Never played golf
What is that thing?
Golf is not difficult to understand, it is just difficult to play. In principle, all you want to do is hit a ball with a golf club often enough to make the ball fall into the hole. The winner is the one using the least number of strokes.
In between these attempts, the world of golf is filled with things that a golf player should know, and not least a lot of rules that he has to learn - because very often there is no one around to help you make that split second decision.
Let us start by explaining some things you will come across on the golf course.
Golf course
is the place where golf is played, and usually a golf course has 18 holes. You can play 9 if you practice, and sometimes you can just play a couple of holes if that is all you have time for.
At the tournament, 18 is the right number - even though there really is no other reason for this number than that this was the number of holes at one time at the Golf course where they say the rules were written down - the 'Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews' in Scotland.
Teeing ground
is where it all starts. At each new hole you will play the first ball from the teeing ground. This is the only place where you are allowed to place the ball on the ground - or if you like - to place the ball on a wooden or plastic pin, called a tee.
In the old days the players would build a small hill of sand, and the object is to lift the ball somewhat up from the ground on the first shot, the tee off.
Golf clubs
are used to hit the ball, and they come in different shapes and sizes; woods, irons and putters - to name some. You are allowed to carry and use no more than14 clubs, but you can use less. Which clubs you choose to play with is up to you. They have different shapes to make the ball to fly higher or further.
The woods do not have to be made of wood, but are longer and with a big club head. The 1-wood is called the driver and is only used on the teeing ground. Other woods, like 3-wood and 5-wood can also be used to tee off, but also on the rest of the course. There is no rule that says so, it is just that the driver is difficult to use unless the ball is placed on a tee to lift it somewhat off the ground.
Irons are a bit smaller and their heads are made of metal. On all clubs the angle of the head determines how high vs. long the ball will fly. The long irons (iron 1 - 6) hit the ball far, whereas the short irons (7 - 9) hit it higher into the air. Some irons are called wedges, like pitching wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge - and are usually played when you want to play a pitch (very high, somewhat long), out of sand or a lob (very high and short) shot.
Finally there is the putter that hardly has an angle at all and is used to roll the ball into the hole.
There is no rule that tells you which club you have to use. If you liked to, you could tee off with the putter and roll the ball into the hole with a driver (1-wood). However, that would probably make the game even harder.
Fairway
If a golf hole that is too far for you to hit it in one stroke, you hope to land the ball on the fairway. The fairway is the part of the golf course between the teeing ground and the green (the area where the hole is placed). The fairway has grass that is cut fairly short which makes the next stroke easier to hit.
Rough
You may also be unlucky enough to miss the fairway and end up in the semi-rough - or in the rough. Here the grass is longer and more difficult to play from. If you are even unluckier - the golf architect has placed bushes and trees to make it almost impossible to hit the next shot.
Out of bounds
Sometimes the ball flies in the wrong direction - or too far and ends up out of bounds. Out of bounds is indicated by white posts and there is nothing else that you can do than return to where the ball was last played from and play another ball - with one penalty shot. If you suspect the ball to be out of bounds you would play a provisional ball to save time before you start looking for it. Even if you find the ball when it is out of bounds - you are not allowed to play it, so just pick it up and put it in your pocket.
As if that was not enough, the golf course has other hazards: bunkers and water:
The Bunker
is filled with sand and is usually placed at the point that you should avoid. The fairway bunker forces you to plan your shot to be a bit shorter or longer. The object is to make the golf course difficult. Around the green there may be 1, 2, 3, 4 or more green bunkers.
So if your shot is not precise enough, your ball will roll into one of them.
Water hazard
These hazards are indicated by yellow posts for water right in front of you, or red posts for water to the side of where you will be playing the ball.
There does not even have to be water in the water hazard, although there usually is ? or at least it is a bit wet.
There are special rules for what you are allowed to do when the ball lands in water or in a bunker ? and how you are supposed to play your ball out of these hazards.
Green
Finally after having passed all the difficulties and the hazards, you end up on the green. There is the hole you have been trying to reach all the time and a flag indicates it.
The grass is cut very short and the green is the only place where you are allowed to pick up and clean the ball ? after having placed a marker at the position of the ball. From the green you would usually putt the ball into the hole.
Your target is to use no more than two putts per hole. That is a good average and a goal for beginners.
