A Beginner's Guide to Playing Golf

Golf is one of the most popular sports and past times today. There are reportedly more than 100 million golfers worldwide and about 25 million in the United States alone.

Golf, although a game which requires precision and concentration, is nevertheless a very relaxing game. It also is a form of exercise as you have to walk long distances through the course in order to play the game. A lot of people who are in their 30's to 50's prefer to play golf since it gives them the exercise they need. Nevertheless unlike some other sports wherein you have to sweat and puff in order to play the game, you can just leisurely play the game of golf.

However for some people, how to play golf may be a bit complicated since there are details that need to be known. It's not just a matter of swinging your club and putting the ball in the hole. What takes place from tee off to the green is probably more exciting and more important than the moment the ball gets inside the hole.

There are two ways to play a game of golf. First is what we call as "match play" and what we call as "stroke play"

When we say "match play" it could refer to mean an individual golfer or a team playing against each other. The player or team should hit the ball into the hole with the fewest number of strokes possible. The score is computed by how many holes a player or team has won. Those with the most number of holes won, wins the match. If a golfer or a team leads by more holes than there are holes left to play, then the game is decided in favor of that team or golfer. There are times when the players or the team have the same score on a whole, hence the score is said to be "halved."

Stroke play, on the other hand is similar to match play with regards to the rule that a player has to make the fewest number of stroke to shoot the ball into the hole in order to win the game. The difference is that instead of tallying it by holes, the total number of strokes is tallied and the winner is determined. Stroke play is usually used in professional tournaments. Here, 72 holes are played. (Four rounds) If there is a tie an 18 hole play off is played to determine the winner.

In order to play golf, Players have to walk (or drive in motorized carts) over the course often times accompanied by caddies who give advice to players and carry their equipment. The play starts off in the Tee area which is a specially prepared area, usually grass, from which the first stroke for each hole is made. After the ball is shot in the hole, the player having the best score is given the honor to tee off first on the next tee.

In order to understand how golf is scored, you will have to understand what a "par" is. Par is "the number of strokes that a skilled golfer should require to complete the hole." A golf hole is a par three, par four or a par five. What determines this is the distance from tee to green. A par three hole is anywhere between 91 and 224 meters. A par four, between 225 and 434 meters Par five holes are somewhere between 435 and 630 meters. Most 18-hole courses have about four - par-three, ten - par-four, and four - par-five holes.

In the game of golf the goal is to make the fewest shots per round. Scoring in golf is as follows:

Scoreboard Meaning
-4 four strokes under par
-3 three strokes under par
-2 two strokes under par
-1 one stroke under par
+0 strokes equal to par
+1 one stroke more than par
+2 two strokes over par
+3 three strokes over par
+4 four strokes over par

If a player gets -4, it means that it took him 4 strokes less than what a skilled golfer requires to complete a hole. This means that he is a very good player. A +4 would indicate it required 4 additional strokes more than what a skilled golfer requires in order for him to get the ball inside the hole.