There would have been a lot of times when you stroke the ball and it misses the hole by just a fraction of an inch. In such situation, you definitely would have helplessly hoped that the hole could have been just a bit wider. But if you are a golfer who likes to play by the rules, then you will realize that the hole size can neither increase nor decrease. It is set to a standard one – 4.25 inches diameter. Every golf course developed for even recreational purposes has holes of that size.

The most frequent question that golfers tend to have is that why the size is standardized to what it is today. The answer to this lies back in time and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, along with some connections in Mussel burgh, are responsible for it. They issued a new set of rules in 1891 and it was in meeting that they decided to make the size of the golf hole uniform throughout the golf courses in the world.

The main reason behind choosing this size – 4.25 inches diameter, is in Mussel burgh. It is now known as the Royal Mussel burgh Golf Club and it is a municipal golf course with 9-hole. In 1829, the people in Mussel burgh had invented the first ever hole-cutter known to mankind. And after having a look at it, the Royal Mussel burgh Golf Club or the R&A decided to adopt the size which that cutter (or rather the cutting tool in it) was able to cut – 4.25 inches diameter. Maybe they liked that size! After the rules were made and released, including the new hole size, the hole world decided to adopt them.

If you are wondering why that first hole-cutter had a diameter of 4.25 inches, then let us tell you that the reason behind that is unknown to the present generation of mankind. Our guess is that maybe the creator of that tool liked the size too!

So next time you wonder about the size of the hole, remember that it too has a great history behind itself.

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But if we look back in the past, golf was not played as it is today. Though, the origin of Golf is still ambiguous but according to the widely accepted fact, golf originated in Scotland in 12th century where the shepherds knocked stones into rabbit holes. It is believed that this later evolved into the modern day golf. However, the first similar version of the modern day golf was assumed to be played in 15th century. Since then, several rules and methods have been added and removed from the game.

Where the Scottish golf did not require much attire to play, it was played simply with “stones” and “sticks”, the modern day golf is played using Golf Clubs, Golf balls and Ball Markers. The golf course is not specific in area but is specially designed and has 9 or 18 holes around the course. The golfer carries his paraphernalia on the course and plays the golf according to the rules defined by Professional Golfers Association (PGA), in some countries.

Major countries playing golf toady are Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England. China is seen as a rapidly emerging golf playing country, which is planning to build 1400 public golf courses in next five years.

There are various tournaments and championships, called the majors, organized for the professional golfers. The earliest majors consisted of Open Championship, the Amateur Championship, the U.S. Open, and the U.S. Amateur. In 1974 masters tournaments were introduced. Currently there are four main tournaments, The Master’s Tournament, U.S. Open, The Open championship (oldest of the majors), and the PGA championship.
Some of the major players are Arnord Palmer, Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Mark O’Meara, Tiger Woods, Pádraig Harringto.

Although, Tiger Woods has recently stunned the golf lovers by putting his game on the back burner, (and is responsible for major drop down in the television ratings) he is till date the No.1 male golfer in the world. Latest news confirms that his friend star tennis player Roger Federer said that Tiger Woods will return as a “wonderful Golfer” soon.

Ending the male dominance in this game there are lots of women golfers emerging today. This has lead to the formation of separate Women’s major golf Championships.Ever since the 15th century this game has evolved and now it is increasingly attracting many young talents.

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Thirteen of the originally written down rules of golf are stated here:

• The ball must be tee-ed when the length of the ‘hole’ equals the length of the club. The modern day definition of ‘teeing grounds’ is the length equal to two club lengths in depth.
• The tee should be on the ground. Originally, tees were small pyramid structures which were made of sand.
• The ball, once you tee it, should not be changed’. This version of the rule (of not changing the golf ball until after holing it) can be found in modern-day golf also.
• Anything obstructing the way of the ball should be removed (until and unless it is on the fair green).
• If the ball lands in water, it should be removed from and placed behind the hazard for the next stroke. However, a stroke should be given to the opponent when the ball is fetched.
• If two balls touch each other at any time during the game play, the first ball should be kept lifted until the second one is played.
• One must not try to hit the opponent’s ball with his own when they both are close to the target (hole).
• If a player is somehow unable to get the same ball back after a stroke, he must go back to the spot where he last played with that ball, and drop another ball there. Also, the opponent should be given a bonus stroke for the misfortune.
• When the ball is close to the hole, a player is not allowed to use a club or any other related thing to measure or mark its distance from the hole.
• If the ball is stopped by any obstacle, it must be played from where it lies.
• If the club is drawn for a stroke (and goes as far as very close to striking the ball), if it breaks somehow, it is considered a stroke. This is a part of the modern day definition of stroke.
• The player whose ball lies the farthest from the hole is allowed to play the first stroke.
• Anything that can be counted as the part of ground repair should be treated as a hazard and dealt with accordingly.

