GOLF, a game of ball, in which the bats are loaded sticks with a little curve at the end for striking the ball on the ground, or elevated on a little mound, or tee, as it is called in the language of the game. Golf clubs are of varying weights and forms, according to the taste and requirements of the players. The balls are made of composition.
Golf is identified with Scotland, by reason of its great popularity in that country for upward of 500 years. As early as 1457 the Scotch Parliament felt called on to discourage golf because the absorbing interest of the people in the game diverted attention from the more warlike sport of archery, and diminished the power of the people to preserve their national independence. The source of the game is generally admitted to be Dutch.
It may be played on any good stretch of meadow where the grass is not too rank, but the ground best suited for the purpose is a reach of undulating country with a sandy soil, short, crisp turf, and plenty of holes or ruts. The latter, which form the bunkers or obstacles, are necessary to prevent the game from being too easy. The course, called "links," should not be less than 3 miles round nor more than 5. Throughout it are dis tributed 18 artificial holes at any dis tance from 1 to 500 yards apart. The holes are inches in diameter, and each is surrounded with a "putting green," a space 60 feet square and as smooth as possible. The other requisites are two small balls about two inches in diameter and made of gutta-percha, and a number of "clubs" adapted to the various contingencies likely to arise. The object of the game is to knock the ball with the sticks into the series of holes in the least number of strokes. The game can be played either by two per sons, each having his own ball and count ing by holes, not by the strokes taken for the whole round—this is called singles, or foursomes, two persons play ing against another two, the partners playing alternate strokes, each side hav ing its own ball. At the beginning of
the game the player puts a little pat of sand down on the "teeing ground" (the pat is the "tee"), sets the ball on the top, and strikes it as far as he can in the direction of the first hole. After that, until he holes the ball, he must play it strictly from the place it happens to be. Here is where the bunkers come in, for a ball may land in a ditch or under a bank, where it may take him many strokes to get it into open ground again, and he may be called upon to use many different kinds of clubs, according to the nature of the ground and his distance from his object. The object of the putting green which surrounds the hole is to give the player a smooth space, enabling him to aim with accuracy. Hay ing "holed" his ball, the player takes it out, tees it again, and starts out for the next hole. A good driving stroke from a tee would be 200 yards. But a record of 280 yards has been made at St. Andrews, Scotland.
There are two styles of clubs, the wood and the iron, the latter having the head shod with steel. Altogether there are 19 shapes of clubs, but six are usu ally sufficient for a man's needs. The different clubs are used under different circumstances; for example, a putter for playing short strokes on the putting green; a cleek for drives; the driving iron when it is advisable to make a long drive, lifting the ball moderately high, the lifting iron when it is required to pitch the ball very high; the niblic for raising a ball out of ruts; the driver for long drives from a tee.