GOLF

GOLF

Introduction

A cross-country game in which a player strikes a small ball with various clubs from a series of starting points (teeing grounds) into a series of holes on a course. The player who holes his ball in the fewest strokes wins. The origins of the game are difficult to ascertain, although evidence now suggests that early forms of golf were played in the Netherlands first and then in Scotland.

From a somewhat obscure antiquity, the game attained worldwide popularity, especially in the 20th century. Nothing is known about the early game's favourite venues on the European continent, but in Scotland golf was first played on seaside links with their crisp turf and natural hazards. Only later in the game's evolution did play on downs, moorland, and parkland courses begin. Golfers participate at every level, from a recreational game to popular televised professional tournaments. Despite its attractions, golf is not a game for everyone; it requires a high degree of skill that is honed only with great patience and dedication.

Players and tournaments

There is no doubt that the development of golf as an organized sport was distinctly British, and Britain produced the first great players of the game. As the early golfing associations, or clubs, became established in Scotland and then England, there emerged a group of professionals who made golf balls, fashioned and repaired clubs, laid out and maintained courses, and gave lessons. Many of them were outstanding golfers and would take on all comers in the popular stakes (money) matches of the day. Allan Robertson of St. Andrews, for example, was regarded as the greatest golfer of his time and, according to legend, was never beaten in a stakes match played on even terms (that is, without giving his opponent a handicap). The British professionals and their amateur counterparts represented the best golf in the world from the second half of the 19th century, when the sport began to gain some world prominence, up to about the 1920s, when American players began to excel. With the tremendous increases in financial rewards to be gained in golf during the latter half of the 20th century, especially on the U.S. professional tour, and with the great mobility provided by jet transportation, golfers from other countries (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Fiji, Spain, and Argentina) began to appear in the top tournaments.

The premier championships

The most prestigious tournaments for nonprofessionals are the British Amateur Championship and the United States Amateur Championship. For professionals the coveted Grand Slam tournaments are the Masters, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship (British Open), and the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Championship. The Players Championship has also steadily gained in popularity and prestige, to the extent that it has earned the unofficial designation of a “fifth major.” The Walker Cup for amateurs and the Ryder Cup for professionals are important team golfing tournaments that have pitted American golfers against those of Europe.

British tournaments and players

The Open Championship of the British Isles, which the British like to call “the Open” to emphasize the tradition and priority of the event begun in 1860 (but which is also known as the British Open), was the concept of the Prestwick Club in Scotland, whose minutes recorded a proposal that all clubs should contribute to raise a fund for a trophy for professional competition. Their hope, however, was badly disappointed, and the offer of support was so meagre that Prestwick decided to go it alone and spent 30 guineas on the ornamental challenge belt to be awarded to the champion. The early championships were dominated by Willie Park, “Old Tom” Morris, and his son, “Young Tom,” who retired the belt by winning it three times in succession, 1868–70. In the absence of a prize, there was no championship in 1871; but the next year a cup, which has been in competition ever since, was put up.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)

Several professional tournaments for women were staged during the 1920s and '30s; important players from this era include Glenna Collett from the United States and Joyce Wethered of Great Britain. It was not until the 1940s that efforts began in earnest to form a professional golf organization for women. The first, the Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA), was chartered in 1944. Standout players soon emerged, including Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Betty Jameson, and, especially, the multisport legend Mildred (“Babe”) Didrikson Zaharias. Even Zaharias's popularity, however, could not ensure success for the WPGA, which folded in 1949. Nevertheless, it proved within its brief existence the need for a professional women's organization.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was incorporated in August 1950 by the aforementioned golfers plus eight others. Funding for LPGA tournaments was at first so poor that golfers themselves performed many of the organizational tasks and course maintenance chores. Soon, however, the introduction of the Weathervane series of tournaments (a series of four 36-hole tournaments that offered a $3,000 prize for each tournament and a $5,000 prize for the overall winner of the four) proved sufficiently popular to sustain the organization throughout the decade.

