My golf page

When you are watching a game of golf are you often confused as to the exact rules of the game? If you answer in the affirmative you are not alone by any means friends! For the most part there are indeed certain rules that you as a player must abide to be able to play the game. As with any sports this day and age there are general rules of Conduct and there are also specific rules as well.

The question that comes up here, there and everywhere happens to revolve around what the specific rules of the game are. There are also questions that get asked all the time about specific actions and penalties for those actions. The true and honest Rule Book for the game of Golf is a pretty long one. There are actually sixty (60) different terms that you need to know all about before you play the game. It is these terms that truly form the actual foundations that govern the game as it is currently known today.

There are some terms that mean certain things that cannot be argued with. When the word May is used in the Rules it equates to Optional. The term Should refers to a Recommendation but not a solid rule. When you see Must this is a solid requirement that cannot be argued against. You will, no questions asked; ifs ands or buts about it – incur a penalty for going against these rules. There are far too many rules to go into here in this article though. When you see the term a ball this means that you can use another ball for the one you started with. When you see the term the ball it means that you absolutely cannot use any other ball than the one you currently have.

All in all there are 34 different Rules in general that you need to know and abide by. There are also sub-sections that go along with the main rules that also need to be heeded as they are also very important. There are also different categories of rules that apply to certain matters of the game i.e. “Ball Moved, Deflected or Stopped” that deals specifically with the motions or non-motion of the ball during play. There are only 2 rules – numbers 18 and 19 – in this category folks. Knowing all of the terms, the rules and the regulations of the game does indeed make for a good game.

When it comes to being able to name some of the most famous player in golf there are many people that come to mind automatically. One of the first is, of course, Tiger Woods. Another is Jack Nicholas. You might also be thinking about Arnold Palmer as well in this category and would not be wrong either. These three men are well known in the golfing world. Did you also know that many well known actors and politicians are also good golfers? There are a few well known musicians such as Bing Crosby that were also golfers. You might even be completely surprised that “Scarface” Al Capone – only one of the most infamous mobsters in U.S. history – was an avid golfer.

When you start looking at politicians that are avid golfers you are talking about men worldwide: former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush (referred to as both George Bush Sr. and as “41” for the fact of being the 41st President of the United States) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (commonly known as “Ike”) as well as former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

There are many actors that are/were avid golfer too. Some of them are: Clint Eastwood, Clark Gable, Sir Sean Connery (007 James Bond himself), Oliver Hardy (of Laurel and Hardy fame), actresses Jean Harlow, Rita Hayworth and Katherine Hepburn as well as the legendary entertainer Bob Hope.

There are many avid golfers that are more well known for other sports they played as well. One of these is New York Yankees slugger and legend “Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio. Another sports legend was known more for being a legend on Ice Skates than the golf links: ice hockey player “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky. You might also be totally stunned to find out that Mr. “Air Jordan” (former Chicago Bulls superstar) Michael Jordan is an avid golfer as well.

There are so many other well known people, both men and women alike, that are very avid golfers. You need not look too far for this information as it is all over the pages of history. You might be interested to known that no less than Microsoft founder and CEO Bill Gates as well as Bernard “Bernie” Madoff (well known for the Ponzi scheme that cost client about 65 million dollars) are also avid golfers. It kind of goes without saying that Madoff is not playing that often these days due to being locked up.

The one thing that you would be wisest to do when you want to get into playing golf is research! There are many things that you need to know about. There are also so many things to keep in mind that it is often confusing to say the least. Here are a few of the things to keep in mind so that you have a good time when you step out onto the green to play.

Do Your Reading and Research FIRST! The one thing that you seriously need to do first and foremost is to read and learn the Rules of the game. You are going to seriously need to know the rules in order to be allowed to play that first game of golf. Although there are many general and specific sections of these rules it is well worth taking the time to learn. By learning the rules you also learn all the relevant terms so you can tell the difference between a Birdie and a Bogey (both have to do with your golf shots)

Talk to Expert Golfers and Consider Taking Lessons. One of the things that any new golfer could seriously benefit from is the knowledge and experience that a seasoned golfer can impart. It might also be a good idea to take some lessons from a professional or experienced golfer so that you get the hang of it easier. You might also consider this idea so that you have a way to build up your skills and therefore your confidence on the links.

Be Patient With Yourself!!! This is something that cannot be stressed nearly enough my friends! There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to play the game of golf for anything even when you know the rules of the game as well as the ins and outs of it. There are many times when you are going to need to take a good bit of time and just shoot practice shots so that you can get the hang of the game. One thing that every new golfer needs to bear in mind is that they are no Arnold Palmer or Tiger Woods when they first step onto the links. Heck, even Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods were not the professional and superstars that they are now right away. It takes time, patience and a lot of practice to really get good at the game.

When it comes time to hit the links as many people will say when they are talking about going to the golf course know that there are so many to choose from that it will make your head spin. The question here has to do with the “playground” that the game is played on. Are you looking for just any golf course to play on? Are you looking for one that is well known?

One thing that you really want to look for is a golf course that is close enough to you so that you can get there easily. There are certain features that you need to know about ahead of time. For the most part it is the local country clubs that offer you the best experiences when you want to play a round of golf. Although the smaller country clubs that you can find all around you may not be as well known as a course like Augusta National in Georgia (United States) or The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland they are often just as good and glorious as those mentioned.

