotorized mostly two-wheeled trolleys, which are conventionally pulled behind you or (increasingly lately) pushed in front of you as three-wheeled push trolleys.
• Motorized trolleys, which are equipped with an electric motor powered by a rechargeable battery. These electric trolleys are usually three-wheeled, may even have a seat, and are guided by the golfer walking behind.
• Often a trolley is mistakenly referred to as a cart or even a caddie.

Golf Course

Golf is played on a golf course. This usually has 9 to 18 fairways (also called holes), each consisting of the basic elements of tee, fairway and green. The course is designed by a golf architect and managed by a golf club or commercial operating company. The maintenance of a golf course is very costly and requires several greenkeepers as well as a number of special machines. Maintenance costs depend on the standard of course quality and range from 300,000 to 900,000 euros annually for most facilities.

Access to golf

For a long time, golf was a sport that had a fairly high barrier to entry (similar to equestrian, sailing or aviation sports) due to the time and capital investment required. One reason for this was that building and maintaining a golf course is very expensive, which was then passed on to members in the form of high admission and annual fees. In addition, the extensive equipment used to be relatively expensive, as it had to be imported from England.

Today, this has largely edited, as there are now many public golf courses and also the equipment can be purchased through a variety of channels. On the one hand in the specialized trade (Golfes are completely normal, usually profit-oriented service enterprises. In addition, most private golf clubs have opened their courses to day guests, although they reserve various access restrictions. In particular, of course, they want to enable their dues-paying members to play in an orderly manner, which could otherwise prove problematic, especially on weekends.

In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and a few other countries, permission to play on a golf course is made dependent on obtaining the so-called Platzreife (PR) or Platzerlaubnis (PE), which can be acquired in PE courses. Here, the fundamentals of the game and golf etiquette are learned. It is important to note that this PE is only valid for the respective golf club, another golf club does not have to recognize it. In many cases you need a handicap to be allowed to play on other courses, often it is also required that the handicap has been assigned by a certain golf association (e.g. one that is a member of the European Golf Association). Many clubs also require a minimum handicap at peak times (often -36 or better at weekends) or only allow teeing off with members.

In Germany, it is also possible to maintain a handicap outside of a traditional golf club, for example as a member of the VcG. The Vereinigung clubfreier Golfspieler (VcG) allows its members to play golf without having to join a club. A similar organization exists in Switzerland with the ASGI. Furthermore, many golf clubs offer so-called long-distance memberships for players who do not live in the respective catchment area. The free right to play on the home course is partially restricted, but the membership fees are considerably lower. In addition, there are a number of smaller providers who sell even more favorable foreign memberships or handicap management without being tied to a golf course or golf association. However, some golf course operators exclude customers of these organizations as guest players or charge them higher green fees. The green fee is the charge a golfer pays to play on a golf course.

In Scandinavia and the traditional vacation regions for golfers (Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Turkey), guests are welcome almost everywhere, but the requirement for a minimum handicap has not yet been universally abandoned. In the Anglo-American countries, on the other hand, golf is a popular sport, and there are a large number of publicly accessible courses that can be played for the sole payment of a green fee. On the other hand, there are also many very exclusive and purely private clubs in the U.S. that only admit guests in the company of a club member.