The play of such outstanding golfers as Kathy Whitworth, Mickey Wright, Carol Mann, Sandra Haynie, and Sandra Palmer helped maintain a reasonable level of popularity for the LPGA throughout the 1960s. Star players who emerged during the following decade include Jan Stephenson, Jo-Anne Carner, Amy Alcott, and Judy Rankin. The most notable player to emerge during the '70s was Nancy Lopez, who, by winning nine tournaments (including a record five straight) during her first full season on the tour (1978), was a major force in increasing the popularity and prestige of the LPGA.

Pat Daniel, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Juli Inkster, and Laura Davies were among the top players of the 1980s and '90s. By the turn of the century, when the annual purse for LPGA events had increased to more than $37 million per year, the tour was dominated by such players as Karrie Webb, Annika Sörenstam, and Pak Se Ri. Sörenstam made headlines in 2001 by becoming the first female golfer to score 59 in competition and by becoming only the fourth player in LPGA history (after Whitworth, Wright, and Lopez) to win four consecutive tournaments.

International competition

Matches and tournaments

The first organized series of regular international matches were between Great Britain and the United States. The amateur team match between the two countries for the Walker Cup was inaugurated in 1922, and the professional team match for the Ryder Cup in 1927. The women's amateur team match for the Curtis Cup began in 1932. Although the competition in all these contests has often been close, the U.S. teams managed to win the cups with great consistency. In an attempt to bring parity to the Ryder Cup, the format was changed in 1979 to broaden the British team to include continental European players as well. This strategy has proved successful, and subsequent Ryder Cup matches have been fiercely contended, with both teams exhibiting excellent play. Between 1979 and 2000 the United States won six times and Europe four times, while one match (1989) ended in a tie.

International competition

Matches and tournaments

The first organized series of regular international matches were between Great Britain and the United States. The amateur team match between the two countries for the Walker Cup was inaugurated in 1922, and the professional team match for the Ryder Cup in 1927. The women's amateur team match for the Curtis Cup began in 1932. Although the competition in all these contests has often been close, the U.S. teams managed to win the cups with great consistency. In an attempt to bring parity to the Ryder Cup, the format was changed in 1979 to broaden the British team to include continental European players as well. This strategy has proved successful, and subsequent Ryder Cup matches have been fiercely contended, with both teams exhibiting excellent play. Between 1979 and 2000 the United States won six times and Europe four times, while one match (1989) ended in a tie.

Equipment

Golf balls

Regulation balls have a maximum weight of 1.62 ounces (45.93 grams) and a minimum diameter of 1.68 inches (4.27 cm). In U.S. competition the velocity of the ball may not exceed 250 feet per second when measured under prescribed conditions on an apparatus maintained by the USGA, but there is no velocity specification for British play.

Golf clubs

In the average good player's set there are usually either 3 or 4 wood clubs and 9 or 10 irons (no more than 14 clubs may be carried during a round). No two clubs in a set are the same. There are differences in length and suppleness of shaft, weight, size, and shape of head, the angle at which the shaft ends and the head begins (the lie), and the angle of the face of the club from the vertical (the loft).
The various clubs are known both by number and by name. The number of a club largely designates its length and the pitch of its head, which translates into the distance and height a club will drive a ball. Generally, the lower the number, the greater the distance potential; distance decreases and pitch (thus height) increases progressively as club numbers go up. The woods (or metals) are mostly used for driving the longer distances. Sources differ on the name equivalency of the numbered clubs, but the most widely used clubs may be identified as follows:

• Woods: number 1 (driver), number 2 (brassie), number 3 (spoon), number 4 (baffy), and number 5 (replaces number 3 or 4 iron).
• Irons: number 1 (driving iron), number 2 (midiron), number 3 (mid-mashie), number 4 (mashie iron), number 5 (mashie), number 6 (spade mashie), number 7 (mashie-niblick), number 8 (pitching niblick), number 9 (niblick), number 10 (wedge), and putter (carries no number).