Golf Cochem Mosel Germany Accommodation
Golf is a sport in which individual players or teams of players strike a ball into a hole using several types of clubs. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed, standardised playing field or area; 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 Rules." The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, generally regarded as the world's "Home of Golf". The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, generally regarded as the world's "Home of Golf". 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.
Anatomy of a golf course
Golf is played in an area of land designated the course. The course consists of a series of holes; hole or cup meaning both the pit in the ground to which the ball is played and the distance from the tee (the pre-determined point from where a ball is first struck into play) to the green (the low cut grass surrounding the hole). Most golf courses consist of eighteen holes.
Fairway & Rough
After teeing off, the player again hits the ball to the green from where it came to rest, either from the fairway or from the rough. Exceptions are short par three holes, where the second shot may lie directly on the putting green or in the rough. Playing the ball from the fairway is advantageous, because fairway grass is very short and even, allowing the player to cleanly strike the ball, while playing from the rough is disadvantageous, because the grass in the rough is generally much longer, which may affect the flight of the ball.
While many holes are designed in a straight line from the tee-off point to the green, some of the holes may bend either to the left or to the right. This is called a "dogleg", in reference to a dog's knee. The hole is called a "dogleg left" if the hole angles leftwards, and vice versa; rarely, a hole's direction can bend twice, and is called a "double dogle
Hazards
Many holes include hazards, which may be of three types: (1) water hazards such as lakes, rivers, et cetera; (2) man-made hazards such as bunkers; and (3) lateral hazards such as dense vegetation, bushes, and gardens. Special rules apply to playing balls that fall in a hazard. For example, a player must not touch the ground with his club before playing a ball, not even for a practice swing. A ball in any hazard may be played as it lies without penalty. If it cannot be played from the hazard, the ball may be hit from another location, generally with a penalty of one stroke. The strict rules govern exactly from where the ball may be played outside a hazard. Bunkers (or sand traps) are hazards from which the ball is more difficult to play than from grass. As in a water hazard, a ball in a sand trap must be played without previously touching the sand with the club.
Putting Green
To putt is to play a stroke using the putter club. Usually, this stroke is played on the green where the ball does not leave the ground. Once on the green, the ball is putted (struck with the eponymous flat-faced club to roll it along the ground) towards the hole until the ball falls into the cup. The grass of the putting green (more commonly the green) is cut very short so that a ball can roll distances of several yards. The growth direction of the blades of grass affects the golf ball's roll and is called the grain of the green. The slope or break of the green also affects the roll of the ball. The cup is always found within the green (at least ten feet from the edge), and must have a diameter of 108 mm (4.25 in.) and a depth of at least 100 mm (3.94 in.). Its position on the green is not fixed and may be changed from day to day. The cup usually has a flag on a pole positioned in it so that it may be seen from a distance, but not necessarily from the tee; this flag-and-pole combination is called the pin.
Putting greens are not all of the same quality. Generally, the finest-quality greens are well kept so that a ball will smoothly roll over the closely-mowed grass. Golfers describe a green as fast if a light stroke to the ball makes it roll a long distance, conversely, a slow green is one where a stronger stroke is required to roll the ball the required distance; a stimp meter is used to determine and measure the exact speed of a green. More than one green is measured, the average of the measured greens is used to determine how fast or slow a Golf Course's greens are. These measurements are compared with other courses' Stimp Metre measurement.
Driving Range
Practice range with 43 tees (20 covered)
Practice range with 43 tees (20 covered)
Often, there is a practice range or driving range, usually with practice greens, bunkers, and driving areas. Markers showing distances are usually included on a practice range to benefit the golfer. There may even be a practice course (often shorter and easier to play than full scale golf courses), where golfers practice to measure how far they can hit with a specific club or to improve their swing technique.
Par
A hole is classified by its par, the number of strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play to the hole. For example, a skilled golfer expects to reach the green on a par-four hole in two strokes, one from the tee (the "drive") and another, second, stroke to the green (the "approach") and then roll the ball into the hole with two putts. Traditionally, a golf hole is either a par-three, -four or -five; some par-six holes exist, but usually are not found in traditional golf courses.
Primarily, but not exclusively, the par of a hole is determined by the tee-to-green distance. A typical length for a par-three hole ranges between 91 and 224 metres (100–250 yds), for a par-four hole, between 225 and 434 metres (251–475 yds). Typically, par-five holes are at between 435 and 630 metres (476–690 yds), and untraditional par-six holes are any longer distance. These distances are not absolute rules, for example, it is possible that a 500 yard hole could be classed as a par-four hole, since the par for a hole is determined by its 'effective playing length'. If the tee-to-green distance on a hole is predominantly downhill, it will play shorter than its physical length and may be given a lower par rating. Many eighteen hole courses have approximately four par-three, ten par-four, and four par-five holes, though other combinations exist and are not less worthy than courses of par 72. Many major championships are contested on courses playing to a par of 70 or 71, and it's not rare to find a worthy test (especially in the British Isles) playing to a par of 69 or lower. In many countries, courses are classified, in addition to the course's par, with a course classification describing the play difficulty of a course and may be used to calculate a golfer's playing handicap for that given course (c.f. golf handicap).
Play of the game
Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A round typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. On a nine-hole course, a standard round consists of two successive nine-hole rounds. A hole of golf consists of hitting a ball from a tee on the teeing box (a marked area designated for the first shot of a hole, a tee shot), and once the ball comes to rest, striking it again. This process is repeated until the ball is in the cup. Once the ball is on the green (an area of finely cut grass) the ball is usually putted (hit along the ground) into the hole. The idea of resting the ball in the hole in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by various hazards, such as bunkers and water hazards.
Players walk (or drive in motorized carts) over the course, either singly or in groups of two, three, or four, sometimes accompanied by caddies who carry and manage the players' equipment and give them advice. Each player plays a ball from the tee to the hole, except that in the mode of play called foursomes two teams of two players compete, and the members of each team alternate shots using only one ball until the ball is holed out. When all individual players or teams have brought a ball into play, the player or team whose ball is the farthest from the hole is next to play. In some team events a player whose ball is farther from the hole may ask his partner to play first. When all players of a group have completed the hole, the player or team with the best score on that hole has the honor, that is, the right to tee off first on the next tee.
Each player acts as marker for one other player in the group, that is, he or she records the score on a score card. In stroke play (see below), the score consists of the number of strokes played plus any penalty strokes incurred. Penalty strokes are not actually strokes but penalty points that are added to the score for violations of rules or utilizing relief procedures.
Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A round typically consis
Source: Wikipedia