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123-405: The New Zealand Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of New Zealand . It has been played annually since 1893, except for the war years, and is organised by New Zealand Golf . Currently the event is played over five days and consists of a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying stage after which the leading 32 play five rounds of match-play. The final is over 36 holes. The first tournament

246-432: A birdie or eagle , as it can take more strokes to get on the green. Another consideration is "spin", affected by compression and by the cover material – a "high-spin" ball allows more of the ball's surface to contact the clubface at impact, allowing the grooves of the clubface to "grip" the ball and induce more backspin at launch. Backspin creates lift that can increase carry distance, and also provides "bite" which allows

369-426: A caustic liquid, typically an alkali , causing eye injuries to children who happened to dissect a golf ball out of curiosity. By the 1920s, golf ball manufacturers had stopped using caustic liquids, but into the 1970s and 1980s golf balls were still at times exploding when dissected and were causing injuries due to the presence of crushed crystalline material present in the liquid cores. In 1967, Spalding purchased

492-487: A cup , the hole that receives the ball. Each hole on a course has a teeing ground for the hole's first stroke, and a putting green containing the cup. There are several standard forms of terrain between the tee and the green, such as the fairway, rough (tall grass), and various hazards that may be water, rocks, or sand-filled bunkers . Each hole on a course is unique in its specific layout. Many golf courses are designed to resemble their native landscape, such as along

615-435: A "bogey golfer" (handicap around 20) would be expected to play than a "scratch golfer" relative to their handicap. The goal is to play as few strokes per round as possible. A golfer's number of strokes in a hole, course, or tournament is compared to its respective par score, and is then reported either as the number that the golfer was "under-" or "over-par", or if it was "equal to par". A hole in one (or an "ace") occurs when

738-421: A backpack, and often bags have retractable legs that allow the bag to stand upright when at rest. The golf swing is outwardly similar to many other motions involving swinging a tool or playing implement, such as an axe or a baseball bat. However, unlike many of these motions, the result of the swing is highly dependent on several sub-motions being properly aligned and timed. These ensure that the club travels up to

861-415: A ball that has stopped on it; "doglegs", which are changes in the direction of the fairway that often require shorter shots to play around them; bunkers (or sand traps); and water hazards such as ponds or streams. In stroke play competitions each player plays their ball until it is holed no matter how many strokes that may take. In match play it is acceptable to simply pick up one's ball and "surrender

984-406: A ball to arrest its forward motion at the initial point of impact, bouncing straight up or even backwards, allowing for precision placement of the ball on the green with an approach shot. However, high-spin cover materials, typically being softer, are less durable which shortens the useful life of the ball, and backspin is not desirable on most long-distance shots, such as with the driver, as it causes

1107-451: A ball without spin. Curvature of the ball flight occurs when the clubface is not aligned perpendicularly to the club direction at impact, leading to an angled spin axis that causes the ball to curve to one side or the other based on difference between the face angle and swing path at impact. Because the ball's spin during flight is angled, and because of the Magnus effect , the ball will take on

1230-536: A complete round; with most holes having a par of 4, and a smaller number of par-3 and par-5 holes. Additionally, courses may be classified according to their play difficulty, which may be used to calculate a golfer's handicap . The two primary difficulty ratings in the U.S. are the Course Rating, which is the expected score for a zero-handicap "scratch golfer", and the Slope Rating, which is a measure of how much worse

1353-504: A constant source of litter that groundskeepers must contend with, and can confuse players during a round who may hit an abandoned ball (incurring a penalty by strict rules). An estimated 1.2 billion balls are manufactured every year and an estimated 300 million are lost in the US alone. A variety of devices such as nets, harrows, sand rakes etc. have been developed that aid the groundskeeping staff in efficiently collecting these balls from

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1476-439: A curved path during its flight. Some dimple designs claim to reduce the sidespin effects to provide a straighter ball flight. Other effects can change the flight behaviour of the ball. Factors such as dynamic lie (the angle of the shaft at impact relative to the ground and its manufactured neutral angle), strike location if the player is using a wood due to the curved face, and external factors such as wind and debris. To keep

1599-467: A discount price can often purchase "X-outs". These are "factory seconds" – balls which have failed the manufacturer's quality control testing standards and which the manufacturer therefore does not wish to sell under its brand name. To avoid a loss of money on materials and labor, however, the balls which still generally conform to the Rules are marked to obscure the brand name (usually with a series of "X"s, hence

1722-482: A discount. Used or recycled balls with obvious surface deformation, abrasion or other degradation are known informally as "shags", and while they remain useful for various forms of practice drills such as chipping, putting and driving, and can be used for casual play, players usually opt for used balls of higher quality, or for new balls, when playing in serious competition. Other grades are typically assigned letters or proprietary terms, and are typically differentiated by

1845-529: A few balls in one day, so they were expensive. A single ball would cost 2–5 shillings , which is equivalent to US$ 10–20 today. In 1848, the Rev. Dr. Robert Adams Paterson (sometimes spelled Patterson) invented the gutta-percha ball (or guttie , gutty ). The guttie was made from dried sap of the Malaysian sapodilla tree . The sap had a rubber-like feel and could be made spherical by heating and shaping it in

1968-413: A firmer, more durable cover to withstand the normal abrasion caused by a club's hitting surface, and are made as cheaply as possible while maintaining a durable, quality product. Practice balls are typically labelled with "PRACTICE" in bold lettering, and often also have one or more bars or lines printed on them, which allow players (and high-speed imaging aids) to see the ball's spin more easily as it leaves

