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Golf Great Britain is where the
game of golf was born,
though there has been much
speculation over its exact
origins. It is a widely known
and very popular sport,
therefore it is important to
know something about it
even if you don’t play it.
The two essentials for playing the
game are golf clubs and balls. Golf
clubs have undergone many changes
in shape and the materials used in
their construction since the 17th century.
Early wooden clubs are known
as long-nosed clubs. The heads were
longer and more slender than modern
club heads. They were very simple
and since then they have undergone
serious changes. Today, a wide
range of materials are used to make
them lighter. These include stainless
steel, graphite, titanium, carbon fiber
and tungsten. To play golf you need
many clubs. Those most important
are the driver, wood, iron and putter.
Like clubs, golf balls have
a varied history and different types
have been used over the centuries.
The balls that first came into use
were made of hard leather, stuffed
with feathers. In 1929 the United
States Golf Association (USGA) announced
that as from 1931, the diameter
of the ball would not be less than
4.28 cm and the weight not greater
than 43 grams. The golf balls used
today are rubber-core balls.
Playing golf often requires the
right sort of clothing. Through the
centuries, the idea of what constitutes
suitable clothing has changed
quite a bit. In the past golfers wore
buttoned jackets and knickerbockers.
These are short loose fitting trousers
gathered at the knee or the calf.
Before starting to play, it is
essential that you know and understand
the rules of golf. The earliest
rules were drawn up in 1744. Over
the next 100 years, each club could
issue its own code of rules. Starting
in the second half of the 19th century,
more and more clubs based their
codes on those issued by the Royal
and Ancient Golf Club. In 1987 rules
were unified with the creation of the
Rules of Golf Committee. There
are many rules like: during a game
a player can carry a maximum
14 clubs, or the one that distancemeasuring
devices are banned.
Golf is a game renowned for
its history and traditions, so there
are many golf terms used. ‘Dead
ball’ is a term used when ball lies
near a hole. ‘Par’ means the standard
score in strokes for each hole of
a given course. Par can also be set
for the score for a round. Originally,
‘bogey’ was generally the score
that a player of high amateur standard
should reach, while par was the
standard for professionals. On some
holes bogey was one higher than
par, so bogey came to mean failure
to reach par. This led to the current
usage of this term, to mean one over
par. The word ‘eagle’ is used in golf
meaning two under par. ‘Albatross’
became a golfing term meaning three
under par. As the score under par increases
so does the rarity of the bird.
It is the ambition or fantasy of
almost all golfers to win the Open
Championships, the oldest of golf’s
four majors. The Open Championship
has come a very long way since
the original eight competitors gathered
at Prestwick on Wednesday, October
17, 1860. The same is true of
the prize money. In 1882 the winner
got 42 pounds, which is a huge difference
from the 4,000,000 pounds
the winner got in 2004.
Golf is gaining popularity
worldwide. Poland is also attracting
new golfers. More and more people
play this game in Poland but it is
very important that young people do
it too. Students Golf Club organizes
events for young people who declare
a willingness to get involved in it. After
all, it’s great fun and worth learning
more about this sport. To find out
more, visit www.akgolf.pl.Łukasz Poniatowicz
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