Golf is a sport in which a player, using many types of clubs including a driver, a putter, and irons, hits a ball into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a standardized playing area; rather, the game is played on golf "courses", each one of which has a unique design and typically consists of either 9 or 18 holes. Golf is defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the RulesA golf ball next to a hole.The first game of golf for which records survive was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in A.D. 1456, recorded in the archives of the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, now The Royal Burgess Golfing Society. The modern game of golf spread from Scotland to England and has now become a worldwide game, with golf courses in the majority of countries.Golf competition may be played as stroke play, in which the individual with the lowest number of strokes is declared the winner, stableford points play (as devised in 1931 by Dr. Frank Stableford of the Wallasey & Royal Liverpool Golf Clubs), in which the individual with the highest points score is declared the winner, or as match play with the winner determined by whichever individual or team posts the lower score on the most individual holes during a complete round. In addition, team events such as fourball have been introduced, and these can be played using either the stroke, stableford or matchplay format. Alternative ways to play golf have also been introduced, such as miniature golf, sholf and disc golf.Golf has increasingly turned into a spectator game, with several different levels of professional and amateur tours in many regions of the world. People such as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Lorena Ochoa, Pádraig Harrington and Annika Sörenstam have become well-recognized sports figures across the world. Sponsorship has also become a huge part of the game and players often earn more from their sponsorship contracts than they do from the game itself.Golf is a game the exact origins of which are unclear. The origin of golf is open to debate as to being Dutch[3] or Scottish. However, the most accepted golf history theory is that golf as practised today originated from Scotland in the 1100s.[4]Scholars have claimed references to a form of golf from hieroglyphs found on stone tablets dating to ancient Egyptian Pharoahs. A game somewhat similar to golf was first mentioned in Dōngxuān Records (Chinese: 東軒錄), a Chinese book of 11th century. It was also mentioned on 26 February 1297 in the Netherlands in a city called Loenen aan de Vecht. Here the Dutch played a game with a stick and leather ball. Whoever hit the ball into a target several hundreds of meters away the least number of times, won.Modern golf is considered to be a Scottish invention,as the game was mentioned in two 15th century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of gowf. Some scholars have suggested that this refers to another game which is more akin to modern shinty, hurling or field hockey than golf. A game of putting a small ball into a hole in the ground using clubs was played in 17th century Netherlands. Flourishing trade over the North Sea during the Middle Ages and early Modern Period led to much language interaction between Scots, Dutch) and other languages. There are also reports of even earlier accounts of a golf like game from continental Europe.However, these earlier games are more accurately viewed as ancestors of the game we call golf, as the fact remains that the modern game of golf we understand today originated and developed in Scotland: The first golf club memberships were formed in Scotland. The earliest permanent golf course originated there too, as did the very first written rules, as did the establishment of the 18-hole course. The first formalized tournament structures also emerged there and competitions were arranged between different Scottish cities. Over time, the modern game spread to England and from there to the rest of the world. The oldest playing golf course in the world is The Musselburgh Old Links Golf Course. Evidence has shown that golf was played here in 1672 although Mary, Queen of Scots reputedly played there in 1567.As stated, golf courses have not always had eighteen holes. The St Andrews Links occupy a narrow strip of land along the sea. As early as the 15th century, golfers at St Andrews, in Fife, established a customary route through the undulating terrain, playing to holes whose locations were dictated by topography. The course that emerged featured eleven holes, laid out end to end from the clubhouse to the far end of the property. One played the holes out, turned around, and played the holes in, for a total of 22 holes. In 1764, several of the holes were deemed too short, and were therefore combined. The number was thereby reduced from 11 to nine, so that a complete round of the links comprised 18 holes. Due to the status of St Andrews as the golf capital, all other courses chose to follow suit and the 18-hole course remains the standard today.The major changes in equipment since the 19th century have been better mowers, especially for the greens, better golf ball designs, using rubber and man-made materials since about 1900, and the introduction of the metal shaft beginning in the 1930s. Also in the 1930s the wooden golf tee was invented. In the 1970s the use of steel and then titanium to replace wood heads began, and shafts made of "graphite" (also known as carbon fiber) were introduced in the 1980s. Though wooden tees are still most popular, various designs of plastic tees have been developed in recent years, and the synthetic materials composing the modern ball continue to be developed.Golf balls are famous for "dimples". These small dips in the surface of the golf ball decrease aerodynamic drag which allows the ball to fly farther. Golf is also famous for the use of flags. These show the position of the hole to players when they make their first drive and are too far away from the hole to aim accurately. When all players in a group are within putting distance, the flag is removed by a "caddy" or a fellow competitor to allow for easier access to the hole.World popularityIn 2005 Golf Digest calculated that there were nearly 32,000 golf courses in the world, approximately half of them in the United States. The countries with most golf courses in relation to population, starting with the best endowed were: Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England (countries with fewer than 500,000 people were excluded). Apart from Sweden, all of these countries have English as the majority language, but the number of courses in new territories is increasing rapidly. For example the first golf course in the People's Republic of China opened in the mid-1980s, but by 2005 there were 200 courses in that country.The professional sport was initially dominated by Scottish then English golfers, but since World War I, America has produced the greatest quantity of leading professionals. Other Commonwealth countries such as Australia and South Africa are also traditional powers in the sport. Since around the 1970s, Japan, Scandinavian and other Western European countries have produced leading players on a regular basis. The number of countries with high-class professionals continues to increase steadily, especially in East Asia. South Korea is notably strong in women's golf.[11]The last decade or so has seen a marked increase in specialised golf vacations or holidays worldwide. This demand for travel which is centered around golf has led to the development of luxury resorts which cater to golfers and feature integrated golf courses.In the United States, the number of people who play golf 25 times or more per year fell from 6.9 million in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2005, according to the National Golf Foundation. The Foundation reported a smaller decline in the number who played golf at all; it fell from 30 million to 26 million over the same period ......alıntı...