2091-453: A full 18. In sudden death, a player who scores lower on a hole than all of their opponents wins the match. If at least two players remain tied after such a playoff using a pre-determined number of holes, then play continues in sudden death format, where the first player to win a hole wins the tournament. Golf ball It is commonly believed that hard wooden, round balls, made from hardwoods such as beech and box , were used for golf from

2214-566: A golf club at a small ball with the aim of sinking it into a hole. The game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages. Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England and chambot in France. The Persian game chowkan is another possible ancient origin, albeit being more polo -like. In addition, kolven (a game involving a ball and curved bats)

2337-420: A golf course, and which club is used to accomplish the shot, are always completely at the discretion of the golfer; in other words, there is no restriction whatsoever on which club a golfer may or may not use at any time for any shot. Golf balls are spherical, usually white (although other colours are allowed), and minutely pock-marked by dimples that decrease aerodynamic drag by increasing air turbulence around

2460-431: A golf date with Bertram Work, the superintendent of the B.F. Goodrich Company. While he waited in the plant for Work, Haskell picked up some rubber thread and wound it into a ball. When he bounced the ball, it flew almost to the ceiling. Work suggested Haskell put a cover on the creation, and that was the birth of the 20th-century wound golf ball that would soon replace the guttie bramble ball. The new design became known as

2583-410: A golfer sinks their ball into the cup with their first stroke from the tee. Common scores for a hole also have specific terms. In a typical professional tournament or among "scratch" amateur players, "birdie-bogey" play is common; a player will "lose" a stroke by bogeying a hole, then "gain" one by scoring a birdie. Eagles are uncommon but not rare; however, only 18 players have scored an albatross in

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2706-585: A good choice for casual play. However, because the balls have been effectively "disowned" for practical and legal purposes by their manufacturer, they are not considered to be the same as the brand-name balls on the USGA's published Conforming Golf Ball List. Therefore, when playing in a tournament or other event that requires the ball used by the player to appear on this list as a "condition of competition", X-outs of any kind are illegal. Golfers need to distinguish their ball from other players' to ensure that they do not play

2829-453: A great deal of difference in how well the ball is hit and how straight it travels. The general goal of a player making a full swing is to propel the clubhead as fast as possible while maintaining a single "plane" of motion of the club and clubhead, to send the clubhead into the ball along the desired path of travel and with the clubhead also pointing that direction. Accuracy and consistency are typically stressed over pure distance. A player with

2952-439: A higher degree of loft and a comparatively shorter distance. The actual physical length of each club is longer or shorter, depending on the distance the club is intended to propel the ball. Golf clubs have traditionally been arranged into three basic types. Woods are large-headed, long-shafted clubs meant to propel the ball a long distance from relatively "open" lies, such as the teeing ground and fairway. Of particular importance

3075-453: A higher launch angle and a more forgiving nature. A maximum of 14 clubs is allowed in a player's bag at one time during a stipulated round. The choice of clubs is at the golfer's discretion, although every club must be constructed in accordance with parameters outlined in the rules. (Clubs that meet these parameters are usually called "conforming".) Violation of these rules can result in disqualification. The exact shot hit at any given time on

3198-406: A men's major championship. One of the rarest feats in golf is the condor, which has never occurred in a professional tournament. Only five condors have been verified to have ever occurred, although none of the courses involved were professionally accredited. There are two basic forms of golf play, match play and stroke play. Stroke play is more popular. Two players (or two teams) play each hole as

3321-409: A metal head primarily consisting of a flat, angled striking face. Traditionally the clubhead was forged from iron; modern iron clubheads are investment-cast from a steel alloy. Irons of varying loft are used for a variety of shots from virtually anywhere on the course, but most often for shorter-distance shots approaching the green, or to get the ball out of tricky lies such as sand traps. The third class

3444-434: A mold. Because gutties were cheaper to produce, could be re-formed if they became out-of-round or damaged, and had improved aerodynamic qualities, they soon became the preferred ball for use. Accidentally, it was discovered that nicks in the guttie from normal use actually provided a ball with a more consistent ball flight than a guttie with a perfectly smooth surface. Thus, makers began intentionally making indentations into

3567-505: A patent for a dimple design in 1905. William Taylor had realized that golf players were trying to make irregularities on their balls, noticing that used balls were going further than new ones. Hence he decided to make systematic tests to determine what surface formation would give the best flight. He then developed a pattern consisting of regularly spaced indentations over the entire surface, and later tools to help produce such balls in series. Other types of patterned covers were in use at about

3690-474: A patent for a solid golf ball from Jim Bartsch. His original patent defined a ball devoid of the layers in earlier designs, but Bartsch's patent lacked the chemical properties needed for manufacturing. Spalding's chemical engineering team developed a chemical resin that eliminated the need for the layered components entirely. Since then, the majority of non-professional golfers have transitioned to using solid core (or "2-piece") golf balls. The specifications for

3813-507: A patent in 1897 for a ball with indentations; Froy played in the Open in 1900 at the Old Course at St. Andrews with the first prototype. Players were able to put additional backspin on the new wound, dimpled balls when using more lofted clubs, thus inducing the ball to stop more quickly on the green. Manufacturers soon began selling various types of golf balls with various dimple patterns to improve

