Golf - Overview

Tonight, I have chosen this topic because one of the best golf tournaments in the world will be played this weekend, “The Master”. The tournament is one of the four majors played during a regular PGA season (Professional Golf Association), and could be considered a dream come true for those who won it. But let’s go back to our topic, an amazing game called golf. One can track the history of the sport back to the 1400’s when it is said that the first game took place at the Bruntsfield Links of Scotland. However, the exact date of its invention remains a mystery. What could be definitively assured is that the Scots are responsible for its creation, and the way we play it today is pretty much how it was played at least three centuries ago. Basically, golf is a sport in which an individual player hits a ball into a hole using a variety of clubs. Usually the target is to complete eighteen holes in a round with the fewer amounts of hits or strokes possible. A golf course, where the sport usually takes place, is a vast portion of land in which the holes are built according to a previous design. A tee, the fairway, the rough and a green are the main four components of each hole. Sometimes, in order to add more difficulties to a hole, sand traps or bunkers (as they are referred to in the golfer vocabulary) are placed in specific points of the hole being played. The tee is the place where each player hits the ball for the first time while playing a hole. The fairway is known as the portion of the hole where the ball is supposed to be after being hit the first time. The rough on the contrary, is any place surrounding the fairway. Finally, the green is a small part where the hole itself is. The game is played with a set of clubs (special made sticks), and there is a specific club for any occasion. In my next blog I will chat more about how the clubs are used and I will detail a bit better how golf is played.