All these rules are incorporated in the modern-day golf rulebook in some way or the other. The R&A and the United States Golf Association meet every two years for setting a uniform set of rules for the game of golf.

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Keeping score in golf is very simple. When one hits the golf ball with a club, it is known as a stroke. Whenever a player hits a stroke, it is counted. At the end of each hole (when both the players hole the ball), note the number of strokes which he took. Also, at the end of each round (which constitutes of a few number of holes), add up the number of strokes which he took in each hole. This number is his golf score.

When one plays by the rules, there are a number of penalty strokes that are encountered. In this case, these strokes are also to be added to the total number of strokes in every hole. However, to put it simply, one can say that the golf score equals the number of times a player hits a golf ball until the target is achieved.

When watching professional golf tournaments, you might not come across the above mentioned scoring method as the measure of the competition. In these tournaments, score is kept in relation with ‘par’. For a particular hole, ‘par’ is defined as the number of strokes a perfect professional golfer should take to hole the ball. If the par for a hole is 6, and if a player takes a total of 7 strokes to finish that hole, then his total for the hole is 1-over (or +1). Also, if the par for a hole is 5 and a player finishes it in 4 strokes, then his score is written as 1-under (or -1).

So, now if you encounter a +2 or a -3 while you see the golf score, you know that it is the number of strokes that player took which is more or less than the ‘par’ respectively, for that round.

Filling up the score card is also a very simple process. You should count the number of strokes a player takes to finish a hole and then write it down under the corresponding heading mentioning that hole. After every nine holes are finished, you should tally the scores for the front nine and the back nine holes, respectively. Then for a complete analysis, add up those two scores for the 18-hole score.

Clearly, keeping score in golf is quite simple. You just need to pay a little more attention to the counting and the adding part.

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The history of golf is rather interesting. The earliest known information about golf is derived from King James II of Scotland who ruled the country in the 1450s. He banned golf, along with football (soccer) because he believed that both these games were proving to be considerable distractions for his archers; they were spending more time in playing rather than practicing.
Later, both James III, in the year 1471, and James IV, in the year 1491, following their predecessor, reissued the bans on these games.

However, the game continued to evolve and gain popularity over time. It was in the 18th century, 1744 to be precise, that the then known rules were written down and golf came into being officially. Any modern-day golf player will easily recognize those rules, as they form the basics of the game.

It would be a little unfair to give all the credit of ‘inventing’ golf to the Scots. Golf seemed to have evolved from the ball-and-stick games that were being played in the United Kingdom in the Middle Ages. However, evidence suggests that the similar ball-and-stick games were also played in Germany, France and a few other European countries at the same time. The evidence come straight from the name of the game itself; ‘golf’ comes from the Scots meaning “glove” or “goff”, which themselves come from the old Dutch term “kolf”.

In the middle ages, the Scots and the Dutch were close trade partners. The fact that the term ‘golf’ comes from an Old Dutch term, makes the game being adapted from the old but similar Dutch games a high possibility. However, the credit of evolving those games into golf certainly goes to the Scots.

Another interesting bit of knowledge was uncovered recently. If we go farther back in history, the ball-and-stick games that evolved to golf in Scotland were introduced there by the Romans. The confusion about who actually invented the game still is a matter of discussion. But, collectively, the whole of Europe gets the credit.

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A ‘Rock Hudson’ – a putt that looked straight, but wasn’t.
A ‘Saddam Hussein’ – from one bunker into another.
A ‘Yasser Arafat’ – butt ugly and in the sand.
A ‘John Kennedy Jr.’ – didn’t quite make it over the water.
A ‘Rodney King’ – over-clubbed.
An ‘O.J.’- got away with one.
A ‘Princess Grace’ – should have used a driver.
A ‘Princess Di’ – shouldn’t have used the driver.
A ‘Condom’ – safe, but didn’t feel very good.
A ‘Brazilian’ – shaved the hole.
A ‘Rush Limbaugh’ – a little to the right.
A ‘Nancy Pelosi ’ – Way to the left and out of bounds.
A ‘James Joyce’ – a putt that’s impossible to read.
A ‘Ted Kennedy’ – goes in the water and jumps out.
A ‘Pee Wee Herman’ – too much wrist.
A ‘Sonny Bono’ – straight into the trees.
A ‘Mickey Mantle’ – a dead yank.
A ‘Paris Hilton’ – a very expensive hole.

What do you think ? Have your own additions to this list ? Send them through.

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