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3936-483: A player's obligation to contribute to the care of the course. Though there are no penalties for breach of etiquette rules, players generally follow the rules of golf etiquette in an effort to improve everyone's playing experience. Penalty strokes are incurred in certain situations and are counted towards a player's score as if there were extra swing(s) at the ball. Either one or two strokes are added for most rule infractions or for taking relief from various situations, with

4059-513: A round. At some courses, gas or electric golf carts are used to travel between shots, which can speed-up play and allows participation by individuals unable to walk a whole round. On other courses players generally walk the course, either carrying their bag using a shoulder strap or using a "golf trolley" for their bag. These trolleys may or may not be battery assisted. At many amateur tournaments including U.S. high school and college play, players are required to walk and to carry their own bags, but at

4182-500: A sea coast (where the course is called a links ), within a forest, among rolling hills, or part of a desert . Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play , or the lowest score on the most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play . Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels, especially at the elite level. The modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland . The 18-hole round

4305-400: A separate contest against each other in what is called match play . The party with the lower score wins that hole, or if the scores of both players or teams are equal the hole is "halved" (or tied). The game is won by the party that wins more holes than the other. In the case that one team or player has taken a lead that cannot be overcome in the number of holes remaining to be played, the match

4428-404: A shock through the club to the player's hands (a "hard feel"). A softer "low-compression" ball will do just the opposite. Golfers typically prefer a softer feel, especially in the "short game", as the softer ball typically also has greater backspin with lofted irons. However, a softer ball reduces drive distance, as it wastes more energy in compression. This makes it more difficult for players to get

4551-623: A soft cover and firm core. They induce a greater amount of spin from lofted shots (wedges especially), as well as a sensation of softness in the hands in short-range shots. However, these balls require a much greater swing speed and thus greater physical strength to properly compress at impact. If the compression of a golf ball does not match a golfer's swing speed, either a lack of compression or over-compression will occur, resulting in loss of distance. Other choices consumers must make include brand and color, with colored balls and better brands generally being more expensive. A practice ball or range ball

4674-469: A straight drive that travels only 220 yards (200 m) will nevertheless be able to accurately place the ball into a favourable lie on the fairway, and can make up for the lesser distance of any given club by simply using "more club" (a lower loft) on their tee shot or on subsequent fairway and approach shots. However, a golfer with a drive that may go 280 yards (260 m) but often does not fly straight will be less able to position their ball advantageously;

4797-452: A stroke; it is fundamentally important in being able to play a stroke effectively. The stance adopted is determined by what stroke is being played. All stances involve a slight crouch. This allows for a more efficient striking posture whilst also isometrically preloading the muscles of the legs and core; this allows the stroke to be played more dynamically and with a greater level of overall control. When adopting their stance golfers start with

4920-478: A tightly wound 388-dimple design, minimizing gaps between dimples for better aerodynamics. On the other hand, the Taylormade TP5 features a combination of circular and hexagonal dimples to reduce drag. Lastly, Callaway balls showcase a sleek, completely hexagonal design for straighter ball flights. Liquid cores were commonly used in golf balls as early as 1917. The liquid cores in many of the early balls contained

5043-479: A typical par-3 hole is less than 250 yards (230 m) in length, with a par-4 hole ranging between 251–450 yards (230–411 m), and a par-5 hole being longer than 450 yards (410 m); for women these boundaries are lower, and for professionals they are much increased. The rare par-6s can stretch well over 650 yards (590 m). These distances are based on the typical scratch golfer's drive distance of between 240 and 280 yards (220 and 260 m). Although length

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5166-400: A variety of different materials, offering a range of playing characteristics to suit the player's abilities and desired flight and landing behaviours. A key consideration is "compression", typically determined by the hardness of the ball's core layers. A harder "high-compression" ball will fly further because of the more efficient transfer of energy into the ball, but will also transmit more of

5289-441: A way that the resistance to spinning is lower along certain axes of rotation and higher along others. This causes the ball to "settle" into one of these low-resistance axes that (golfers hope) is close to parallel with the ground and perpendicular to the direction of travel, thereby eliminating "sidespin" induced by a slight mishit, which will cause the ball to curve off its intended flight path. A badly mishit ball will still curve, as

5412-416: Is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games , cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping with the varied terrains encountered on different courses is a key part of the game. Courses typically have either 9 or 18 holes , regions of terrain that each contain

5535-426: Is about two hours for a 9-hole round and four hours for an 18-hole round. Playing a hole on a golf course is initiated by putting a ball into play by striking it with a club on the teeing ground (also called the tee box, or simply the tee). For this first shot on each hole, it is allowed but not required for the golfer to place the ball on a tee prior to striking it. A tee is a small peg that can be used to elevate

5658-656: Is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records . The oldest surviving rules of golf were compiled in March 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers , which was played at Leith , Scotland. The world's oldest golf tournament in existence, and golf's first major, is The Open Championship , which was first played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland, with Scottish golfers winning

5781-412: Is deemed to be won by the party in the lead, and the remainder of the holes are not played. For example, if one party already has a lead of six holes, and only five holes remain to be played on the course, the match is over and the winning party is deemed to have won "6 & 5". At any given point, if the lead is equal to the number of holes remaining, the party leading the match is said to be "dormie", and