One of the things that you need to look for is that the golf course is well designed to challenge you as well as allow you to have fun. The distance between where you tee off and the hole that you are shooting for needs to be enough to give you a good challenge. Along the way there needs to be sand bunkers (traps) and water hazards that you need to maneuver around. Having enough of a challenge in your golf course is what truly endears a certain course to a golfer. There are certain well known as well as not-so-well-known golf courses that are preferred by amateurs and professionals alike because of their features.

Most golf courses have 18 holes as this is the number of holes in a specific round of golf. There always have to be certain elements present so that the golf course fits the “standard” description. You might be surprised to know that some golf courses are only designed with 9 holes instead of the standard 18 holes. In this case you would need to play each hole in the course twice to shoot a standard round of golf. There is always a Teeing Ground at one end of the fairway. This is where you start out your play from.

When you are talking about the game of golf and the major tournaments that are the biggest in the sport there are 4 that fall in this category. You are talking about The Masters in Augusta, Georgia; the US Open which is played many places in the United States; The British Open played on various courses all over the United Kingdom; and the PGA Championship (known also as USPGA Championship). These four are the absolute biggest and most prestigious gold tournaments in the world today.

When you are looking at the timing of these 4 major tourneys they are set up so that there is plenty of time in between them. Here is the order of the major 4:

1. The Masters Tournament is always played in April. This is the first of the four tournaments scheduled.
2. The U.S. Open is the second in line and is always played each June.
3. The British Open makes the third member on this list and sees action every July.
4. The PGA Championship is always the last on the list and is scheduled for action every August.

When it comes to these four major tournaments there is a great deal of planning and preparation involved in every step of the way. These are the absolute biggest there is and tend to bring out the best of the best in golf. There is a great deal of preparation involved when it comes to choosing the locations each year for three of the four. The Masters is the only one of the four tournaments that is always in the sane place: Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia (United States). There is a great deal of promotion involved here as well.

There is a great deal of pride and prestige to be had and claimed by winning one of these 4 tournaments. There is a great deal more prestige to be had from winning more than one in any given year as well. The one thing that all of this prestige does tend to bring about is speculation as to how long a player can stay on top. Any golfer that is both lucky and skilled enough to have won all four of these is considered to have a “Grand Slam” on their resume’. Now that is something that is not altogether impossible, yet it is pretty difficult to do given the level of world-class golfers involved in any of them.

How often have you been watching and/or playing golf and wondered where in the world it actually started? Interestingly enough there is nothing concrete about exactly how and where the modern game of golf came about. There are many that are saying that it came from Scotland. Others say that what we know of today as the game of golf did not always exist as it does today. Whichever way you want to look at it, the game of golf is something interesting indeed.

If there is one thing that can seriously be said about the game of golf it is that we really do not know exactly where the game that we all know honestly got started. If you were to look up information on the history of the game of golf you would see that there is a lot to be considered. Some are saying that the game we know now actually evolved from another that had been played in Scotland. Others are saying that you would need to go all the way back to the Netherlands on the 26th of February 1297 to see the origins of the game.

It really does not matter which theory you happen to subscribe to or believe. The main things to take into consideration are the main elements of the modern-day game of golf and compare these. If you were to look back in time at the ball-and-club/stick games that are thought to be early versions of the present-day game you will see so many similarities. Hitting a ball of some kind into a “hole” with a stick or club while avoiding certain traps and hazards are the key elements here and have been for a long time.

The biggest things that you need to remember are: you need to sink the ball using the least number of strokes and you need to keep the ball out of the “traps”. There are sand traps and water traps to avoid while you move the ball from one end of the green to the hole. These have always been essential elements of the game no matter what form the game of golf happened to take. While the game may have started in one place geographically it is known to have travelled as people migrated all over the globe. There really is no true way to tell exactly where this fascinating game got started or who truly started it.

One of the most confusing things to a new golfer – aside from the rules of the game at times – is the precise equipment used in the game. There are the simple and easily understood things here: the ball, your golf clubs, golf tees and golf cart. There are also items such as your golf bag, golf clubs themselves, towels, covers for the golf club heads and other things that are far less easily understood.

As has just been said, some of these things are easy to understand the use of: the ball, the clubs (this is a double-sided item for sure folks), the golf bag, your caddy and the golf cart. Let’s start by looking at the simplest things on the list: the ball, the clubs, golf caddy and golf cart and go from there. The ball is a pretty simple thing to understand for most people. There are certain standards and measurements that a golf ball has to be made to. You might not think that your golf caddy is equipment given the fact that you are talking about a human being here. The main task of the caddy is to carry the golfer’s equipment as they go from one part of the course to the next.

One of the simplest and yet most complex pieces of equipment are the golf clubs. For the most part there are three major types of clubs: Putters, Irons and Woods. There are also Wedges; these are actually Irons that you use for those shorter shots. It is the Woods that you need for those longer shots on the course. The Putters are as their name suggests – to make those really, really short shots that are oh-so-close to the hole.

When you are looking to get started playing the game of golf you are wise to start to read everything about the game and the equipment involved as there is just too much to go into here. You are going to need to have some golf tees, a golf bag to hold your clubs and equipment, some towels, golf shoes and golf gloves. There are other things that you might want to consider adding to your list as well. One thing that you do need to seriously consider adding to your equipment list is/are covers for your golf club heads. These protect the heads of your golf clubs and make them easier to distinguish from each other.