What's Golf All About

Jeff Aycock
What’s Golf All About
Have you ever played a round of golf? If you have you know what kind of equipment you need and how difficult a course can be. If you have no idea what golf is, what equipment you use or where the game is played, let me try to inform you.
Equipment? Generally this consists of twelve to fourteen clubs but not exceeding fourteen clubs due to this being the legal limit. The most common set of clubs consists of a driver, three wood, five wood, two through nine iron, pitching wedge, sand wedge, and finally a putter. You also need a golf bag to store your weapons of choice and of course your golf balls. There are almost as many manufacturers of golf clubs as there are stars in the sky, so pick you poison and let’s go.
Where? To a golf course we go. A normal course contains eighteen holes, which consist of four par fives, ten par fours, and four par threes. Each hole has a tee box, fairway, and a green. Also for your enjoyment there are hazards, sand traps, and water that are there to do nothing but add difficulty to the course and strokes to your score.
Now that you have a basic understanding of equipment to use and what a golf course is let me explain to you how to play the game of golf, starting with a par five and then going to a par four and finally a par three.
A par five is generally about four hundred and fifty to five hundred and fifty yards long. Your first stroke will be from the tee box to the fairway. From there you are not going to be able to hit the green so you will probably hit a mid to high iron. This shot should leave you anywhere from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards away from the green, which would necessitate the use of a mid to low iron. Successful use of this club would put you on the green. However if not so successful you will probably need to use a low iron, a pitching wedge or sand wedge to reach the green. Once you have arrived on the green the club of choice will be a putter. This club will allow you to roll the ball and end your journey by sinking the ball in the hole. The goal is to complete this adventure in five strokes.
Next is a par four which is played similar to a par five. These holes are normally about three hundred to four hundred or more yards long. The sequence of shots is about the same as a par five, except for the fact that you want to eliminate one shot. This will successfully put you ball in the hole in four strokes.
Par threes require a very different approach as to how you are supposed to play them. The biggest difference in playing a par three versus a par four or par five is that the fairway on this type hole should not be used. Your goal here is to reach the green from the tee box. Once you have successfully hit the green in one shot you will be able to putt out in two strokes to finish the hole in no more than three strokes.
This routine of shots is repeated until you have played and completed all eighteen holes. Should you finish exactly as I have explained you would have just completed the course as it was designed. Most golf courses are designed to be played in seventy two strokes which is commonly known as “Par Golf.” In most rounds of golf this is not the case. Usually you will finish above or below par.
What I have just explained is a perfect round of golf with no mistakes and no penalties counted against you. There are many areas on and around the golf course that can cause your score to rise. For example on the course there are areas that are marked with white stakes, this indicates that the area behind the stakes is out of bonds. When you hit your ball in an out of bounds area you are charged with a stroke and are required to hit another ball from the previous spot; you are not allowed at any time to hit out of a white staked area. Another example would be an area that has red stakes in front of it. Red stakes are different than white stakes. First of all when you hit a ball into a red staked area you have two options. Your first option is that you can play the ball as it lies. The second option if you do not have a shot is that you can pick the ball up and drop it outside the red stakes where the ball entered. If you were to choose the second option and take a drop, the drop will cost you a stroke. This means if you hit your first shot in a red hazard area the drop counts as your second shot and the next stoke is your third shot.
If you talk to any one that has actually played the game of golf they will all tell you the exact same thing. “The game of golf is not as easy as it sounds or looks and it takes many many years to master the game and you are never too old to play the game.” Golf is definitely not an easy sport to play and to be a good golfer you need to play and or practice a great deal. So my advice to you if you want to be a very good golfer is to practice, practice, and practice some more. My final words to you are good luck, practice, never give up, practice, and happy golfing and practice some more.