5904-424: Is known as "conventional". There are many variations of conventional including overlap, where the golfer overlaps the off hand index finger onto off the dominant pinky; interlock, where the offhand index finger interlocks with the dominant pinky and ring finger; double or triple overlap and so on. Recently, "cross handed" putting has become a popular trend amongst professional golfers and amateurs. Cross handed putting

6027-468: Is not considered an amateur and may not participate in competitions limited solely to amateurs. However, amateur golfers may receive expenses that comply with strict guidelines and they may accept non-cash prizes within the limits established by the Rules of Amateur Status. In addition to the officially printed rules, golfers also abide by a set of guidelines called golf etiquette . Etiquette guidelines cover matters such as safety, fairness, pace of play, and

6150-595: Is similar to a recreational golf ball, but is designed to be inexpensive, durable and have a shorter flight distance, while still retaining the principal behaviors of a "real" golf ball and so providing useful feedback to players. All of these are desirable qualities for use in an environment like a driving range, which may be limited in maximum distance, and must have many thousands of balls on-hand at any time that are each hit and mis-hit hundreds of times during their useful life. To accomplish these ends, practice balls are typically harder-cored than even recreational balls, have

6273-441: Is still there today. Every round 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. Each hole is played once in the round on a standard course of 18 holes. The game can be played by any number of people, although a typical group will have 1–4 people playing the round. The typical amount of time required for pace of play

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6396-444: Is the driver or "1-wood", which is the lowest lofted wood club, and in modern times has become highly specialized for making extremely long-distance tee shots, up to 300 yards (270 m), or more, in a professional golfer's hands. Traditionally these clubs had heads made of a hardwood, hence the name, but virtually all modern woods are now made of metal such as titanium, or of composite materials. Irons are shorter-shafted clubs with

6519-407: Is the putter , which evolved from the irons to create a low-lofted, balanced club designed to roll the ball along the green and into the hole. Putters are virtually always used on the green or in the surrounding rough/fringe. A fourth class, called hybrids , evolved as a cross between woods and irons, and are typically seen replacing the low-lofted irons with a club that provides similar distance, but

6642-439: Is the idea that the dominant hand is on top of the grip where the weak hand is on the bottom. This grip restricts the motion in your dominant hand and eliminates the possibility of wrist breakdowns through the putting stroke. Other notable putting styles include "the claw", a style that has the grip directly in between the thumb and index finger of the dominant hand while the palm faces the target. The weak hand placed normally on

6765-450: Is the primary factor in calculating par, other factors are taken into account; however the number of strokes a scratch golfer should take to make the green remains foremost. Factors affecting the calculation include altitude, gradient of the land from the tee to green, and forced " lay-ups " due to dog-legs (sharp bends) or obstacles (e.g. bunkers, water hazards). Getting the ball onto the green in two strokes less than par, and hence meeting

6888-457: Is the result of a dispute that stemmed from the Polara , a ball sold in the late 1970s that had six rows of normal dimples on its equator but very shallow dimples elsewhere. This asymmetrical design helped the ball self-adjust its spin axis during the flight. The USGA refused to sanction it for tournament play and, in 1981, changed the rules to ban aerodynamic asymmetrical balls. Polara's producer sued

7011-407: Is typically positioned more to the "front" of the player's stance (closer to the leading foot) for lower-lofted clubs, with the usual ball position for a drive being just behind the arch of the leading foot. The ball is placed further "back" in the player's stance (toward the trailing foot) as the loft of the club to be used increases. Most iron shots and putts are made with the ball roughly centered in

7134-406: Is used to transport golf clubs and the player's other or personal equipment. Golf bags have several pockets designed for carrying equipment and supplies such as tees, balls, and gloves. Golf bags can be carried, pulled on a trolley or harnessed to a motorized golf cart during play. Golf bags usually have both a hand strap and shoulder strap for carrying, others may be carried over both shoulders like

7257-562: The PGA Championship . While the modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland , the game's ancient origins are unclear and much debated. Some historians trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica , in which participants used a bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during

7380-618: The United States Golf Association (USGA). With the aim of simplifying the rules, in 2017 the USGA and R&A undertook a complete rewrite. The new rule book came into effect in January 2019. The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As stated on the back cover of the official rule book: There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers. Essentially, anybody who has ever received payment or compensation for giving instruction, or played golf for money,

7503-455: The coefficient of restitution ) and maximum total distance when launched from the test equipment. In general, the governing bodies and their regulations seek to provide a relatively level playing field and maintain the traditional form of the game and its equipment, while not completely halting the use of new technology in equipment design. Until 1990, it was permissible to use balls of less than 1.68 inches in diameter in tournaments under

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7626-410: The "general penalty" defined as two-strokes, and disqualification for severe or repeated rule breaches. Examples include: Golf clubs are used to hit a golf ball . Each club is composed of a shaft with a lance (or "grip") on the top end and a club head on the bottom. Long clubs, which have a lower amount of degree loft, are those meant to propel the ball a comparatively longer distance, and short clubs

7749-506: The 14th through the 17th centuries. Though wooden balls were no doubt used for other similar contemporary stick and ball games, there is no definite evidence that they were actually used in golf in Scotland. It is equally likely, if not more so, that leather balls filled with cows' hair were used, imported from the Netherlands from at least 1486 onward. Then or later, the featherie ball

7872-499: The King that he playit with". To many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews , a links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. In 1764, the standard 18-hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes. Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links , East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which

