Golf Courses!
- stridegolf.com Men's and Women's Casual Golf Sandals!
|
|
So he put another ball down and took the penalty. He was having a beer after the game when the pro joined him in the bar. "Excuse me Fred, but was it you who sliced this ball into the road at the sixth this morning?"
"Yes, but I took the penalty." "That's as may be. But you might be interested to know that your ball hit and killed a small boy on a tricycle; the tricycle fell in the path of a Mountie on a motorcycle. He skidded and was thrown through the window of a car, killing the nun at the wheel. The car then swerved into a cement mixer which wasn't too damaged but had to veer slightly and in doing so ran into the local school bus with such an impact that it sent it flying through the window of the St Lawrence shopping centre. At last count from the hospital there are thirteen people dead and seventy-nine people seriously injured."
The golfer turned a deathly shade of white and said, "What can I do?"
"Well, you could try moving your left hand a little bit further down the shaft," the pro advised.
Golf course
The famous 17th hole of the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course.The game of golf is played in an area of land designated as a golf course. A course consists of a series of holes, which consist of a teeing area, fairways, rough and other hazards, and the green with the pin and cup. A typical golf course consists of eighteen holes, but many only have nine. Many older golf courses, often coastal, are golf links, of a different style to others.Golf Course Teeing area
Tee for the first hole at The Links at Spanish BayThe very first section of every hole consists of what is known as the teeing area or tee-box. There are usually more than one available box to place your ball, each one a different distance from the hole. The most common number is three, the ladies' tee being the closest, followed by the men's tee, and the championship or medal tee. Men's tournaments will hit off the championship tees, and Ladies' golf tournaments will often hit off of the men's tee. Usually if more than three tee boxes exist, men's tournaments will go off the very back tee and ladies' tournaments will go off the next back tee. Sometimes the norm is not followed, especially when a relatively short par-five is turned into a relatively long par-four.Once the teeing area is picked, the golfer will find two marks showing where the ball may be legally placed. A golfer may place his ball directly on the teeing ground (called hitting it "off the deck"), a wooden manufactured stick known as a tee, or any natural substance placed on the teeing surface. The teeing surface consists of the area from two-club lengths behind the markers up to the markers. The markers themselves mark the vertical extremities. A golfer may play the ball from outside the teeing area, but the ball itself must be shot from within the area.
Golf Course Fairway and 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 dogleg."
Golf Course 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.Golf Course 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 Famous 18th Green at Pebble Beach Golf LinksThe grass of the putting green (more commonly just 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 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. The exact speed of a green can be found with a stimp meter. By collecting sample measurements, golf courses can be compared in terms of average green speed.
Golf Course Par
Most courses have only 3, 4, and 5 par holes although some courses, but not all courses, include par 6 holes. The average distances for the various holes are as follows.Par 3 300 yards and below
Par 4 301 - 500 yards
Par 5 500 - 650 yards
Par 6 651 yards and up
Harder or easier courses may have longer or shorter distances, respectively.
Golf Course Other areas
Some areas of the course are designated as ground under repair ("G.U.R."), where greenskeepers are effecting repairs or where the course is damaged. A ball coming to rest in this spot may be lifted, then played from outside the G.U.R. without penalty. Certain man-made objects on the course are defined as obstructions (i.e. distance posts, gardens, et cetera), and specific rules determine how a golfer may proceed when the play is impeded by these.Golf Course Driving range
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.Golf Course Design
A specialty of landscape design or landscape architecture golf course architecture is its own field. Some golf course architects become celebrities in their own right. The field is represented by the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the British Society of Golf Course Architects.