Showing posts with label Golf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golf. Show all posts
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Golf
Golf is a sport in which a player, using many types of clubs including a driver, a putter, and irons, hits a ball into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a standardized playing area; rather, the game is played on golf "courses", each one of which has a unique design and typically consists of either 9 or 18 holes. Golf is defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the RulesA golf ball next to a hole.The first game of golf for which records survive was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in A.D. 1456, recorded in the archives of the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, now The Royal Burgess Golfing Society. The modern game of golf spread from Scotland to England and has now become a worldwide game, with golf courses in the majority of countries.Golf competition may be played as stroke play, in which the individual with the lowest number of strokes is declared the winner, stableford points play (as devised in 1931 by Dr. Frank Stableford of the Wallasey & Royal Liverpool Golf Clubs), in which the individual with the highest points score is declared the winner, or as match play with the winner determined by whichever individual or team posts the lower score on the most individual holes during a complete round. In addition, team events such as fourball have been introduced, and these can be played using either the stroke, stableford or matchplay format. Alternative ways to play golf have also been introduced, such as miniature golf, sholf and disc golf.Golf has increasingly turned into a spectator game, with several different levels of professional and amateur tours in many regions of the world. People such as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Lorena Ochoa, Pádraig Harrington and Annika Sörenstam have become well-recognized sports figures across the world. Sponsorship has also become a huge part of the game and players often earn more from their sponsorship contracts than they do from the game itself.Golf is a game the exact origins of which are unclear. The origin of golf is open to debate as to being Dutch[3] or Scottish. However, the most accepted golf history theory is that golf as practised today originated from Scotland in the 1100s.[4]Scholars have claimed references to a form of golf from hieroglyphs found on stone tablets dating to ancient Egyptian Pharoahs. A game somewhat similar to golf was first mentioned in Dōngxuān Records (Chinese: 東軒錄), a Chinese book of 11th century. It was also mentioned on 26 February 1297 in the Netherlands in a city called Loenen aan de Vecht. Here the Dutch played a game with a stick and leather ball. Whoever hit the ball into a target several hundreds of meters away the least number of times, won.Modern golf is considered to be a Scottish invention,as the game was mentioned in two 15th century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of gowf. Some scholars have suggested that this refers to another game which is more akin to modern shinty, hurling or field hockey than golf. A game of putting a small ball into a hole in the ground using clubs was played in 17th century Netherlands. Flourishing trade over the North Sea during the Middle Ages and early Modern Period led to much language interaction between Scots, Dutch) and other languages. There are also reports of even earlier accounts of a golf like game from continental Europe.However, these earlier games are more accurately viewed as ancestors of the game we call golf, as the fact remains that the modern game of golf we understand today originated and developed in Scotland: The first golf club memberships were formed in Scotland. The earliest permanent golf course originated there too, as did the very first written rules, as did the establishment of the 18-hole course. The first formalized tournament structures also emerged there and competitions were arranged between different Scottish cities. Over time, the modern game spread to England and from there to the rest of the world. The oldest playing golf course in the world is The Musselburgh Old Links Golf Course. Evidence has shown that golf was played here in 1672 although Mary, Queen of Scots reputedly played there in 1567.As stated, golf courses have not always had eighteen holes. The St Andrews Links occupy a narrow strip of land along the sea. As early as the 15th century, golfers at St Andrews, in Fife, established a customary route through the undulating terrain, playing to holes whose locations were dictated by topography. The course that emerged featured eleven holes, laid out end to end from the clubhouse to the far end of the property. One played the holes out, turned around, and played the holes in, for a total of 22 holes. In 1764, several of the holes were deemed too short, and were therefore combined. The number was thereby reduced from 11 to nine, so that a complete round of the links comprised 18 holes. Due to the status of St Andrews as the golf capital, all other courses chose to follow suit and the 18-hole course remains the standard today.The major changes in equipment since the 19th century have been better mowers, especially for the greens, better golf ball designs, using rubber and man-made materials since about 1900, and the introduction of the metal shaft beginning in the 1930s. Also in the 1930s the wooden golf tee was invented. In the 1970s the use of steel and then titanium to replace wood heads began, and shafts made of "graphite" (also known as carbon fiber) were introduced in the 1980s. Though wooden tees are still most popular, various