7995-518: The Open acted as qualifying rounds for the Amateur Championship, after which the leading 32 players played 5 rounds of match-play. in the period before World War I, Arthur Duncan continued his success in the event, winning in 1909, 1911 and 1914, and he remained undefeated in the final, having won all 8 of those he had reached. He won by a record margin of 11 & 10 in 1911 and repeated the feat in 1914. The other successful player in this period

8118-616: The Scots language and the Old English word hlinc ("rising ground, ridge"): traditionally these are coastal sand dunes but sometimes open parkland. This gave rise to the term "golf links", particularly applied to seaside courses and those built on naturally sandy soil inland. The first 18-hole golf course in the United States was on a sheep farm in Downers Grove, Illinois , in 1892. The course

8241-457: The USGA and the association paid US$ 1.375 million in a 1985 out-of-court settlement. Golf balls are traditionally white, but are commonly available in other colors, some of which may assist with finding the ball when lost or when playing in low-light or frosty conditions. As well as bearing the maker's name or logo, balls are usually printed with numbers or other symbols to help players identify their ball. Today, golf balls are manufactured using

8364-482: The aerodynamics optimal, the golf ball needs to be clean, including all dimples. Thus, it is advisable that golfers wash their balls whenever permissible by the rules of golf. Golfers can wash their balls manually using a wet towel or using a ball washer of some type. Dimples first became a feature of golf balls when English engineer and manufacturer William Taylor, co-founder of the Taylor-Hobson company, registered

8487-497: The airflow around the ball, in a similar manner to an airplane wing . This is called the Magnus effect . The dimples on a golf ball deform the air around the ball quickly causing a turbulent airflow that results in more Magnus lift than a smooth ball would experience. Backspin is imparted in almost every shot due to the golf club's loft (i.e., angle between the clubface and a vertical plane). A backspinning ball experiences an upward lift force which makes it fly higher and longer than

8610-432: The balance in muscles. Putting is considered to be the most important component of the game of golf. As the game of golf has evolved, there have been many different putting techniques and grips that have been devised to give golfers the best chance to make putts. When the game originated, golfers would putt with their dominant hand on the bottom of the grip and their weak hand on top of the grip. This grip and putting style

8733-442: The ball by taking their stance to the side of it and (except when the ball lies in a hazard) grounding the club behind the ball. The golfer then takes their backswing, rotating the club, their arms and their upper body away from the ball, and then begins their swing, bringing the clubhead back down and around to hit the ball. A proper golf swing is a complex combination of motions, and slight variations in posture or positioning can make

8856-590: The ball comes to rest, the golfer strikes it again as many times as necessary using shots that are variously known as a "lay-up", an "approach", a "pitch", or a " chip ", until the ball reaches the green, where the golfer then " putts " the ball into the hole (commonly called "sinking the putt" or "holing out"). The goal of getting the ball into the hole ("holing" the ball) in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by obstacles such as areas of longer grass called "rough" (usually found alongside fairways), which both slows any ball that contacts it and makes it harder to advance

8979-425: The ball in line with the desired path; that the clubface is in line with the swing path; and that the ball hits the centre or "sweet spot" of the clubface. The ability to do this consistently, across a complete set of clubs with a wide range of shaft lengths and clubface areas, is a key skill for any golfer, and takes a significant effort to achieve. Stance refers to how the golfer positions themselves in order to play

9102-559: The ball in motion, which delays "boundary layer" separation and reduces the drag-inducing "wake" behind the ball, thereby allowing the ball to fly farther. The combination of a soft "boundary layer" and a hard "core" enables both distance and spin. A tee is allowed only for the first stroke on each hole, unless the player must hit a provisional tee shot or replay their first shot from the tee. Many golfers wear golf shoes with metal or plastic spikes designed to increase traction, thus allowing for longer and more accurate shots. A golf bag

9225-482: The ball may "hook", "pull", "draw", "fade", "push" or "slice" off the intended line and land out of bounds or in the rough or hazards, and thus the player will require many more strokes to hole out. A golf stroke uses the muscles of the core (especially erector spinae muscles and latissimus dorsi muscle when turning), hamstring , shoulder , and wrist . Stronger muscles in the wrist can prevent them from being twisted during swings, whilst stronger shoulders increase

9348-413: The ball slightly above the ground up to a few centimetres high. Tees are commonly made of wood but may be constructed of any material, including plastic. Traditionally, golfers used mounds of sand to elevate the ball, and containers of sand were provided for the purpose. A few courses still require sand to be used instead of peg tees, to reduce litter and reduce damage to the teeing ground. Tees help reduce

9471-516: The ball will settle into a spin axis that is not parallel with the ground which, much like an aircraft's wings, will cause the shot to bank either to the left or to the right. There are many types of golf balls on the market, and customers often face a difficult decision. Golf balls are divided into two categories: recreational and advanced balls. Recreational balls are oriented toward the ordinary golfer, who generally have low swing speeds (80 miles per hour (130 km/h) or lower) and lose golf balls on

9594-582: The basic properties of a spherically symmetrical ball, generally meaning that the ball itself must be spherical and must have a symmetrical arrangement of dimples on its surface. While the ball's dimples must be symmetrical, there is no limit to the number of dimples allowed on a golf ball. Additional rules direct players and manufacturers to other technical documents published by the R&;A and USGA with additional restrictions, such as radius and depth of dimples, maximum launch speed from test apparatus (generally defining

9717-412: The bounds of the legal tee area, fairway , rough and other hazards , and the putting green surrounded by the fringe with the pin (normally a flagstick) and cup. The levels of grass are varied to increase difficulty, or to allow for putting in the case of the green. While many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the teeing area to the green, some holes may bend either to the left or to

9840-477: The committee may designate a maximum score possible for a hole for the same reasons, while formalizing the surrender or "pick-up" rule. The total distance from the first teeing ground to the 18th green can be quite long; total yardages "through the green" can be in excess of 7,000 yards (6,400 m), and when adding in the travel distance between the green of one hole and the tee of the next, even skilled players may easily travel 5 miles (8.0 km) or more during

9963-399: The cost and quality of the ball when new and the ability of the firm to restore the ball to "like-new" condition. The "top grade" balls are typically balls that are considered the current state of the art and, after cleaning and surfacing, are indistinguishable externally from a new ball sold by the manufacturer. In addition to recycled balls, casual golfers wishing to procure quality balls at

10086-404: The course as they accumulate. Once collected, they may be discarded, kept by the groundskeeping staff for their own use, repurposed on the club's driving range, or sold in bulk to a recycling firm. These firms clean and resurface the balls to remove abrasions and stains, grade them according to their resulting quality, and sell the various grades of playable balls back to golfers through retailers at

10209-428: The course easily. These balls are made of two layers, with the cover firmer than the core. Their low compression and side spin reduction characteristics suit the lower swing speeds of average golfers quite well. Furthermore, they generally have lower prices than the advanced balls, lessening the financial impact of losing a ball to a hazard or out of bounds. Advanced balls are made of multiple layers (three or more), with

10332-458: The earliest majors . Two Scotsmen from Dunfermline , John Reid and Robert Lockhart, first demonstrated golf in the U.S. by setting up a hole in an orchard in 1888, with Reid setting up America's first golf club the same year, Saint Andrew's Golf Club in Yonkers, New York. A golf course consists of either 9 or 18 holes, each with a teeing ground or "tee box" that is set off by two markers showing

10455-463: The first century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game. Others cite chuiwan (捶丸; "chui" means striking and "wan" means small ball) as the progenitor, a Chinese game played between the eighth and fourteenth centuries. A Ming Dynasty scroll by the artist Youqiu dating back to 1368 entitled "The Autumn Banquet" shows a member of the Chinese Imperial court swinging what appears to be

10578-522: The first four holes but Rose won the next three. Somerville then won five of the next seven to win 6&4. Somerville had only recently arrived in New Zealand, having graduated from Edinburgh University in 1891. The first championship meeting was held at Christchurch Golf Club in July 1894, with the amateur championship being the main event. The championship was played from 24 to 26 July with two rounds on each of

10701-555: The first two days and the final on the third afternoon. The final was between Hugh MacNeil and James Scott , both from the Otago club, and resulted in an easy win for MacNeil by a score of 7&6. The 1895 championship meeting was held in the North Island for the first time, at Hutt Golf Club near Wellington , although there were suggestions that it should be played at the newly-opened Wellington Golf Club at Miramar . Until World War I,

10824-409: The golf ball continue to be governed by the ruling bodies of the game; namely, The R&A , and the United States Golf Association (USGA). Biodegradable Golf Balls The early wood, featherie and guttie balls were made from biodegradable materials. However, due to the industrial revolution and the invention of vulcanization , balls increasingly became made from non-biodegradable materials. During

10947-475: The hole" after enough strokes have been made by a player that it is mathematically impossible for the player to win the hole. It is also acceptable in informal stroke play to surrender the hole after hitting three strokes more than the "par" rating of the hole (a "triple bogey" – see below); while technically a violation of Rule 3–2, this practice speeds play as a courtesy to others, and avoids "runaway scores" and excessive frustration. Alternatively, in competition,

11070-494: The hole. The primary factor for classifying the par of a relatively straight, hazard-free hole is the distance from the tee to the green, and calculates the number of strokes a skilled golfer is expected to require to reach the green with an additional allowance of 2 putts. As such, the minimum par of any hole is 3; one stroke for the tee shot and two putts. Par 3, 4 and 5 holes are commonplace on golf courses; far more rarely, courses may feature par-6 and even par-7 holes. For men,

11193-407: The impact, which lasts less than a millisecond , determines the ball's velocity , launch angle and spin rate, all of which influence its trajectory and its behavior when it hits the ground. A ball moving through air experiences two major aerodynamic forces: lift , and drag . Dimpled balls fly farther than non-dimpled balls due to the combination of these two effects. First, the dimples on

11316-492: The interference of the ground or grass on the movement of the club making the ball easier to hit by elevating the ball from the playing surface. When the initial shot on a hole is intended to move the ball a long distance, typically more than 225 yards (210 m), the shot is commonly called a "drive" and is generally made with a long-shafted, large-headed wood club called a "driver". Shorter holes may be initiated with other clubs, such as higher-numbered woods or irons . Once

11439-405: The jurisdiction of the R&A, which differed in its ball specifications rules from those of the USGA. This ball was commonly called a "British" ball, while the golf ball approved by the USGA was simply the "American ball". The smaller diameter gave the player a distance advantage, especially in high winds, as the smaller ball created a similarly smaller "wake" behind it. When a golf ball is hit,