designs of plastic tees have been developed in recent years, and the synthetic materials composing the modern ball continue to be developed.Golf balls are famous for "dimples". These small dips in the surface of the golf ball decrease aerodynamic drag which allows the ball to fly farther. Golf is also famous for the use of flags. These show the position of the hole to players when they make their first drive and are too far away from the hole to aim accurately. When all players in a group are within putting distance, the flag is removed by a "caddy" or a fellow competitor to allow for easier access to the hole.World popularityIn 2005 Golf Digest calculated that there were nearly 32,000 golf courses in the world, approximately half of them in the United States. The countries with most golf courses in relation to population, starting with the best endowed were: Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England (countries with fewer than 500,000 people were excluded). Apart from Sweden, all of these countries have English as the majority language, but the number of courses in new territories is increasing rapidly. For example the first golf course in the People's Republic of China opened in the mid-1980s, but by 2005 there were 200 courses in that country.The professional sport was initially dominated by Scottish then English golfers, but since World War I, America has produced the greatest quantity of leading professionals. Other Commonwealth countries such as Australia and South Africa are also traditional powers in the sport. Since around the 1970s, Japan, Scandinavian and other Western European countries have produced leading players on a regular basis. The number of countries with high-class professionals continues to increase steadily, especially in East Asia. South Korea is notably strong in women's golf.[11]The last decade or so has seen a marked increase in specialised golf vacations or holidays worldwide. This demand for travel which is centered around golf has led to the development of luxury resorts which cater to golfers and feature integrated golf courses.In the United States, the number of people who play golf 25 times or more per year fell from 6.9 million in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2005, according to the National Golf Foundation. The Foundation reported a smaller decline in the number who played golf at all; it fell from 30 million to 26 million over the same period ......alıntı...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Welcome to the CRETE GOLF CLUB
The Crete Golf club is a marvellous new addition to Europe's rich reservoir of courses and will soon be regarded as one of the finest tests in the whole of the southern Mediterranean.
The new Bob Hunt masterpiece, is best described as a desert golf course hewn out of rolling landscape little more than half an hour from the international airport of Heraklion. It boasts a series of memorable holes that will test every aspect of a golfer's repertoire and offers stunning views over mountainous landscape that has hardly changed since the Minoan era back in 2600 to 1100 BC.
The views on the back nine are incomparable and so is the service offered to visitors. Staff can supply a fine selection of quality hire clubs. They will go out of their way to fix up games for single golfers and can even arrange transportation as and when required. The standard of service at Crete Golf Club is exemplary and adds a great deal to what is already a special experience.
The Crete Golf Club cooperates with more than 60 Partner Hotels which provide high quality accommodation and services. Guests of our Partner Hotels enjoy special discounts on green fees
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Golf History
The Romans during the reign of Caesar played a game resembling golf by striking a feather-stuffed ball with club-shaped branches. Book illustrations show the Dutch playing a similar game on their frozen canals around the 15th century. Cross-country variations became popular in France and Belgium.
Golf became firmly established in Great Britain by the 17th century when James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, was attracted to the sport. In 1860 the first British Open was played at Prestwick, Scotland. The competition was opened to both professionals and amateurs the following year.
The first permanent golf club in North America, Canada`s Royal Montreal Club, was founded in 1873. St. Andrews, one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States, was established as a 3-hole layout in 1888 at Yonkers, New York. During the next few years numerous 6, 8, 9, and 12-hole courses were opened in the East. The first 18-hole course in the United States, the Chicago Golf Club, was founded near Wheaton, Illinois in 1893. For more recent information about golf, review the links below:
Golf became firmly established in Great Britain by the 17th century when James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, was attracted to the sport. In 1860 the first British Open was played at Prestwick, Scotland. The competition was opened to both professionals and amateurs the following year.
The first permanent golf club in North America, Canada`s Royal Montreal Club, was founded in 1873. St. Andrews, one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States, was established as a 3-hole layout in 1888 at Yonkers, New York. During the next few years numerous 6, 8, 9, and 12-hole courses were opened in the East. The first 18-hole course in the United States, the Chicago Golf Club, was founded near Wheaton, Illinois in 1893. For more recent information about golf, review the links below:
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