11562-528: The late 2000's a few new biodegradable golf balls came into the market, including some made from wood, lobster shells or cornstarch. The Rules of Golf , jointly governed by the R&A and the USGA , state in Appendix III that the diameter of a "conforming" golf ball cannot be any smaller than 1.680 inches (42.67 mm), and the weight of the ball may not exceed 1.620 ounces (45.93 g). The ball must also have

11685-505: The length, trajectory, spin, and overall "feel" characteristics of the new wound golf balls. Wound, balatá-covered golf balls were used into the late 20th century. In the mid-1960s, a new synthetic resin, an ionomer of ethylene acid named Surlyn was introduced by DuPont as were new urethane blends for golf ball covers, and these new materials soon displaced balatá as they proved more durable and more resistant to cutting. Along with various other materials that came into use to replace

11808-403: The marking process. Alternatively, balls are usually sold pre-marked with the brand and model of golf ball, and also with a letter, number or symbol. This combination can usually (but not always) be used to distinguish a player's ball from other balls in play and from lost or abandoned balls on the course. Companies, country clubs and event organizers commonly have balls printed with their logo as

11931-413: The match is continued until the party increases the lead by one hole or ties any of the remaining holes, thereby winning the match, or until the match ends in a tie with the lead player's opponent winning all remaining holes. When the game is tied after the predetermined number of holes have been played, it may be continued until one side takes a one-hole lead. The score achieved for each and every hole of

12054-414: The most common term "X-out"), packaged in generic boxes and sold at a deep discount. Typically, the flaw that caused the ball to fail QC does not have a significant effect on its flight characteristics (balls with serious flaws are usually discarded outright at the manufacturing plant), and so these "X-outs" will often perform identically to their counterparts that have passed the company's QC. They are thus

12177-583: The non-dominant side of the body facing the target (for a right-hander, the target is to their left). Setting the stance in regard to the position of the ball, and placing the clubhead behind the ball, is known as being at address; when in this position the player's body and the centerline of the club face are positioned parallel to the desired line of travel, with the feet either perpendicular to that line or slightly splayed outward. The feet are commonly shoulder-width apart for middle irons and putters, narrower for short irons and wider for long irons and woods. The ball

12300-507: The par calculation criteria, is called making "green in regulation" or GIR. Missing a GIR does not necessarily mean a golfer will not make par, but it does make doing so more difficult as it reduces the number of putts available; conversely, making a GIR does not guarantee a par, as the player might require three or more putts to "hole out". Professional golfers typically make between 60% and 70% of greens in regulation. Eighteen-hole courses typically total to an overall par score of 70 to 72 for

12423-426: The professional and top amateur level, as well as at high-level private clubs, players may be accompanied by caddies , who carry and manage the players' equipment and who are allowed by the rules to give advice on the play of the course. The rules of golf are internationally standardised and are jointly governed by The R&A , spun off in 2004 from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (founded 1754), and

12546-447: The putter. Anchored putting, a style that requires a longer putter shaft that can be anchored into the player's stomach or below the chin; the idea is to stabilize one end of the putter thus creating a more consistent pendulum stroke. This style has been banned on professional circuits since 2016. A hole is classified by its par, which gives an indication of the number of strokes a skilled golfer may be expected to need to complete play of

12669-554: The right. This is commonly called a "dogleg", in reference to a dog's knee. The hole is called a "dogleg left" if the hole angles leftwards and "dogleg right" if it bends right. Sometimes, a hole's direction may bend twice; this is called a "double dogleg". A regular golf course consists of 18 holes, but nine-hole courses are common and can be played twice through for a full round of 18 holes. Early Scottish golf courses were primarily laid out on links land, soil-covered sand dunes directly inland from beaches. The word "links" derives from

12792-423: The round or tournament is added to produce the total score, and the player with the lowest score wins in stroke play . Stroke play is the game most commonly played by professional golfers. If there is a tie after the regulation number of holes in a professional tournament, a playoff takes place between all tied players. Playoffs either are sudden death or employ a pre-determined number of holes, anywhere from three to

12915-496: The rubber Haskell golf ball. For decades, the wound rubber ball consisted of a liquid-filled or solid round core that was wound with a layer of rubber thread into a larger round inner core and then covered with a thin outer shell made of balatá sap. The balatá is a tree native to Central and South America and the Caribbean. The tree is tapped and the soft, viscous fluid released is a rubber-like material similar to gutta-percha, which

13038-581: The rubber-wound internal sphere, golf balls came to be classified as either two-piece, three-piece, or four-piece balls, according to the number of layered components. These basic materials continue to be used in modern balls, with further advances in technology creating balls that can be customized to a player's strengths and weaknesses, and even allowing for the combination of characteristics that were formerly mutually-exclusive. Titleist's Pro V1, Taylormade TP5, and Callaway Supersoft exemplify modern advancements in golf ball aerodynamics. The Titleist Pro V1 boasts

13161-501: The same time, including one called a "mesh" and another named the "bramble", but the dimple became the dominant design due to "the superiority of the dimpled cover in flight". Most modern golf balls have about 300–500 dimples, though there have been balls with more than 1000 dimples. The record holder was a ball with 1,070 dimples—414 larger ones (in four different sizes) and 656 pinhead-sized ones. Officially sanctioned balls are designed to be as symmetrical as possible. This symmetry

13284-487: The second multiple winner in 1906, having previously won in 1902. The inaugural New Zealand Open was played in 1907 and the 36-hole event was won by Arthur Duncan who won his fifth Amateur Championship a few days later. Up to 1907 the event was a pure match-play event. However, with the expansion of the New Zealand Open to 72 holes and the increasing number of entries, a change was made in 1908. The final two rounds of

13407-401: The shot to "balloon" and then to bite on the fairway, when additional rolling distance is usually desired. Lastly, the pattern of dimples plays a role. By regulation, the arrangement of the dimples on the ball must be as symmetrical as possible. However, the dimples do not all have to be the same size, nor be in a uniform distribution. This allows designers to arrange the dimple patterns in such

13530-413: The stance, while a few mid- and short-iron shots are made with the ball slightly behind the centre of the stance to ensure consistent contact between the ball and clubface, so the ball is on its way before the club continues down into the turf. The golfer chooses a golf club, grip, and stroke appropriate to the distance: Having chosen a club and stroke to produce the desired distance, the player addresses

13653-454: The surface of a golf ball cause the boundary layer on the upstream side of the ball to transition from laminar to turbulent. The turbulent boundary layer is able to remain attached to the surface of the ball much longer than a laminar boundary with fewer eddies and so creates a narrower low-pressure wake and hence less pressure drag. The reduction in pressure drag causes the ball to travel further. Second, backspin generates lift by deforming

13776-478: The surface of new balls using either a knife or hammer and chisel, giving the guttie a textured surface. Many patterns were tried and used. These new gutties, with protruding nubs left by carving patterned paths across the ball's surface, became known as "brambles" due to their resemblance to bramble fruit ( blackberries ). The next major breakthrough in golf ball development came in 1898. Coburn Haskell of Cleveland , Ohio , had driven to nearby Akron, Ohio , for

13899-482: The tee or hitting turf. Practice balls conform to all applicable requirements of the Rules of Golf, and as such are legal for use on the course, but as the hitting characteristics are not ideal, players usually opt for a better-quality ball for actual play. Players, especially novice and casual players, lose a large number of balls during the play of a round. Balls hit into water hazards, penalty areas, buried deeply in sand, and otherwise lost or abandoned during play are

14022-408: The turning force. Weak wrists can also transmit the force to elbows and even neck and lead to injury. (When a muscle contracts, it pulls equally from both ends and, to have movement at only one end of the muscle, other muscles must come into play to stabilize the bone to which the other end of the muscle is attached.) Golf is a unilateral exercise that can break body balances, requiring exercises to keep

14145-409: The venue generally alternated between the north and south islands. In 1900, Arthur Duncan became the first multiple winner, having also won in 1899. He beat Hugh MacNeil , also a previous winner, in the final. In 1901, Duncan won for the third successive year, winning the final by a score of 9 & 7, the first final to be played over 36 holes. Duncan won again in 1905, while Spencer Gollan became

14268-586: The winner receiving the St Andrews Salver. From 1983 until 2011 the qualification was extended to 72 holes and became the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship. From 2012 the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship was run as a separate 72-hole event, while the amateur championship returned to having a 36-hole qualification stage. Early finals were over 18 holes but all finals since 1901 have been over 36 holes. Source: Golf Golf

14391-462: The wrong ball. This is often done by making a mark on the ball using a permanent marker pen such as a Sharpie . A wide number of markings are used; a majority of players either simply write their initial in a particular color, or color in a particular arrangement of the dimples on the ball. Many players make multiple markings so that at least one can be seen without having to lift the ball. Marking tools such as stamps and stencils are available to speed

14514-425: Was Bernard Wood who was runner-up in 1910 and then won twice in succession, 1912 and 1913. Up to 1963, the amateur championship continued as part of the championship meeting, with the New Zealand Open acting as the qualifying event. However, from 1964 the amateur championship, open champion and New Zealand PGA Championship were separated. From 1964, the amateur championship had it own 36-hole qualification stage,

14637-544: Was created at the Old Course at St Andrews in 1764. Golf's first major , and the world's oldest golf tournament, is The Open Championship , also known as The Open, which was first played in 1860 at the Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. This is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, the other three being played in the United States: The Masters , the U.S. Open , and

14760-439: Was developed and introduced. A featherie, or feathery, is a hand-sewn round leather pouch stuffed with chicken or goose feathers and coated with paint, usually white in color. A standard featherie used a gentleman's top hat full of feathers. The feathers were boiled and softened before they were stuffed into the leather pouch. Making a featherie was a tedious and time-consuming process. An experienced ball maker could only make

14883-486: Was found to make an ideal cover for a golf ball. Balatá, however, is relatively soft. If the leading edge of a highly lofted short iron contacts a balatá-covered ball in a location other than the bottom of the ball a cut or "smile" will often be the result, rendering the ball unfit for play. In the early 1900s, it was found that dimpling the ball provided even more control of the ball's trajectory, flight, and spin. David Stanley Froy, James McHardy, and Peter G. Fernie received

15006-446: Was organised by Otago Golf Club "open to members of any recognised Now Zealand club" held on 30 November and 1 and 2 December 1893, "for the amateur championship of the colony." 16 players entered, primarily from the home club. Two rounds were played on the first day, with the semi-finals on the second morning. The final was played on the third morning between two members of the Otago club, James Somerville and Henry Rose . Somerville won

15129-507: Was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V , a year earlier. The modern game originated in Scotland , where the first written record of golf is James II 's banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery. James IV lifted the ban in 1502 when he became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first recorded in 1503–1504: "For golf clubbes and balles to

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